Finished reading Hot Milk by Deborah Levy over lunch today. Just wow.

The story follows a mother and daughter on their trip to Spain to visit a specialist clinic. Rose, the mother has lost the use of her legs (among other ailments) and they are both seeking answers. We see the trip from the point of view of daughter Sophia, who is both defined by her relationship to her mother and desperate to escape her. Her perspective is largely informed by her study of anthropology, which she references throughout the book, particularly in how she understands the relationships in her life.

The writing is so dreamlike and layered that I found it hard to put this down to read my bookclub book. The themes and ideas presented were so interesting to me that I just wanted to get to the end to see how these elements all tie together.

The book is a beautifully crafted study of identity, meaning and ultimately how the hurt from family ultimately shapes our lives. The way the book ties into anthropological motifs is seamless and elevates the sense of tensions between all the characters. If any of the above sounds interesting, I would definitely recommend!

Done reading these books:

23. Dolores Claiborne, Stephen King, 350 pages

24. Der Schrank, Olga Tokarczuk, 144 pages

25. Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware, 384 pages

Dolores Claiborne:

Dolores Claiborne, a 65-years old housekeeper, is suspect of a murderer - allegedly she killed the woman she worked for for over 40 years, Vera Donovan. Dolores denies that and uses her testimony to talk about her life and her relationship with Vera Donovan and also the one with her husband Joe St. George - right at the beginning she admits that she killed him decades ago and later on unveils her motive for that murder.

Great book. Very mimimal on the supernatural stuff, it goes into much greater detail about how the lifes of two women from very different wealth positions end up having similiar impacts in their personal lifes. A complicated relationship that in the beginning seems to be mostly ruled by overbearing strictness and cold behaviour from Vera Donovan but the true nature of respect between them shines through in some pivotal moments. I was very impressed with how real every character felt - and real are also the horrors and tragedies written about in this book - stuff that could happen to anyone.

Der Schrank:

Collection of seven short stories, ranging from a couple moving into a closet to distance themselves from the always-changing outside world, to a man using his computer to create worlds and then destroy them, to the observations of a chambermaid that cleans rooms and can see the inner confilcts or personality traits from the people residing there.

Deals with themes like subconscious, getting lost in daily life. Very wondrous, at times melancholic writing style that I enjoyed. Doesn't look like it's available in english but some other books from the same author that I am going to read in the future have english versions.

Woman in Cabin 10:

Laura Lockwood is a 32-years old journalist working for a travel magazine. For a report, she is asked to take part in the first vojage of the luxury ship Aurora borealis, her chance to advance her career. Shortly before the trip, a burglar breaks into her home and she ends up being locked in her own apartment for a few hours. Despite the recent traumatic event, she decides to take part in the journey.

Everything seems to be going fine, until she wakes up one night - she heard something near her cabin fall into water, something that after a quick glimpse looks like a body - and on the railing is smeared blood. No one else saw or heard something - allegedly atleast - and from there she tries to find out what happened.

Decent book. Has thematically some similiarities to Woman in the window which I read recently. This one is a bit faster paced and has more emphasis on the investigation aspect.

24: Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore

Finished the origin story of Drizzt. I must admit I don't really know much about D&D lore and for the most part I'm still learning the basic tropes of fantasy so I went into the trilogy without much foreknowledge of the world and characters.

Next up is early cyberpunk. I'm a huge fan of Snow Crash and Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. I was pointed to Neuromancer and the Sprawl trilogy as some foundational cyberpunk and that's my next read.

January:

1. The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish - Katya Apekina

February:

xxx

March:

2.Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky

3.Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes 

4.Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 

5.Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan 

6.Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray & What It Means for Modern Relationships by Christopher Ryan

7.Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

April:

8.Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

9.How to Love (Mindfulness Essentials #3) by Thich Nhat Hanh

10.Tampa by Alissa Nutting 

11.The Boho Manifesto: An Insider's Guide to Postconventional Living by Julia Chaplin

May

12.An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

13.How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don't by Lane Moore

14.The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson 

15.The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

16.Every Word You Cannot Say by Iain S. Thomas

17.Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetypeby Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Finished the audiobook of Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler today.

Fascinating look into the drug situation of Nazi Germany. It covered both Hitler's personal drug usage throughout World War II by talking about his close relationship with his personal physician, Theodor Morell, and how the Third Reich pumped their soldiers full of Pervitin (An early form of meth) during their military operations so that they could carry out Blitzkrieg campaigns or defend their territory without sleeping. Crazy stuff considering that the Nazi Party openly talked about how drugs were a bad thing and that they were an obstacle to be overcome for the "master race". There's a particularly poignant part in the story where Hitler, who had derided cocaine as a tool that the Jews used for nefarious purposes, allegedly becomes addicted to it himself.

