This Old Neon Forum

Well, I just cranked through Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It wasn't bad for what it was. I'll read the next book.

Moving on to Atwood next, I reckon.

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)
8. 05-23 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), J.K. Rowling (British)
9.
10.

Kong Wen wrote:Moving on to Atwood next, I reckon.

Indeed.

The Handmaid's Tale was a good one. I hadn't read it before (or any Atwood, for that matter), but I knew some of what to expect. The story and setting were well-done, but I was particularly impressed by Atwood's style. Definite postmodern influences—certainly enough to be interesting and to provide several invitations in to deeper linguistic interpretation—but tempered by disciplined storycraft. Looking forward to reading more Atwood, though not sure which book I'll choose.

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)
8. 05-23 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), J.K. Rowling (British)
9. 05-27 The Handmaid's Tale (1985), Margaret Atwood (Canadian)
10.

Chris Tolkien is publishing a compilation of all JRR's Beren and Luthien material. It's coming out this weekend, the 10th anniversary of his previous Silmarillion compilation (Children of Hurin). I just ordered it, so it should get here early next week. I hope to have the Golden Compass read by then, because I'm eager to jump right into it when it arrives.

I finished reading Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass earlier today, completing my resolution early. I'm going to keep reading, obviously. I'm glad to finally have my mojo back after it was tortuously stripped from me.

Anyway, this books was a pleasant surprise. It was well-plotted/-structured and was quite satisfying to read. The ending was whack, which is probably a good thing when it comes to setting up a sequel, although it was unsettling on its own. Pullman has created a fantasy world without beating the reader over the head with exposition about its rules and customs. Everything is presented quite naturally, and the reader is actually able to pick up on clues and learn about the world naturally as well. I'll put the second entry on my list and get to it when I get a chance. Tolkien is probably next, though.

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)
8. 05-23 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), J.K. Rowling (British)
9. 05-27 The Handmaid's Tale (1985), Margaret Atwood (Canadian)
10. 06-04 The Golden Compass (1995), Philip Pullman (British)

I just finished Christopher Tolkien's latest gathering together of J.R.R.'s scrips and scraps of a particular tale—one of the big three that formed the Silmarillion, Beren and Lúthien. It was very interesting to read the various forms of the story in chronological order, with notes and historical context, to see how they evolved and how Tolkien improved on his germinal narratives.

I'm going back to King for the second book of the Dark Tower series, and then I'll probably knock out another Potter book, and then I believe I'll finally be ready for Gai-Jin, bacon willing.

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)
8. 05-23 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), J.K. Rowling (British)
9. 05-27 The Handmaid's Tale (1985), Margaret Atwood (Canadian)
10. 06-04 The Golden Compass (1995), Philip Pullman (British)
11. 06-25 Beren and Lúthien (2017), J.R.R. Tolkien (British)

Get those short and possibly least exciting Harry Potter books out of the way!

I just finished the fifth book again for the 15th time at least. It is such a fantastic book. Definitely my favorite in the series!

Kreegs wrote:Get those short and possibly least exciting Harry Potter books out of the way!

I just finished the fifth book again for the 15th time at least. It is such a fantastic book. Definitely my favorite in the series!

I have a feeling I'm going to end up liking the first 1-2 better than the others. The juvenile aspect works well for them, since they don't allow Rowling to overreach her capabilities.

Don't rule them out before you have given them a read. Admittedly, people have sneered at my choice in what I consider to be entertaining literature.

Okay I've knocked out just a couple more. One of them is the enormous-yet-lovely Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I enjoyed the book thoroughly from beginning to end. It did seem like I would never finish it at times... I may watch the film again soon just for giggles.

I also finished book 2 of the Elenium trilogy by David Eddings: The Ruby Knight. It was quite good as well and was a nice pallet cleanser after Les Miserables. I finished it in two days. One more to go to complete that goal!

I just started reading Hamlet by you know who and Again, Dangerous Visions, which is a compilation edited by Harlan Ellison. I'm not going to count that as my second Ellison book - am just reading it because I want to. No goal involved. I'm also still reading that Leon Uris book QB VII

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
9. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
10. The Ruby Knight by David Eddings
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.

Read three non-fiction books
1. Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400 by Ramsay MacMullen
2.
3.

Read the Elenium trilogy
1. The Diamond Throne
2. The Ruby Knight
3.

Read two Stephen King books
1. The Shining
2.

Read two Harlan Ellison books
1. No Doors, No Windows
2.

I just finished Book II of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It was great! Just as good as the first one in terms of atmosphere and world-building, and better in some ways (humorous beats, twists and turns).

So not only did I beat my New Year's resolution to read 10 books, I've beaten my backup resolution to read more than a book per month on average. I'll be moving on to Book II of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series next, as soon as I get back to NB for vacation. One of my favourite traditions is that I do a lot of reading by the pool in the week of vacation I take around Canada Day, so the next Harry Potter might not be enough. I'll bring Dark Tower III along with me just in case.

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)
8. 05-23 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), J.K. Rowling (British)
9. 05-27 The Handmaid's Tale (1985), Margaret Atwood (Canadian)
10. 06-04 The Golden Compass (1995), Philip Pullman (British)
11. 06-25 Beren and Lúthien (2017), J.R.R. Tolkien (British)
12. 07-02 The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987), Stephen King (American)