Your Book Activity 2023

[willoyd]

Just finished Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. A humungous read - found it very demanding and very rewarding.  My book for Columbia in my world tour.  5/6 stars.

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Enquiry and Hope by Sarah Bakewell 

[willoyd]

Two short novels in quick succession, both excellent:

Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto **** (and a contender for book cover of the year)

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih *****, my book for Sudan (no, it's not a coincidence - the war was what prompted me to read this now).

[lunababymoonchild]

Started Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez on e-book (while I oil my father's ears!)

[willoyd]

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - an investigation in why we're so seeing so many problems over concentrating, retaining attention and related issues (eg ADHD, children's development etc).  Fascinating.  5 stars.

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading : The Watcher, Charles McLean and Book of Longing, Leonard Cohen

[timebug]

I first read 'The Watcher' when it was published and have re-read it a few times. A haunting book full of imagery and almost hallucogenic allusions!

[lunababymoonchild]

2 hours ago, timebug said:

I first read 'The Watcher' when it was published and have re-read it a few times. A haunting book full of imagery and almost hallucogenic allusions!

I'm enjoying it so far

[Madeleine]

15 hours ago, willoyd said:

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - an investigation in why we're so seeing so many problems over concentrating, retaining attention and related issues (eg ADHD, children's development etc).  Fascinating.  5 stars.

Any connection to social media usage?

[lunababymoonchild]

16 hours ago, willoyd said:

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - an investigation in why we're so seeing so many problems over concentrating, retaining attention and related issues (eg ADHD, children's development etc).  Fascinating.  5 stars.

 

21 minutes ago, Madeleine said:

Any connection to social media usage?

I was wondering about both of these myself

[willoyd]

On 5/16/2023 at 10:57 AM, Madeleine said:

Any connection to social media usage?

 

Absolutely - the early chapters focus on just that, and later chapters build on it.  There's a fair bit on the deliberate efforts by Facebook etc to make their apps as addictive as possible, and strong criticism of the business model they use (which Hari argues needs to be banned).  However, it's not just social media; Hari looks at issues of sleep deprivation, information overload (partly enabled by social media), presenteeism, over-protection of and lack of unstructured play for children....and so it goes on.  What I found particularly interesting is how it pulled together so many different themes with which I've worked (as a teacher and sports coach), eg the overstructuring of children's activities, and how that relates to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  I found it a very powerfully argued book, which explained so much and covered some hugely important issues that urgently need addressing.  Well documented too.

Edited May 17, 2023 by willoyd

[willoyd]

Finished Potiki by Patricia Grace, read for one of my book groups, and an additional book for New Zealand in my Read Around the World.

[Brian.]

It's been a while but I've finished a book, Gotti by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain. I picked this up after hearing Sammy Gravano mentioned a few times in a podcast series I listened to. I was keen to learn a bit more about the New York mafia and this book is highly reviewed. I'll write more detail in my book log thread but im summary I really enjoyed reading this, the subject is fascinating and it is really well written.

[lunababymoonchild]

Started The Karamazov Brothers by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's epic!

[poppy]

On 5/22/2023 at 7:47 AM, lunababymoonchild said:

Started The Karamazov Brothers by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's epic!

 

This is the book that James Herriot said he read at night when he couldn't sleep. He found the Russian names at the start very soporific 😁

[lunababymoonchild]

1 hour ago, poppy said:

 

This is the book that James Herriot said he read at night when he couldn't sleep. He found the Russian names at the start very soporific 😁

I'm not surprised. And the explanation, which I read elsewhere, is just as confusing. As is the fact that the same character seems to have an unrelated diminutive. It's taking me a while to get back into the swing of it, but I just love Dostoevsky so will continue.

[willoyd]

Finished Chris van Tulleken's Ultra-Processed People (4/6 stars)  Makes for some grim reading in places.  Makes me wonder, having gone on a low carb diet for medical reasons, whether it works because it's low(er) carb, or because it has, almost by default, seen me almost completely (but not quite!) eliminate UPF (Ultra-Processed Food) from my diet.

Edited May 28, 2023 by willoyd

[willoyd]

Completed Niccolo Ammaniti's I'm Not Scared tonight, read for one of my book groups.  An excellent book I'm sure, but one that simply didn't grab me, and I found myself reading it simply to get it out of the way and move on, which almost certainly wasn't fair on the book.  However, it's how a book grabs me, so just 3 stars (an OK read).

[willoyd]

Finished the International Booker short-listed Standing Heavy by GauZ tonight, read as the book for Cote d'Ivoire in my Read Around the World.  Really enjoyed this one - a wryly satirical look at the life of a group of Ivoirian 'undocument migrants' working as security guards in Paris.  This one definitely grabbed me!  5/6 stars.

[willoyd]

Another quick read:  Department of Speculation by Jenny Offil.  Read almost in one sitting - probably rather too quickly, as there was much to absorb and enjoy.  Worth lingering.  4 (poss 5) stars out of 6.

[willoyd]

Finished After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz.  Had been really looking forward to this, but ultimately disappointed.  I needed to know a lot more about feminist writers and their history to even begin to understand what was going on and what this was all about; massive assumptions made about one's prior knowledge. Iwas utterly confused and bemused one-third of the way in, came close to giving up, but persisted - but that lack of comprehension continued to the end.  To me this was really only for the literary academic.  2 stars out of 6.

[Chrissy]

I enjoyed a quick read of Tom Felton's 'Beyond The Wand', a self deprecating memoir from his early years, entering acting, and a through a period of being somewhat lost.

He comes across as a charismatic young man, and his writing is filled with humour and a gentle wisdom.

 

I have since started 'The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep' by HG Parry. This is one of two books I an in reading for the BCF Reading Challenge.

[France]

16 hours ago, Chrissy said:

 

I have since started 'The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep' by HG Parry. This is one of two books I an in reading for the BCF Reading Challenge.

Enjoy! I thought it was great fun.

 

[Chrissy]

1 minute ago, France said:

Enjoy! I thought it was great fun.

 

 

I have enjoyed what I have so far read, and keep itching to get back to it, which is a good sign. 

[muggle not]

I have just started reading :

Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller

Oliver Darkshire

 

I am not too deep in the reading of this book but so far am thoroughly enjoying it.