The author makes a compelling case with his use of documents from the era (The most prominent being the physician's personal diary) that der Führer was nothing more than a bad junkie with serious delusions in horrendous health in the last few years WWII. Speaking personally, it changed how I viewed Germany's leadership in this late war period. I had viewed their choices of refusing to surrender and continue defending their homeland to the last man as something based on a sense of honor and pride, but it might have been entirely possible that Adolf Hitler, on a continued meth and cocaine bender, genuinely DID think he could win the war against the Allied Powers until Berlin was invaded and he decided to kill himself.

My only complaint with the book was that I wish they had dived a bit more into how other countries were using similar drugs. I know that the German soldiers were hopped up on substances to carry out their goals, but what about the British, American, and Russian soldiers they were fighting? What was the extent of their meth use? I had to look that stuff up on my own, which is fine, but I do wish the book had organically included some of that material on its own for comparison purposes.

Go read and/or listen to this if you're a World War II nut like me.

May 2020 books (I thought I'd posted these but I guess not)

12. Ultimate Booty Workouts: Exercises to Build, Lift and Sculpt an Amazing Butt

13. A book for work which I'd like to not name as it's incredibly specfic

14. The Baking Bible (I'm trying to get better at homemade breads) 

Just finished my latest video project so I'm hoping to get a finance book finished this month, been stuck on the same 3 pages for a week.

I was In a world of the word at work today thanks to Big Mike Scott who's voice made the Book of Revelation as close to pleasant as it could get. If you are unfamiliar with, as Marcus Parks puts it, "the most metal book of the Bible" it's like if the writers thought the Upanishads had super cool imagery and filtered it through the God of Abraham. I would encourage everyone to buy this reading. Its less than two hours and it's far easier to listen to someone intone prophecies of war than it is to slog through it with your eyeball-ears.

What was your opinion of Women Who Run With Wolves?

I thought it was an interesting read. I liked the way the book was set up, it was broken into information, real stories, myths. I read it in a day and it was like 500+ pages lol

Probably my final book read for May - I picked up "Dark Tales" by Shirley Jackson. This is a series of short stories from the iconic horror/spooky writer, and I really enjoyed the book. Some of the stories contained were only published after Jackson's death, which may account for the variable quality of the stories. That being said, I didn't mind the slightly unfinished mysterious feeling of these stories. For my reading, the ambiguity really added to the mood of the collection as a whole.

What makes these stories so interesting is the way they focus on the mundane, the ordinary and the domestic, Jackson takes familiar moments and scenes and injects her unique unsettling perspective. The horror is very human and honest - the "scares" don't come from gory descriptions or horrific monsters. Instead the writing feel so real, that the horror of finding yourself in these situations comes through. In a very reductive way, if you think well written, grown up creepypasta would be interesting, you'll enjoy the "horror" here.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Jackson's stories - my favourites from this collection were "Louisa, Please Come Home", "What a Thought", "A Visit" and "The Summer People".

Books read this month:

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
2. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
3. Invisble Women by Caroline Criado Perez
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
5. Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
6. Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson

I read so many books this month that I loved - If I had to pick the best right now, I'd say Jane Eyre/Hot Milk. (I'm split in the middle!)

I'm now reading "12 years a Slave" for book club, will hopefully finish it next week!

Things have been hellishly hectic for me these past few months, but now that corona-chan's put an end to all that, I ended up reading some books but for real this month.

The Children of Hurin, another JRR Tolkien side story.

Contains berserkers, a magic talking dragon (again!) and some hamletesque dramatics peppered throughout the story.

The Safe House, setting up and running your own Sanctuary - Jefferson Mack

I think its a good read for anyone in yankland today looking to escape the looting, TV-stealing zombies in the cities.

Overlord Volume 3: The Bloody Valkyrie.

Local bra-stuffer has a little too much to drink and she ends up goes on a berserk rampage and its up to our skellington superlich to save the day! Just kidding.

Death Note - Another Note

Its a LN based on the Death Note universe. While essentially a spinoff, I found it a fun read with some interesting meta elements. Would recommend if you're really bored and have an hour or two to spare (dont we all?), although it's quite different from the original manga/anime.

Romhacking 101: A basic guide.

A complex technical document detailing the inner workings of the gba, DS and the gamecube, don't be fooled by that '101' - a solid understanding and familiarity with several advanced computing methods is necessary to understand the topics explained in this 'basic guide'. I ended up with more questions than answers, but as far as I'm concerned - that's a good thing.

