What Was the Last Book You Read?

[CrayonAngelss]

I'm trying to read "A Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but I just can't get into it. Anyone else?!

Nope, loved the book! Perhaps at the start it's kind of difficult to get into the world of the book, which is grounded in realism with fantastical elements, and later on you should probably give up on trying to follow who's who and from which generation. In the grand scheme of the book it's not that important and it breaks the flow too much. Understanding all of the generations members is for 2nd or even 3rd re-read.

I have read Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo. What a fantastic book. I can't believe Hollywood hasn't filmed a movie out of this yet. Highly recommended - it's about the french revolution and a mom, completely disinterested in the politics of it, caught in the hell that is war trying to find and protect her children, and just survive.

I have also finished Dead Souls by Gogol. Also a fantastic book, probably well known to anyone that likes books.

I'm halfway through Don Quixote and also Infinite Jest, and I'm re-reading Lovecraft again here and there, for fun before bedtime. Infinite Jest is quite a difficult read for me, as I find it commonly written in the american lingo of the 90s, which is very hard for me to follow as a non-native speaker that is too young to remember much of the 90s.

Thanks for your feedback! I got stuck because I felt confused with all of the similar names in the family tree (exactly as you mentioned.) That's good advice to not fixate.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Arsène Lupin : Les Aventures du Plus Intelligent Gentleman-Cambrioleur Jamais Inspiré Par La Nouvelle Série Televisée for my Advanced Study French class.

The English translation - Arsène Lupin: The Adventures of the Most Intelligent Gentleman Thief Ever Inspired by the New TV Series (Netflix), by Rob Barbot. The book compares Maurice Leblanc's novels and their character Arsene Lupin with the Netflix series 'Lupin.'

[VertOlive]

The Latinist by Mark Prins, a new title in what I’m beginning to think of as the “Academia Genre” ( Think Donna Tartt’s The Secret History). A modern re-telling of the Apollo and Daphne myth about an Oxford prof and the brilliant female student whose career he’s determined to smother. Really satisfying ending!

[Niner]

I just finished Allegient by Veronica Roth, it is the third book in the Divergent Trilogy. Right now I'm slowly making my way through Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

I am a huge fan of Bradbury. I think Fahrenheit 451 reads best over a short period of time, so pick up that pace. Treat yourself to a tea/coffee/adult beverage and a several hour reading session. I find the short rhythm of his writing in that book so engrossing.

I recall reading that Bradbury cranked out an early version of Fahrenheit 451 quickly on a pay typewriter. He had to keep dropping coins into it or it would stop.

Here's a reference:https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jac...nheit-451.html

[Niner]

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

[christof]

Petit Pays by Gaël Faye:

[Kaputnik]

Scrolling back, I see that I haven't posted here in some eight months. But of course, it's not that I've stopped reading. Some of the things that I recall reading in the interval, although not in that order.

The Iliad. I can't recall the last time I read this, and now some of it came across as fresh. There was also the thought that I might be able to appreciate it more if I could read it in the original Greek, but at my age I have no intention of trying to learn.

The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Interesting science fiction novel, a bit "different".

The Compleat Angler, by Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton. I'm making some effort to catch up on the classic books that "everyone talks about and nobody reads". I have to admit that the reputed charm of this one is largely lost on me, but it's not without interest.

Rationality, by Steven Pinker. Actually, I'm still reading this one. As with other books of his that I've read, there's a lot of food for thought here, which of course, is the point.

The Martyrdom of Man, by Winwood Reade. How many times have I gone through Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories? I still have the battered compilation of all the stories which was a Christmas or birthday present when I was 11 years old or so, back in the 1960s. I was reading some of those again, and came across this, in The Sign of The Four. Holmes is going off to investigate some things on his own, and recommends a good book to keep Watson occupied in the meantime. "Let me recommend this book,—one of the most remarkable ever penned. It is Winwood Reade’s ‘Martyrdom of Man'." How many times did I pass over that without being curious enough to find out what Holmes was talking about? In any case, this time I did look up the book, downloaded it from Project Gutenberg, and read it on my Kindle. And it is a remarkable book, both very dated (it was published in 1872) and still thought provoking. What actual thoughts it provokes may vary with the reader.

