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What are you reading this year? Here's my list. Been sorta laxing on story driven stuff, most of the time my head has been buried in D&D 5e books. I regret nothing. But otherwise:
Currently Reading
- Foundation (Isaac Asimov)
- Caste: The Origin of our Discontents (Isabel Wilkerson)
- Instant Influence (Michael Pantalon)
In the Queue
- East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
- The Crossing (Cormac McCarthy)
- Start With Why (Simon Sinek)
- Raybearer (Jordan Ifueko)
Novels:
- Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens, 1855-57)
- Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad, 1899-1900)
- Enemies, a Love Story (Isaac Bashevis Singer, trans. Aliza Shevrin and Elizabeth Shrub, 1966)
Poetry:
- Theogony, Works and Days, and Elegies (Hesiod and Theognis, trans. Dorothea Wender, c.700-490 BCE)
1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
2. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
3. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
Currently Reading:
1. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
2. The Sopranos Sessions (Matt Zoller Seitz) < This is going to take a long while, because I'm reading it along with watching the show.
I haven't updated on the first set of books I've read. Will share what I've completed...
But, CURRENTLY reading:
Ari Folman's graphic adaptation of Anne Frank's Diary, which is actually quite splendid. Creative animated panels that perfectly compliment the actual diary.
Also reading The Only Good Indians, which... I'm waiting for it to get moving. Seems like the potential is there, but I'm almost at 100 pages and haven't been fully enthrolled.
1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
2. My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
3. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
4. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
5. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
1) There, There
2) The Lying Life of Adults
3) The Arognauts
4) Caddie Woodlawn
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
3. The Queen's Gambit (Walter Tevis)
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
5. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
6. My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
7. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
8. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
9. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
I know the books and the films are both created as one entire LOTR thing separated into three parts, but I hadn't expected my preference of the books to exactly reflect the one I have of the films. Now to the Extended Editions for the first time...
Novels:
- Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens, 1855-57)
- War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy, trans. Ann Dunnigan, 1865-69/73)
- Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad, 1899-1900)
- Enemies, a Love Story (Isaac Bashevis Singer, trans. Aliza Shevrin and Elizabeth Shrub, 1966)
- Purity (Jonathan Franzen, 2015)
Poetry:
- Theogony, Works and Days, and Elegies (Hesiod and Theognis, trans. Dorothea Wender, c.700-490 BCE)
Non-fiction:
- Jerry Lewis (Chris Fujiwara, 2009)
What did you think of War and Peace? I am re-reading Anna Karenina and it's tempting to do the same with War and Peace (especially after watching Bondarchuck's adaptation), but that seems too daunting.Quote:
Originally Posted by baby doll
I think Anna Karenina is the more accomplished and successful novel overall, in large part because it's not trying to be anything other than a novel, whereas War and Peace wants to be both a novel and a philosophy of history. The actual novel stuff is pretty wonderful, diving straight into the action without much in the way of exposition (notwithstanding the non-narrative material, which doesn't kick in until several hundred pages in, this book is all forward motion), although the ending is a bit anti-climatic and the last section of the novel, in which Tolstoy summarizes his theory of history while stridently attacking secular historians, is pretty bad. In short, the book confirmed my impression from reading "The Kreutzer Sonata" (which I didn't care for) that Tolstoy's instinctive talent for storytelling enabled him to transcend his batty religious ideas, at least part of the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by quido8_5
That's fair. War and Peace is often cited as one of those books that are virtually impossible to get through. It's so unfortunate, because Tolstoy is one of the most digestible and engaging storytellers... When he's telling a story. His ability to paint vivid characters accelerating through an increasingly complex narrative is, to my mind, unrivaled. The extended philosophical passages are a left turn that I think bifurcates most opinions about War and Peace, not unlike the Inquisitor in Brothers Karamosov. Whereas the latter is one of my favorite sections in the novel, the philosophical sections of War and Peace I found insightful, but boring. Still, his points aren't moot, if anything they're more relevant than ever (I guess us humans aren't going to stop praising demagogues any time soon). More importantly, his writing still brims with humanity in these sections, as he calls bullshit on the allure of war and the myth of military brilliance.Quote:
Originally Posted by baby doll
The religious stuff I don't remember coming through too much in War and Peace (aside from the abiding disdain for the church, which: praise be).Though they aren't as intentionally didactic, Levin's cultural and spiritual amblings in Anna Karenina are also a left turn from the narrative (which, holy shit, re-reading it, this book is a hotdamn page-turner outside of Levin getting his rugged emo on). I don't know if I'd call Tolstoy's religious beliefs batty-- anarchic and cultist, sure, but also influential. Apparently Ghandi and Tolstoy were turn-of-the-century besties and his rational, activistic interpretation of Christ's teaching would resonate with most contemporary social justice movements.