Tokyo Cyberpunk - Posthumanism in Japanese Visual Culture - Steven T. Brown

A collection of essays discussing some topics in cyberpunk and touching upon some of the themes discussed in cyberpunk themed novels, movies and graphic novels. I might be wrong, but I think this is a part 2 of a series.

-

Currently reading: Hypersphere. A collection of essays and short stories from one of the few remaining imageboards in the modern world. Its basically a long collection of rambling from random anons and its quite entertaining so far. Hypersphere is seven hundred pages of wild ramblings, short stories and essays by random anons from all over the world. Its an interesting monument to humanity itself.

Sure, here ya go.

If anyone has more books to post for May you know where to sling em

@Absurd-Ditties @Asandir @Atlas @Boss @Crink @Dean @DistractedDuck @FoAngel @Ganon-Dorf @Haggard @Joltopus @Kiwi @Little-Rena @Malachy @MercyfulDeath @Peaceblossom @Peregrinus @Phobotech @Quisty @RainyG @SevenSeize @TheReviewTrickster @TopazAzul @Welldoneshellfish @Yomuchan @ZJ

@Viewbob @Black1Star7 @Kutaykomiks @Prinzy2 @Mr-Horror

just tha 2 books over may me for still - i'm currently about 50% through court of roses and thorns #2 and i'm loving this book so far. my completion rate has been a pretty solid 2 books a month this year

do you guys sit down and allocate time for reading? i kind of just read for 1 hour while laying in bed until i fall asleep

Finished reading Hypersphere. That was.... quite the ride.

I try to read at least 30 pages a day, and I might read ten pages in the morning, 5 at lunch time, ten after work and read before bed too. Having the goal means there's nearly never a day when I read nothing, and most days I get sucked into the book an end up reading way more!

I shoot for 50 pages per sitting. I'm a very slow reader and don't usually reach that goal but always get further than if I didn't set a page count. My biggest issue is getting immersed in a book before losing interest. It's a slog sometimes. A lot of things are like that though. Through practice, it'll be easier.

yeah man, i get that totally. i usually have the hardest time finding something read. when i finally pick something, i always find myself tempted to drop it after 10 or so pages thinking that the book doesn't click with me and then another 10 pages and i'll be stuck in. my brain seems to want to trick me to do something else

do you read ebooks or real books? i swapped to a kindle late last year and i found that reading without any of the progress display junk turned on (like the page count or the location or estimated time left in chapter etc etc) leads to way deeper reading sessions

Real books, but I'm planning on getting an e-reader in the future for the ones I've downloaded. I nested myself with more reading material than I know my brain will read. I'd probably read nothing if I didn't have variation though.

Sorry for not responding in so long, it's been a crazy two months, and I haven't really had any time to read.

Last night, I started Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and I'm two chapters in so far!

7. Meg Jay- The Defining Decade

8. Douglas Murray - The Madness of Crowds

9. Nassim Nicholas Taleb - Skin in the Game

10. Scott Adams - The Dilbert Principle

11. Sam Harris & Maajid Nawaz - Islam and the Future of Tolerance

The Defining Decade - 20 is NOT the new 30 and I'm running out of time oh god oh fuck

The Madness of Crowds - Society is setting up an interlocking series of unwinnable scenarios with no way to back out and it's all probably going to explode I suppose. Depressing observations delivered in amusing ways.

Skin in the Game - Something about probabilities, also don't trust someone if they don't have 'skin in the game,' as defined by hands-on experience and associated risk.

The Dilbert Principle - Never even read a Dilbert comic before, but I was feeling nostalgic about vintage computers and that slew of great office films we got in the 90s. This basically hit the spot, published in 97 and it's largely dedicated to anecdotes of absolute office incompetence sent in by fans of the comic.

Islam and the Future of Tolerance - Formalized version of a two-year dialogue between former islamic extremist (but now islamic moderate) Maajid Nawaz and former psychedelic hippie (but now euphoric atheist) Sam Harris. A few years ago these two were sworn enemies but through epic word-combat they learned friendship is more important.

Yeah, otherwise I'd never make progress. Currently I try to read for at least 30 minutes a day in addition to audio books but I've always had trouble being consistent.

I have no shortage of books to choose from (have somewhere around 500 kindle books and stacks of paper ones) but I get distracted easily. On the other hand I have trouble definitively dropping a book and always feel like I have to finish it, that got in the way of progress for years. I'd get stuck in one book and then the thought of going back to it would put me off reading altogether.

I do both and audiobooks as well, but mostly kindle format. Last year I finished 70 books (mostly on the short side) and the vast majority of those were read on my phone through the kindle app. Early this year I finally bought a real kindle, a high end one, but thus far I've been nowhere near last year's pace. Having it on the phone meant I could squeeze reading in anywhere in the day, in addition to longer unbroken sessions, but with the kindle I'm tending to put it off more unless I can sit down and read proper.

