Rhyta Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 On 2/18/2024 at 12:22 AM, NoahLutz said: I read a book by a political.commentator that no one here will like, and it was just meh. He was preaching to the choir (which can be a good and important thing to do), but very little of it was new or interesting to me. My daughter started Jane Eyre and asked me to read it with her, so that’s jumped to the top. The bad news is that she loves it and it seems Wuthering Heights will be on the table. Then I’ll be forced to read Jane Austin books for months. Of course, there are worse fates than reading the greatest female novelist in history, but I do have a backlog I’m trying to thin out. There are worse authors to read, I do enjoy Austen, Pride and Prejudice is most people's favorites but I am partial to Persuasion which is one of her lesser known novels. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 7 hours ago, Rhyta said: There are worse authors to read, I do enjoy Austen, Pride and Prejudice is most people's favorites but I am partial to Persuasion which is one of her lesser known novels. I’ve got them all on-the-ready on my Kindle! I assume my daughter will start with Pride and Prejudice, but I’ll put in a word for Persuasion. I remember not liking Pride and Prejudice when I was forced to read it in school, but back then I thought Shakespeare was overrated, so, basically, I was a punk who knew nothing. I look forward to the excuse to give Austen another go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Jane Eyre was good, but not great. The writing is a little too purple for me, and the drama lacks some depth, the author puts very similar speech and speech patterns into different characters (e.g., two different people will describe one thing in exactly the same way), and at least 3 characters have superhuman observation skills which would make them unbeatable at a poker game. Having said that, I largely enjoyed the story and the writing, and look forward to my inevitable trip to visit and revisit the Brontes and Austen. But before that, I think I’m going to go for either When Christmas Comes or Alice in Wonderland. But I won’t know until I fire up my kindle again in a day or two. I also want to read Paradise Lost, The Road, All the King’s Men, and A Secret History of Christianity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 23 hours ago, NoahLutz said: Jane Eyre was good, but not great. The writing is a little too purple for me, and the drama lacks some depth, the author puts very similar speech and speech patterns into different characters (e.g., two different people will describe one thing in exactly the same way), and at least 3 characters have superhuman observation skills which would make them unbeatable at a poker game. Having said that, I largely enjoyed the story and the writing, and look forward to my inevitable trip to visit and revisit the Brontes and Austen. But before that, I think I’m going to go for either When Christmas Comes or Alice in Wonderland. But I won’t know until I fire up my kindle again in a day or two. I also want to read Paradise Lost, The Road, All the King’s Men, and A Secret History of Christianity. Apparently I have too much time on my hands and started and finished the novella When Christmas Comes. It is a good crime drama with a bit of a thriller feel thrown in. I feel like it was made more as a movie script than a novel, but I’ve already started to read the next in the series, A Strange Habit of Mind. All the King’s Men will have to wait at least another few days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 On 2/27/2024 at 11:32 PM, NoahLutz said: Apparently I have too much time on my hands and started and finished the novella When Christmas Comes. It is a good crime drama with a bit of a thriller feel thrown in. I feel like it was made more as a movie script than a novel, but I’ve already started to read the next in the series, A Strange Habit of Mind. All the King’s Men will have to wait at least another few days. A Strange Habit of Mind, and the follow up, The House of Love and Death were absolutely enthralling stories. While there are touches of deep concepts which cause you to examine the depths of your own soul, there are also thrilling and compelling stories as pure entertainment. I loved them. Now I’m torn between Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, All the King’s Men, and Paradise Lost. I’m going to take the rest of the day off (and perhaps do some work) and see what fancies me tomorrow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and it was ok. I will tackle Through the Looking Glass soon, but I was a bit disappointed that the Disney adaption is so good. Meaning, there weren’t a lot of themes explored in the book, or different angles on themes. So, kudos to you, Disney! I also “finished” Paradise Lost. Really, it means that I’ve been through it once and have teed up the opportunity to really read it at some time in the future. It is very long, and in the vein of The Divine Comedy - basically taking the classic epics of Homer and Vergil and placing them into a Christian context with way more philosophical heft. The biggest problem for Paradise Lost was probably that I have recently read the Divine Comedy, and there’s almost nothing that Milton does better than Dante. Dante goes deeper, evokes more emotion, has better imagery, and has a much deeper philosophical and social exposition. This all sounds harsh for an epic poem I really enjoyed, but, as I said, it suffers by comparison. Anyway, I’m on to Paradise Regained and Through the Looking Glass. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 I finished Paradise Regained and it was more accessible but less interesting than Paradise Lost. I skipped Through the Looking Glass and went to All the King’s Men. I’m a little surprised that this book is as highly regarded as it is. IT isn’t bad; in fact it is good. But the story is a bit scattered, the writing is repetitive and can be reductive (especially for female characters), and the author leans much too heavily on certain descriptions and phrases. However, once you strip away the uneven writing and incoherent philosophy, there is an interesting story and slivers of eternal truths. I haven’t decided whether to go back to Alice, choose a fun read, or finish another of my self-imposed homework assignments next. