Literature Club

I guess, why not, afterall - I have time to read more stuff and ocassionally talk about them :P
I read Tonio Kröger recently, from Thomas Mann. It's a short novel about Tonio, who by his name, and his attitude is very out of place amongst the citizens - he's a shy boy who has trouble making friends or understanding people, especially that he has a frowned upon habit of writing poems amongst with other artistic talens, feeling to be destined an artist, despite of how bad artists reputation is (unsure livelyhood, not having a proper job, a family, often drinking, etc). The book is about his childhood and adulthood, about 50-50% - reoccuring themes are longing for someone or something our of his reach, while not noticing other options (or people) he could be happy with, feeling both superior compared to them, but also envying them for the "simple, stupid life". This longing continues on during the book, wanting to be simpler, happier, but at the same time kind of being proud that he's more than the masses. It's a classic approach to the old ideology of artists being visionaries, and acting outside (and in some ways, both above and below) society.
Was pretty good - about 120-150ish pages, more food for thought than actual entertainment, lots of thinking and kind-of monologueing, not much action, change or happening.

I cringe a bit when I see posts about "let us gush about the coincidence that we both read the same book."
"Oh, I have never heard about that book." crickets
"How many books can there be that you would pick something that I have not even heard of?"
"Oh, that book comes from another culture/language; so, I am not sure how I would read it even if I could find it."
"Oh, 'How To Eat Fried Worms'--my 10-year-old read that; I think it is...cute that you picked that one."
"Oh, I have read 12 books in the last year! How could you possibly have read only 1 in the last 5? Oh. I see now."
It just sticks too much of that teenage music relationship--"What music do you like?" "Lady Gaga" "Me too! We have so much in common."
OR "Big Boy Bolsheviks" "I have never heard of them. We probably would not get along..."

OK. So, they turned this into a movie which I have not seen yet: "The Big Short"
What really happened in the USA Mortgage crisis of 2008? politics and blaming set aside. How did this all happen? the details
(tl;dr People borrowed money which they had no ability to pay back; Banks were not greedy--they were capital S, Stupid!)

Also "Boomerang" about the bankrupt countries of Europe in 2010s.

I recommend most any book my Michael Lewis. He does not write from a perspective of "you must already understand Wall Street."
He writes with "of course you do not know the inner details of this industry so let me explain it to you simply so that all can understand."

"Moneyball" was about modern optimizations in A's MLB team (movie as well.)

All fantastic reads from a guy who started out in life as a trader on Wall Street.
(BTW, if you like country music, we probably would not get along.)

Yesterday I started reading Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser, and I finished it in one sitting. One of my friends has tendencies to OCD, and told me this book would give some insight into the thoughts and feelings of people who experience it. The storytelling wasn't anything special since that was not the focus of the book, but that was alright. I really liked it.

I don't have the greatest SG ratio yet but I would like to try to apply for the group anyway, mainly to get nice suggestions about books :) But I'd understand if I wasn't accepted yet. Have a good weekend!

Would love to join some literature club. Sounds fun. :)

As for the recent read, I only read non-fiction books lately. Finished "The History of Ancient World" by Susan Wise Bauer and will continue on the second book later. Loved the way she presented the history in her book. It made the journey from Eridu to old Rome feels like watching a long history movie, lol.

Tried to read some light novels as well in a meantime, but the writing style is so bad I can't even... Well, just some personal preference, I guess.

Le Bump

View attached image.

I just finished re-reading the first two books of the Kingsbridge series (Pillars of the Earth and World Without End), but since my copy of A Column of Fire isn't going to arrive until june, I might start Anna Karenina or The Death of Ivan Ilyich later this week. I haven't decided yet.

Not too sure about my SG ratio, since I can'T afford too much and if I have something I mostly share it with groups - shame on me drop
In case that fits:
I'm currently reading Terry Goodking - Sword of Truth 7 which is "Pillars of Creation". I recently had taken a break with the series - mostly because there are SO MANY books waiting for me to (re)read them! - but I finished Faith of the Fallen a short while back... and now I just wanna keep reading! I kinda forgot why I love the author and the series and man! It's still good! happy Luckily I have... a couple more Sword of Truth books waiting for me, so I won't have to wait for more, more, more :D
I started a few years ago with Goodreads, since for me it's more fun having it listed and sorted (yep, that's why I enjoy BLAEO as well!), but although I'd like too, I will not share that one, thanks to real name and stuff and me being shy and... why did I even mention it? Yep, I'll now go hiding and waiting for you to judge me :D
Have a nice day! \o/

I am about to delve into the final book of the Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard.

Hi, I'm getting back into reading after a long break, and I like the idea of this.

I just finished reading Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.

It's a graphic novel about the author's time growing up - examining the author's family life, her relationship with her father, obsessive / compulsive disorder, sexual orientation, etc. It's part auto-biography, part self reflection, all wrapped up in literary knowledge that surpasses my own.

