What are you reading?

[Kong Wen]

Kong's 2016 on the page

I actually didn't get a lot of reading done this year.

Probably my most satisfying reading accomplishment of the year was finishing off Eiji Yoshikawa's Musashi in June. I had started it the summer before, but it got set aside for some reason. I picked it back up and feverishly read through the rest of the book. It's excellent. I'm going to have to go back to Taiko next, which is in a similar half-finished state...

I also read Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams, which served as a nice reminder of what a brilliant writer he is, even when he's operating outside his usual genre.

In July, I read the first volume of Luo Guanzhong's Three Kingdoms in a new translation by Yu Sumei. Three Kingdoms is one of my favourite books, but this edition simply didn't cut it for me. There are some mixed-up names and other little editorial oddities throughout. Moss Roberts is still number one in my books. Either way, it's always nice to see a fresh approach and have an excuse to re-read an old favourite.

In August, a group of friends had a table reading of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage. We had more readers than characters, so we swapped characters half-way through to give everyone a chance. It was a lot of fun! Even the introverts in our group came out of their shells a little bit to get involved in the acting.

As a part of my vacation to Germany in December, I got to spend the better part of two 8-hour flights reading Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. It was one hell of a weird book. I'm still processing. I'm sure I could say something coherent about it if pressed... but I'm not being pressed.

Finally, over Christmas break, I sped through a couple of my gifts to myself: Mark Dunn's Ella Minnow Pea (which had a decent concept but was disappointingly executed in something of a rote, mechanical way) and Ian McEwan's Nutshell (which was refreshing and original, and a surprisingly compelling page-turner, excepting one awkwardly tangential chapter).

I'm going to open 2017 with Patrick deWitt's Undermajordomo Minor, and I'm really excited about it. After that, it's back to the drawing board/recommendations list.

[Kong Wen]

Similar to our usual gaming-related New Year's resolutions, I have a reading-related goal set for 2017. I plan to read 10 books, which is a tiny, paltry number, but it's taken me some time to read that much for pleasure in the wake of my psychologically devastating education.

The first book I completed this year was Canadian author Patrick deWitt's Undermajordomo Minor, which is a brilliant neo-Gothic with witty dialogue and a surprisingly engaging plot arc. I was hooked 50 pages in, and I think it only took me 3-4 days to read the whole book. Highly recommended.

1. 01-10 Undermajordomo Minor (2016), Patrick deWitt
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[Sharecrow]

I thought I'd go ahead and post my 2017 goals in advance of finishing anything yet. Am currently reading Madame Bovary and The Shining.

* finish 24 books
* read three non-fiction books
* read two Stephen King books
* read two Harlan Ellison books

[Kong Wen]

The second book I completed this year was The Outsider by Albert Camus, recommended by Share. It was quite a light read for a so-called existentialist work, so I can see why Camus rejected the label. The first part is quite a good novel of the everyday, and the second part is a nice deconstruction of morality and social expectations. It seems like a book Jelly would like. I'm going to tag Jelly. Tag!

1. 01-10 Undermajordomo Minor (2016), Patrick deWitt (Canadian)
2. 01-20 The Outsider (1942), Albert Camus (French)
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[Sharecrow]

First book of the year is completed - Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I frankly hadn't heard of this book before or even the author (came through my subscription service....to which I'm finally caught up on for the first time since they sent me the Federalist Papers about a year ago). It was a surprisingly good, albeit sad, book. It's about a marriage that falls apart, which is compounded by dire financial troubles. It was written in the 1850s to give you an idea of setting and tone. I'm glad I read this one. I'm continuing to work on The Shining and I'm starting the Harlan Ellison book No Doors, No Windows, which I have not read before.

Finish 24 books
1. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
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Read three non-fiction books
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Read the Elenium trilogy
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Read two Stephen King books
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Read two Harlan Ellison books
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[Sharecrow]

I finished a couple more - one, No Doors, No Windows by Harlan Ellison. I initially hadn't recalled reading this but now know that I did back in the summer of 1995. They're suspense stories. Quite good ones.

I also read the "sequel" to an old favorite Heinlein of mine (The Cat Who Walks Through Walls), To Sail Beyond the Sunset. It was quite good and reminded me quite a bit of one of his other books which I think is partially the same story from a completely different perspective. I liked it but it was a very different book from its spiritual prequel. But not in a bad way - it's just different.

I'm still working on The Shining and will also be starting Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, which I haven't read before. Good times.

Finish 24 books
1. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
2. No Doors, No Windows by Harlan Ellison
3. To Sail Beyond the Sunset by Robert Heinlein
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Read three non-fiction books
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Read the Elenium trilogy
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Read two Stephen King books
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Read two Harlan Ellison books
1. No Doors, No Windows
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[Sharecrow]

I've knocked out a few more. Finished my first non-fiction of the year in Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400. Was a short but really interesting read about the early Christian church and its expansion. I also read an old play that was often quite touching: Cyrano de Bergerac. Finally, I finished The Shining. I had had super high expectations for it which it didn't meet - I was being unreasonable. I loved the book though from start to finish. It's just not close to being one of my favorites of King's books. That's all.

I started re-reading book 1 of the Elenium trilogy. I'll also be starting Leon Uris' QB VII on my kindle. Good times.