Also yeah to hell with this stuff, I'd permanently disable it on both the kindle and the app but it always pops up again.

i really should carve out more time slots and commit to reading more when i get free time to consume content. i usually just read in bed because i can never lay in bed and just go sleep. for about 10 years i would fall asleep listening to podcasts or something and for the past 2 years, i've been falling asleep reading. i think i read for 50+ plus minutes before i pass out

the problem with that strategy is when you get really engrossed in a book and then you're up all night or if you're super tired, you barely get through 10 pages

i don't really have a plethora of books at my disposal. i kind of just buy books on demand so the books i read are usually quite curated and i've researched or been interested in them for a while before buying. there are only 2 books i can think of that i dropped reading

one was this book by tom hanks (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34389773-uncommon-type) that someone gifted me and i dunno man. i just couldn't get into it. i don't really like reading short story collections that much because i don't like the start-stop nature but those stories are especially quite bland

this other was a weird murder mystery novel set in victorian times that was inspired by jack the ripper i think. i can't recall the name but i have it lying around somewhere. it kept swapping from protagonist pov to the bad guy's pov and i found it really jarring

yo 70 is a lot my man, nice job. i think could get close to that if i replaced idle youtube time with reading

i used to only listen to audiobooks because my trip to work was like a 80 mile round trip so it was a great way to kill the time but since then, i transitioned to paper to kindle.

i tried reading on my phone a few times but i found it oddly hard to commit to it because of all the other shit on my phone. the great thing about a kindle is it's just a kindle so the only option is to read. i have to circumvent all these traps and outwit my brain because it wants me to always default to wasting time on the internet

i have the most recent base model kindle. it's pretty dope and does just about everything i could wish an e-reader does. i really like the touch to get word definitions and i love the fact it syncs my highlights/notes to my goodreads account as well. i used to have a mini kobo reader and it was extremely basic like it didn't even have a back-light so for a while i was thinking e-readers are kind of lame lmao

i would def get a higher end one when this kindle bites the dust but it has 4gb storage and works perfectly so who knows when that will be

So far only halfway through Neuromancer. It's interesting but I don't think I'm in the right frame of mind for it? I want to get lost in the world because it's right up my alley. When I do feel it it reminds me of Snow Crash which I read in highschool and made he love cyberpunk. But Neuromancer is earlier probably some of the earliest in the genre. I may need to revisit when the world isn't falling apart

January (4)

1: Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

2: Welcome to the Occupied States of America (First Contact) by Peter Cawdron

3: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

4: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

February (5)

5: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

6: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

7: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

8: Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

9: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

March (5)

10: Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

11: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

12: Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

13: Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

14: Provenance by Ann Leckie

April (6)

15: Maelstrom by Peter Cawdron

16: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick

17: The God Engines by John Scalzi

18: The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A.J. Baime

19: The Last Emperox by John Scalzi

20: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

May (4)

21: Forever Free by Joe Haldeman

22: Homeland by R.A. Salvatore

23: Exile by R.A. Salvatore

24: Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore

I plan on getting 4 books read in June to make up for my lack of literature the passed few months, my video production is out so I have time to focus on other things.

Please up my goal to 38 for the year if you haven't already done the graphics for May. I still want to try to keep myself to 2 per month even though I blew through my original goal

LITFAM UPDATE: GLASS HALF FULL EDITION

We must be finally getting the hang of this quarantine lark because that's our highest total of the year so far and one of the highest totals we've had in general (though Jan 2019's bonkers total of 68 books remains undefeated) - in large part thanks to our secret weapon @Asandir.

@Malachy forfeit his big huge trophy (probably took up too much room) so the #1 podium spot is technically open again and @RainyG is currently leading the race.

We've also collectively read just under 50% of our collective total goal - right on schedule - so that's at least one element of 2020 going the way it should.

Top Fam:

1. @Asandir (14) (!)
2. @Yomuchan (7)
3. @RainyG and @Kiwi (6)

@Absurd-Ditties @Asandir @Atlas @Boss @Crink @Dean @DistractedDuck @FoAngel @Ganon-Dorf @Haggard @Joltopus @Kiwi @Little-Rena @Malachy @MercyfulDeath @Peaceblossom @Peregrinus @Phobotech @Quisty @RainyG @SevenSeize @TheReviewTrickster @TopazAzul @Welldoneshellfish @Yomuchan @ZJ

I'm lacking way behind my goal, but I should be able to finish His Dark Materials soon. Then it's time to break out some easier reading material...