The subtitle is "A Family Tragicomic", and is very accurate. Her accounts are sometimes really funny, such that I felt compelled to share them, and other times tragic, and sometimes a mix of both. For example, at one point as a child she's coloring Mr Toad's caravan her favorite color - midnight blue. Her father observes her as he walks by, and is scandalized. "What are you doing? That's the canary-colored caravan!" He then sits down to fix it, saying "Here, I'll do the rest in yellow, and your blue side will be in shadow. Look, by adding thin layers of goldenrod and yellow-orange, I get a richer color." She described it as a "crayonic tour de force". At the same time, it illustrates the issues in their relationship, where even something like coloring in a coloring book has to be done to his exacting standards. It was an interesting, and compelling, read.

I don't know what you consider a good ratio. :(
I am currently reading GA Henty's ("A March on London"](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7061) (about 2/3 done). I have to say I really like this author's books, even thought they are always seen from the main character's (Scottish or English) perspective, and thus not a complete picture of a war (although I think the author tried to be fair to both sides), and just got up to the part where they decide to return to England because nothing is happening in Flanders. I had not been aware previously of Roger Bacon, and was interested in knowing about him, and then looking him up on wikipedia. Also, I learned the medieval term "wall-piece" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_gun). I find it extremely interesting to read old books, because my vocabulary usually goes up by a couple of words per read.

I was about to host a giveaway, only to notice that I have been removed from the group. What when wrong?
The books I have been reading back then. Didn't listen to much since then, 33% of Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana, I'm having exams so yeah.

I have always loved Alice in Wonderland. It may seem like a childish book, but honestly, I couldn't really understand it as a child. (I was read the original, non-simplified version.) As an adult, I often wish I could jump into a hole (LOL) but this book started my love of fantasy and inspired my curiosity. Plus, there are words in the book that the author simply made up and it inspired my imagination and creative thought to picture in my head what these barely established words could even be! Even now I still pick it up for a relaxing read on a rainy day. It's my first book-love.

I was in the first group but I got no request and I got denied to the second group, do I have to write new comment with book ?

I don't know if it qualifies but I've been busy reading The Complete H.P. Lovecraft Reader. Yesterday, I finished The Whisperer in Darkness and it was excellent, just like every short story/novella so far.

Finished the Blade Itself book by Joe Abercrombie since I have heard about the good reviews. There are many POV's presented and characters are pitted against each other in a war with the North vs The Union. There is fencing, unrequited love, magic, and backstabbing to name a few themes.

The storybuilding is very good and each character is explained to great detail. Great read for Fantasy fans.

Never Enough by Joe McGinniss, was based on a true story, I didn't think it was too amazing but not bad - it was quite interesting since it was a true story

Before I Go To Sleep, by S.J. Watson (French translation). I wasn't expecting much, but this was really good.

To quote wiki, it's a psychological thriller about a woman who "wakes up every day with no knowledge of who she is and the novel follows her as she tries to reconstruct her memories from a journal she has been keeping."
The narration and this specific context really helps to create an oppressive feeling during most of the book, and while it doesn't happen often to me while reading, I always wanted to know what's next as quick as possible.

By the way, thanks to all of you who've been talking about and recommending GoodReads, seems useful ;) (even S.J Watson is there!)

If you're into popular science, I would recommend Science(ish): The Peculiar Science Behind the Movies. I recently finished and it was a lot of fun. Very well written. The movies are only the starting point and they cover the science really well.

EDIT: And while I'm here, why not request to join, too?

Nation by Terry Pratchett.
This is a serious book about growing up / formation of character. Good for young people.

Well, my job is writing political research, so I rarely have time to read fiction or "fun" stuff. The last book I read was The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel Huntington. He's a really popular political scientist and researcher and this book is a great way to start if you're looking to dig into neoliberalism and the beginnings of its crysis, the one we're still witnessing today. It's a really well written and compact book all in all, recommended to anyone interested in politics.

Last book read: C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew. Read aloud for my kids.
Last book read for myself: Kazuo Ishiguro's Buried Giant
I read the Narnia suite when I was a kid and enjoyed the books very much, so much so they got me started on a long stretch of reading fantasy novels, culminating in Silmarillion and the Earthsea books. I don't read much fantasy these days, so reading Lewis's and Ishiguro's very different takes was an accidental journey into nostalgia – in more ways than one (Those who have read Buried Giant nod knowingly).

I read book or rather manga. I think that's the only kind of books i read.

If it is counted then, i read tons of manga such as seven deathly sins, one piece etc.

On second thoughts, i used to read those interactive books where based on your choices you have to flip to that particular page to continue the story. One of it was Sonic. It was pretty popular last time, as such it sparks my interest for story rich games, choices matter games :D

Currently re-reading Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, and boy do I love this novel. Highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy! (Though if you haven't read any of his novels I recommend starting with The Final Empire in the Mistborn series.)

Imho Sanderson has excellent skill as a writer, though now that I have read his later novels I do notice that his gender representation improved a lot since this novel. Sadly there are barely any women in it in proportion to the guys, though this is partly because of the strict gender roles Sanderson wrote in this world.

But anyway, as a fantasy novel in general it's excellent! :)

Right now I'm reading Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon. Everyone who likes bands like sonic youth or nirvana should read this book. Kim who is one part of sonic youth describes what influenced her the most, as an musican and most of all as a artist.

I'd ask for you to define "good" SG ratio, but I suppose this already means I'm out. ;)

Great idea, though.