Finish 24 books
1. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
2. No Doors, No Windows by Harlan Ellison
3. To Sail Beyond the Sunset by Robert Heinlein
4. Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400 by Ramsay MacMullen
5.Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
6.The Shining by Stephen King
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Read three non-fiction books
1.Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400 by Ramsay MacMullen
2.
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Read the Elenium trilogy
1.
2.
3.

Read two Stephen King books
1.The Shining
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Read two Harlan Ellison books
1. No Doors, No Windows
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[Kong Wen]

The third book I completed this year was the most recent memoir by (now Sir) Raymond Douglas Davies of the Kinks, titled Americana: The Kinks, the Riff, the Road, the Story (2013). It was fine. It was a little self-indulgent, but it was a memoir after all, and it was Ray Davies after all. There's some material in here touching on the career of the Kinks, but there's also a lot from the solo years afterwards. I did find his ruminations on his injury fairly interesting, since that hadn't happened yet when he wrote his last book.

The fourth book I completed this year was Stephen King's The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (1982). I thought it was quite serviceable! I was worried it might be juvenile pap, but I enjoyed the way it was structured. The influences were a little clear at some points (e.g. the Mines of Moria sequence), but that didn't detract from it. If they don't somehow license "Hey Jude" for this year's film adaptation, I'll be pretty disappointed.

The fifth book I read was The Zone of Interest (2014) by Martin Amis. This is a harrowing historical drama about the Holocaust from the perspective of three characters who are intimately involved in its execution. It does an excellent job at trying to get inside the heads of otherwise normal people who were swept up in a massive cultural tide and found themselves complicit in a terrible crime, and how they tried to reconcile themselves to it, without absolving them. It's really quite a complex book, and my feelings about it changed from chapter to chapter. Overall, probably the best book I've read in the past couple of years, but like I said, it's harrowing and difficult. I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who want to learn more about a dark time in human history and also think about how the mistakes of the past can be applicable to our current contexts.

Last night, I just finished reading a book of Ted Chiang's short stories, Stories of Your Life and Others (2002). "Story of Your Life", the story from which the Oscar-nominated film Arrival was derived, is in this collection. And it's quite good, though not the best story in the book (and frankly I think the film was better). There are a couple of other interesting stories in here, too, but a few that I thought fell flat. It's a quick, light read (not sure if that's a function of the short story form, the science fiction genre, or something else). Worked well as a palate cleanser.

1. 01-10 Undermajordomo Minor (2016), Patrick deWitt (Canadian)
2. 01-20 The Outsider (1942), Albert Camus (French)
3. 02-28 Americana: The Kinks, the Riff, the Road, the Story (2013), Ray Davies (British)
4. 05-12 The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (1982), Stephen King (American)
5. 05-13 The Zone of Interest (2014), Martin Amis (British)
6. 05-16 Stories of Your Life and Others (2002), Ted Chiang (American)
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[Kong Wen]

Keeping up the streak, last night I finished Notes from a Feminist Killjoy: Essays on Everyday Life (2016) by Canadian academic Erin Wunker. Excellent blend of academic monograph and autobiographical musings divided up into three essays and a postscript. Because of its crossover genre, it doesn't posit much in the way of new theory, but it does actualize existing theory, and it provides timely analysis.

With this one finished, the only unread book for which I paid money in 2017 is Gai-Jin. I've also received two freebies, but I'm not in a rush to read them. I'm considering starting a cycle of seminal mid-'90s fantasy (re-reading A Game of Thrones and moving on to The Golden Compass and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), but we'll see what happens when I get into the bookstore. Sometimes I pick up unexpected things.

1. 01-10 Undermajordomo Minor (2016), Patrick deWitt (Canadian)
2. 01-20 The Outsider (1942), Albert Camus (French)
3. 02-28 Americana: The Kinks, the Riff, the Road, the Story (2013), Ray Davies (British)
4. 05-12 The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (1982), Stephen King (American)
5. 05-13 The Zone of Interest (2014), Martin Amis (British)
6. 05-16 Stories of Your Life and Others (2002), Ted Chiang (American)
7. 05-19 Notes from a Feminist Killjoy: Essays on Everyday Life (2016), Erin Wunker (Canadian)
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[Sharecrow]

I did finish book 1 of the Elenium trilogy: The Diamond Throne. It was a fun read and I'm looking forward to book 2.

I also read Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff at Vic's recommendation. It was a pretty good book with a creative narrative about art and creation and its interaction with reality. The stories weaved into this tale were generally pretty good and I laughed out loud more than once at his humor and wit. I felt like the climax was a bit forced but it did work pretty well.

I'm about a third of the way through Leon Uris' QB VII and I have also started the epic tome that is Les Miserables and am chipping away at that and loving every bit of it.

Finish 24 books
1. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
2. No Doors, No Windows by Harlan Ellison
3. To Sail Beyond the Sunset by Robert Heinlein
4. Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400 by Ramsay MacMullen
5. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
6. The Shining by Stephen King
7. The Diamond Throne by David Eddings
8. Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff
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Read three non-fiction books
1. Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400 by Ramsay MacMullen
2.
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Read the Elenium trilogy
1. The Diamond Throne
2.
3.

Read two Stephen King books
1. The Shining
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Read two Harlan Ellison books
1. No Doors, No Windows
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