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyta Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 On 2/26/2024 at 8:53 AM, NoahLutz said: Jane Eyre was good, but not great. The writing is a little too purple for me, and the drama lacks some depth, the author puts very similar speech and speech patterns into different characters (e.g., two different people will describe one thing in exactly the same way), and at least 3 characters have superhuman observation skills which would make them unbeatable at a poker game. Having said that, I largely enjoyed the story and the writing, and look forward to my inevitable trip to visit and revisit the Brontes and Austen. But before that, I think I’m going to go for either When Christmas Comes or Alice in Wonderland. But I won’t know until I fire up my kindle again in a day or two. I also want to read Paradise Lost, The Road, All the King’s Men, and A Secret History of Christianity. I didn't like Jane Eyre the first time I read it but after multiple readings, I have come to like it a lot. Jane is really a strong person in such a harsh world and it was easy to root for her. I don't know if you like re-tellings but I found a fun series years ago called the Eyre Affair. It is set in a time where people can actually interact with characters from literature. Thursday Next is a Lit Detective and through a complicated set of events, Rochester appears to her and asks her to help him get Jane back from a kidnapper. It is so clever and funny with lots of inventive ideas and inside jokes. I started laughing from the first page on. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Robert E. Howard - The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Reyes Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Just finished "Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughed (A Journey through the Deep State)" by Kerry Howley. Tomorrow I begin "A Fire So Wild" by Sarah Ruiz-Grossman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 I’m reading the Gospel of Matthew and A Secret History of Christianity, which is an examination of the idea of consciousness throughout history as seen through the lens of the philosophy of Owen Barfield. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 John Buchan - The Thirty-Nine Steps Patrick Hamilton - Hangover Square Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 I’m finishing Alice in Wonderland with Through the Looking Glass. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithrandir Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 On 3/17/2024 at 5:48 PM, Turbine Freight said: John Buchan - The Thirty-Nine Steps Patrick Hamilton - Hangover Square Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White One of my all time favorites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun & Moon Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 (edited) Clementine, Book One by Tillie Walden. Seems like another tough one from one of the top graphic novel artists of today. I'm not the kind that has ever enjoyed or can watch horror films or series. This graphic novel, based loosely on the Walking Dead character Clementine, is beautifully illustrated (as the works by Walden tend to be). The walkers, too, are horribly beautiful. Since one of them attacked me in a nightmare I had after reading the first twenty pages of the book I had to reconsider my choice but then decided to see how Clementine's surviving. The story seems to have just enough layers to carry through the first book, but I'm not sure if I'm going to endure the anxiety that is present in that post-apocalypse setting, and foremost, the slow proceeding of the story. I'm not at all familiar with the Walking Dead world so I have no idea who Clementine is and how she's been portrayed in other WD products. Edited March 21 by Sun & Moon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 On 3/20/2024 at 8:25 PM, Mithrandir said: One of my all time favorites It's great. I also have a soft spot for The Moonstone. It's due a re-read. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyta Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 On 3/21/2024 at 2:28 PM, Sun & Moon said: Clementine, Book One by Tillie Walden. Seems like another tough one from one of the top graphic novel artists of today. I'm not the kind that has ever enjoyed or can watch horror films or series. This graphic novel, based loosely on the Walking Dead character Clementine, is beautifully illustrated (as the works by Walden tend to be). The walkers, too, are horribly beautiful. Since one of them attacked me in a nightmare I had after reading the first twenty pages of the book I had to reconsider my choice but then decided to see how Clementine's surviving. The story seems to have just enough layers to carry through the first book, but I'm not sure if I'm going to endure the anxiety that is present in that post-apocalypse setting, and foremost, the slow proceeding of the story. I'm not at all familiar with the Walking Dead world so I have no idea who Clementine is and how she's been portrayed in other WD products. You are braver than me, don't think I could read those. Other than a couple of Stephen King novels, I have not read much horror. A big fraidy cat, moi. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithrandir Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 17 hours ago, Turbine Freight said: It's great. I also have a soft spot for The Moonstone. It's due a re-read. Agree. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Taliesin, the first book of the Pengragon Cycle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun & Moon Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 (edited) On 3/23/2024 at 12:44 AM, Rhyta said: You are braver than me, don't think I could read those. Other than a couple of Stephen King novels, I have not read much horror. A big fraidy cat, moi. That's nothing to be ashamed of. Horror's not my cup of tea at all, either. Edited April 7 by Sun & Moon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahLutz Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 I’ve been horrible on reading for the last two weeks. I’m on the 4th book of the Prince Warriors series with my son, and I’m at the Gospel of Luke in my study Bible, but I am going through both slowly and have basically stopped reading Taliesin. It’s not for any fault in the book as I have found it interesting, it is just laziness. I need to get myself going again. Rhyta, where are you at? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyta Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 (edited) 2 hours ago, NoahLutz said: I’ve been horrible on reading for the last two weeks. I’m on the 4th book of the Prince Warriors series with my son, and I’m at the Gospel of Luke in my study Bible, but I am going through both slowly and have basically stopped reading Taliesin. It’s not for any fault in the book as I have found it interesting, it is just laziness. I need to get myself going again. Rhyta, where are you at? You are doing better than me, I am struggling to read much. I think there are so many distractions that take me away from my reading, podcasts being the big one. But this time of year I had always had a slump in my reading with hockey playoffs taking a big chunk out of my reading time in April through June but this year I can't seem to read much. I even stalled out on Geddy's book, hoping I can break out of it soon. Going to try my usual fix, re-reading a book I like and that can spur me back into reading. Going back to Longmire, I had started a re-read of the series awhile back. Hell is Empty is the title. Edited April 10 by Rhyta 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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