The Book Thread Book • Page 40

Yeah - I still haven't read Woolf, but I imagine it's worth it. I've had To the Lighthouse on my list for some time now. Need to get on it!

 

Suuuuch a good book.

 

To the Lighthouse is a 200 page that feels like a 500 page book, in mostly a good way. It's very dense and has a lot going on without seeming like a lot is going on.

 

Really, really enjoying the audiobook of Infinite Jest. The narrator is for the most part fantastic and his expressions and voices of the characters really brings this to life. The first few pages the narrator bugged me because he'd insert odd pauses where there weren't any (no commas or references to pauses in the writing itself so not sure why he did that other than his own interpretation) but since then it's been smooth sailing.

Also much easier to listen to page-long super fucking paragraphs than reading line after line after line with no break whatsoever.

Dammit Audible, I may just end up keeping you and using you on giant books.

 

Audible is great. I’ll say that always.

Just listened to Fahrenheit 451 earlier this week and it was amazing. Read by Tim Robbins.

 

I just finished Part 2 of 11/22/63. Good lord that stressed me out. This book is terrific so far. Honestly the most enjoyable King I've read up to this point.

 

I’m in the thick of IT (heh) right now, and while this story is excellent, I think my favorite Stephen King novel will always be 11/22/63. The emotion in that book, from heartache to terror, is stellar.

 

Finished Basketball (and Other Things) by Shea Serrano today and loved it. Also, posted my review of Artemis by Andy Weir today. Book Review: Artemis by Andy Weir - HiFi Noise

Undecided on what I'll be reading next. Most likely going to see if I can quickly make my way through the final Aftermath book by Chuck Wendig.

 

Strange Weather is a pretty quick read and I think you'd like it a lot.

 

I have yet to pick up a copy of that! Still in the stupid job hunt process so if I pick up books, it's mostly stuff I find at our library book store haha. I can check if the library already got copies of that in, though. Sometimes it's a slow process for new books.

 

goddamn, this audiobook has made it so much easier to get through - and enjoy - Infinite Jest. Wallace has the tendency to ramble into fucking page long sentences / paragraphs that can be pretty deflating to get excited about when you see a 5-page paragraph in size 8 font. but! with the audiobook you don't see any of that so it's much more enjoyable.almost wrapping this book up already and did not expect that. thought this would take me to near the end of December.

 

Bought The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu and I was reading about the translator of that book, Ken Liu, and so I picked up his novel The Grace of Kings. Has anyone read either of those?

 

Super disappointing list of $5 audiobooks on audible.

 

Agreed. But if you haven’t read Station Eleven yet it’s a gorgeous book.

 

Super late response to this lol, but audiobooks have been my obsession since getting my new job. I work 12 hour shifts sometimes doing physical work and oftentimes sitting at a computer. Reading a physical book wouldn't work because I couldn't multitask as well as I do listening. Also I just generally find audio more stimulating/entertaining than reading. But I love them, they really make time fly by on my shifts.

 

so here's something weird:

in March i spent about two weeks in Hawaii - Honolulu specifically.

i brought a bunch of books with me as the goal of my vacation was to sit on the beach for about two weeks doing nothing but reading, sleeping, and eating seafood on the beach.

i read 7 books during this trip.

all 7 books, without knowledge of the content or researching ahead of time in any way, contained specific mention to Honolulu, Hawaii.

i read 14 books before that vacation and NOT ONE of them contained anything about Hawaii. since i've returned from that vacation i have read 56 books and NOT ONE of them have contained anything about Hawaii.

yet somehow, someway, out of all 90+ unread books i had on my shelves at the time, i brought - and then read - 7 straight books that all contained specific mention to Honolulu, Hawaii while i was in Honolulu, Hawaii. i brought another 5 books with me on the trip. i have read those since the vacation and they didn't contain anything about Hawaii. so i somehow always picked a book (7/12) that contained a reference to Hawaii.

at least once a week i think about this and it really weird me out.

 

The Artist’s Way (a writing course of sorts) would call this synchronicity and would have you spend a lot of time exploring it in writing.

 

Read Patrick Modiano's So you Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood and was pretty disappointed with it. It was very well written just kinda circular and unfulfilling. Also read Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and am really enjoyed both of those. Fever Dream was such a quick read.

Started the Crow Girl and it is not very scary but certainly long and disturbing. Only 200 pages in so will see where it takes me.

 

finished Infinite Jest late last night. incredible how quickly i was able to get through it thanks to it being an audiobook.

i think, by quite a large margin, that my favorite section(s) were the two very brief sections of Orin as a kid talking to his dad. I don't know why, but I love how the sections are written (actually read the first one when i tried reading this in January) and was amazed at how they were read in the audiobook. weirdly haunting and just incredible writing. lots of good / great parts, but these two ever so brief "flashbacks" really stood out to me.

spent most of the morning researching the chronological order of the book and holy fuck i think i'm more confused than when i started.

 

ok so I took a long break from Infinite Jest and now I'm back in it, I have just crossed the 600 page mark and I'm hoping to finish by christmas (I think i have to keep a pace of like 15 pages/day or something). I wish I could go faster but I think it's just really easy to get burnt out on and overwhelmed with. I honestly wanted to be cynical about it but it really is so good--it's so deeply sad and surprisingly tender it's a little hard to take at this capacity

 

A book thread! :)

I'm currently reading The Little French Bistro, by Nina George, but I just started it yesterday. I read The Little Paris Bookshop earlier this year and adored it...so charming and heartwarming. So I took a chance on this one. I'm intrigued so far.

I am trying to read books written by or about people who are much different from me. So far, I'm enjoying it. I read mostly on my lunch break at work.

 

after Im done my Familiar deep dive I'm excited to get back at some non-Danielewski reading

Will be picking up Lincoln In the Bardo and Homesick For Another World as soon as I'm done.

 

Welcome!

I like your final point about reading books written by or about people who are different to you. I've been doing a similar thing over the year as I realised that most of the books I read in 2016 were written by white men. It's been great to dive into some different areas - I've learnt a lot!

 

Same here! It's refreshing to finally hear from different voices.

 

I've been making a conscious (albeit fairly unsuccessful) attempt to read more women this year. I think I've been finding that generally speaking I prefer female writers.