A Philo Vance Omnibus, by S.S. van Dine. This fictional detective of the 1920s and 1930s seems to have fallen out of fashion, and after reading these rather ridiculous stories, I can see why. But I found them interesting, partly because of their absurdity.

I started reading a collection of the tales of Jean de la Fontaine. Another classic, in the sense alluded to above. Not sure what I think, although again, if I were able to read them in the original, I might appreciate them more.

Fantastic Fables, by Ambrose Bierce. Best taken in small doses.

A number of short stories by R.A. Lafferty. Lafferty has always been one of my favorite science fiction authors, but it appears that most of his work is out of print.

A collection of the "Mr. Mulliner" stories of P.G. Wodehouse. Sheer escapism. The utter irrelevance of his writing to almost anything in modern society, and the sheer dexterity of his prose make these irresistible to me.

The Bible. Without wishing to disparage anyone's beliefs, my interest is literary rather than religious. I've been going through a King James version and occasionally comparing with a JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh. I can only read the English part.

[Kaputnik]

Not that anyone asked...

But another interesting book that I read recently was After Yorktown: The Final Struggle for American Independence, by Don Glickstein. I think most of us realize that the War of Independence did not actually end with the British surrender at Yorktown, but there is a tendency to consider this as more or less a technicality. In fact, although in a general way I'd known that there was still fighting after this, I was rather surprised at how much there was. Glickstein's account covers struggles in what was not yet the United States, but also Canada, the Caribbean, and even Gibraltar. I found it quite illuminating.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

The book I am currently reading is Engine Summer by John Crowley. I cannot begin to describe the wonder it evokes. It also is right in my blockhole genre-wise.

[Motomachi10]

"Never" by Ken Follet. Fiction about world problems.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Awesome! My wife is a big fan ever since I gave here a copy of Pillars of the Earth. She recently got the second book, World without End.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Not that anyone asked...

But another interesting book that I read recently was After Yorktown: The Final Struggle for American Independence, by Don Glickstein. I think most of us realize that the War of Independence did not actually end with the British surrender at Yorktown, but there is a tendency to consider this as more or less a technicality. In fact, although in a general way I'd known that there was still fighting after this, I was rather surprised at how much there was. Glickstein's account covers struggles in what was not yet the United States, but also Canada, the Caribbean, and even Gibraltar. I found it quite illuminating.

I lived in Gibraltar for two years (I'm a Brit). Knew about the French/Spanish siege of course, and those two countries were long time rivals to Britain, but did not realise it was connected to the US war for independence. Colour me educated!

[Niner]

The Best of R. A. Lafferty. It's not my cup of tea.

Yorkshire Gold.jpg

[fqgouvea]

The Best of R. A. Lafferty. It's not my cup of tea.

Yorkshire Gold.jpg

Lafferty varies wildly, and generates wildly different reactions from people. A little bit of him is good, but I get worn out if I take large doses of him. That said, I loved “The Seven Day Terror”!

[Niner]

The Best of R. A. Lafferty. It's not my cup of tea.

Yorkshire Gold.jpg

Lafferty varies wildly, and generates wildly different reactions from people. A little bit of him is good, but I get worn out if I take large doses of him. That said, I loved “The Seven Day Terror”!

That short story was in "The Best of" and I did like it.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies, by Sara Lewis.

Sparked by finally seeing some fireflies last night.

[Chip]

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson, an account of an interstellar attempt at colonising a distant planet.

A deft blend of science-based speculation and human drama. Robinson has recently become one of my favorite writers.

[TSherbs]

Petit Pays by Gaël Faye:

wow do I love that cover

[Lloyd]

Rickie Lee Jones's autobiography, "Last Chance Texaco".

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

[Chip]

Rickie Lee Jones's autobiography, "Last Chance Texaco".

I'll look for it. She's a lifetime favorite.