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
3. The Queen's Gambit (Walter Tevis)
4. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
7. Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
8. My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
9. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
10. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
11. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
12. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
3. The Stanley Kubrick Archives (Alison Castle)
4. The Queen's Gambit (Walter Tevis)
5. The Long Walk (Stephen King)
6. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
8. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
9. Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
10. My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
11. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
12. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
13. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
14. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
Finished
- Caste: The Origin of our Discontents (Isabel Wilkerson)
- Instant Influence (Michael Pantalon)
Currently Reading
- Foundation (Isaac Asimov)
- Start With Why (Simon Sinek)
In the Queue
- The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin)
- East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
- The Crossing (Cormac McCarthy)
- Raybearer (Jordan Ifueko)
- The Speed of Trust (Stephen MR Covey)
Novels:
- Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens, 1855-57)
- War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy, trans. Ann Dunnigan, 1865-69/73)
- Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad, 1899-1900)
- Rabbit, Run (John Updike, 1960)
- Enemies, a Love Story (Isaac Bashevis Singer, trans. Aliza Shevrin and Elizabeth Shrub, 1966)
- Purity (Jonathan Franzen, 2015)
Short stories:
- Italian Renaissance Tales (trans. Anthony Mortimer, c.1351-1636)
Poetry:
- Theogony, Works and Days, and Elegies (Hesiod and Theognis, trans. Dorothea Wender, c.700-490 BCE)
- John Dryden (ed. Keith Walker, 1681-1717)
Non-fiction:
- Jerry Lewis (Chris Fujiwara, 2009)
- Finished
- Caste: The Origin of our Discontents (Isabel Wilkerson)
- Instant Influence (Michael Pantalon)
- The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin) <- its enduring prescience both saddens and challenges me.
- Start With Why (Simon Sinek) <- everyone in a leadership role in their workplace should read this book.
Currently Reading
- Foundation (Isaac Asimov)
- The Speed of Trust (Stephen MR Covey)
In the Queue
- East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
- The Crossing (Cormac McCarthy)
- Raybearer (Jordan Ifueko)
- The Oz Principal (Roger Connors, Tom Smith, Craig Hickman)
- The Energy Bus (Jon Gordon)
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
3. The Stanley Kubrick Archives (Alison Castle)
4. The Queen's Gambit (Walter Tevis)
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
6. The Long Walk (Stephen King)
7. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
9. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
10. Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
11. My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
12. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
13. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
14. Old Friends Hypothesis (Chatchapol Kiatikajornthada)
15. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
16. Boy: Tales of Childhood (Roald Dahl)
17. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
18. The Name of This Book Is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch)
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
3. The Stanley Kubrick Archives (Alison Castle)
4. The Queen's Gambit (Walter Tevis)
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
6. The Long Walk (Stephen King)
7. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
9. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
10. Butterfly and Flowers (Nipphan)
11. Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
12. The Sopranos Sessions (Matt Zoller Seitz)
13. My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
14. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
15. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
16. Old Friends Hypothesis (Chatchapol Kiatikajornthada)
17. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
18. Boy: Tales of Childhood (Roald Dahl)
19. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
20. Going Solo (Roald Dahl)
21. The Name of This Book Is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch)
Novels:
- Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens, 1855-57)
- War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy, trans. Ann Dunnigan, 1865-69/73)
- The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins, 1868)
- Tristana (Benito Pérez Galdós, trans. Margaret Jull Costa, 1892)
- Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad, 1899-1900)
- Rabbit, Run (John Updike, 1960)
- Enemies, a Love Story (Isaac Bashevis Singer, trans. Aliza Shevrin and Elizabeth Shrub, 1966)
- 2666 (Roberto Bolaño, trans. Natasha Wimmer, 2004)
- Purity (Jonathan Franzen, 2015)
Short stories:
- Italian Renaissance Tales (trans. Anthony Mortimer, c.1351-1636)
Poetry:
- Theogony, Works and Days, and Elegies (Hesiod and Theognis, trans. Dorothea Wender, c.700-490 BCE)
- John Dryden (ed. Keith Walker, 1681-1717)
Non-fiction:
- Jerry Lewis (Chris Fujiwara, 2009)
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
3. The Stanley Kubrick Archives (Alison Castle)
4. The Queen's Gambit (Walter Tevis)
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
6. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
7. The Long Walk (Stephen King)
8. The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
9. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
11. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
12. Butterfly and Flowers (Nipphan)
13. Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
14. The Sopranos Sessions (Matt Zoller Seitz)
15. My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
16. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
17. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
18. Old Friends Hypothesis (Chatchapol Kiatikajornthada)
19. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
20. Boy: Tales of Childhood (Roald Dahl)
21. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
22. If You're Reading This, It's Too Late (Pseudonymous Bosch)
23. Going Solo (Roald Dahl)
24. The Name of This Book Is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch)
Novels:
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë, 1848)
- Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens, 1855-57)
- War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy, trans. Ann Dunnigan, 1865-69/73)
- The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins, 1868)
- Tristana (Benito Pérez Galdós, trans. Margaret Jull Costa, 1892)
- Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad, 1899-1900)
- Rabbit, Run (John Updike, 1960)
- Enemies, a Love Story (Isaac Bashevis Singer, trans. Aliza Shevrin and Elizabeth Shrub, 1966)
- 2666 (Roberto Bolaño, trans. Natasha Wimmer, 2004)
- Purity (Jonathan Franzen, 2015)
Short stories:
- Italian Renaissance Tales (trans. Anthony Mortimer, c.1351-1636)
Poetry:
- Theogony, Works and Days, and Elegies (Hesiod and Theognis, trans. Dorothea Wender, c.700-490 BCE)
- John Dryden (ed. Keith Walker, 1681-1717)
Non-fiction:
- Jerry Lewis (Chris Fujiwara, 2009)
- The Forms of the Affects (Eugenie Brinkema, 2014)
- Cinema's Bodily Illusions: Flying, Floating, and Hallucinating (Scott C. Richmond, 2016)
Business Leadership Books continue to dominate the reading list, but that's sorta the headspace I'm in these days.
- Finished
- Caste: The Origin of our Discontents (Isabel Wilkerson)
- Instant Influence (Michael Pantalon)
- The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin)
- Start With Why (Simon Sinek)
- Leading Without Authority (Keith Ferazzi) <- fabulous book. Highly recommended for anyone who works with others, regardless of whether/not you are in a formalized leadership role.
Currently Reading
- Foundation (Isaac Asimov)
- The Speed of Trust (Stephen MR Covey)
- Radical Candor (Kim Scott)
In the Queue
- East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
- The Crossing (Cormac McCarthy)
- Raybearer (Jordan Ifueko)
- The Oz Principal (Roger Connors, Tom Smith, Craig Hickman)
- The Energy Bus (Jon Gordon)
Novels:
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë, 1848)
- Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens, 1855-57)
- War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy, trans. Ann Dunnigan, 1865-69/73)
- The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins, 1868)
- Tristana (Benito Pérez Galdós, trans. Margaret Jull Costa, 1892)
- Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad, 1899-1900)
- Rabbit, Run (John Updike, 1960)
- Enemies, a Love Story (Isaac Bashevis Singer, trans. Aliza Shevrin and Elizabeth Shrub, 1966)
- 2666 (Roberto Bolaño, trans. Natasha Wimmer, 2004)
- Purity (Jonathan Franzen, 2015)
[]
Short stories:
- Italian Renaissance Tales (trans. Anthony Mortimer, c.1351-1636)
- Flappers and Philosophers: The Collected Short Stories (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1920-1941)
Poetry:
- Theogony, Works and Days, and Elegies (Hesiod and Theognis, trans. Dorothea Wender, c.700-490 BCE)
- John Dryden (ed. Keith Walker, 1681-1717)
Non-fiction:
- Discourse on Method and the Meditations (René Descartes, trans. F.E. Sutcliffe, 1637-47)
- Jerry Lewis (Chris Fujiwara, 2009)
- The Forms of the Affects (Eugenie Brinkema, 2014)
- Cinema's Bodily Illusions: Flying, Floating, and Hallucinating (Scott C. Richmond, 2016)
Final:
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
3. The Stanley Kubrick Archives (Alison Castle)
4. The Queen's Gambit (Walter Tevis)
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
6. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
7. The Long Walk (Stephen King)
8. The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
9. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
11. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)
12. Butterfly and Flowers (Nipphan)
13. Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
14. The Sopranos Sessions (Matt Zoller Seitz)
15. My Sweet Orange Tree (José Mauro de Vasconcelos)
16. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
17. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
18. Old Friends Hypothesis (Chatchapol Kiatikajornthada)
19. Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking (Rocky Lang)
20. Hatchet (Gary Paulsen)
21. Boy: Tales of Childhood (Roald Dahl)
22. Conversations with Scorsese (Richard Schickel)
23. If You're Reading This, It's Too Late (Pseudonymous Bosch)
24. Going Solo (Roald Dahl)
25. The Name of This Book Is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch)
26. Roadwork (Stephen King)
27. Forever (Wimon Sainimnuan)
1. J R (1975, William Gaddis)
2. Wide Sargasso Sea (1966, Jean Rhys)
3. The Canterbury Tales (1400, Geoffrey Chaucer)
4. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
5. The Nickel Boys (2019, Colson Whitehead)
6. Tales of Moonlight and Rain (1776, Ueda Akinari)
7. Our Twisted Hero (1987, Yi Mun-yol)
8. The Godfather (1969, Mario Puzo)
9. Assassin's Apprentice (1995, Robin Hobb)
10. The Chrysalids (1955, John Wyndham)
11. The Obscene Bird of Night (1970, José Donoso)
12. See Under: Love (1986, David Grossman)
13. The Idiot (1869, Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
14. Kindred (1979, Octavia E. Butler)
15. Pawn of Prophecy (1982, David Eddings)
16. Song of Solomon (1977, Toni Morrison)