Books you've read in 2020

I'm currently reading "A Ghost In The Throat" by my old Repeal The 8th canvassing buddy Doireann Ní Ghríofa. It's very different to what I normally read but enjoying it so far.
 
I'm on 32 books out of 60 on Goodreads, and it's telling me I'm 13 books behind schedule. Rude.

Listening to The Road Home by Rose Tremain on Audible, and I've had The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough sitting beside me for a week, so I'll start that this weekend.
 
I’ve got an array of Scientology bashing literature lined up next. :disco:
 
I was considering this. If it's Nance-approved I might have to take the plunge
NANCE-APPROVED

If delightful and quirky old people with a zest for new adventures is up your street then you’ll love it.
 
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Oh yay, Words of Radiance is so good. The Way of Kings is an intro but things really kick off in the second book.

Don’t forget to read Edgedancer (the novella) before Oathbringer. Also Warbeaker as some characters will cross over.
 
Oh yay, Words of Radiance is so good. The Way of Kings is an intro but things really kick off in the second book.

Don’t forget to read Edgedancer (the novella) before Oathbringer. Also Warbeaker as some characters will cross over.

I'll never reach my 15 books with this workload...
 
Yeah take breaks in between, cause if you’re in then you’ll wanna read them all and there are so many books (6 Mistborn, Elantris, etc...) and you’ll get tired.
 
It really is beautifully written isn’t it.

If it left you wanting more Thatcher era gay Scottish writing, I’d recommend ‘Maggie & me’ by Damian Barr. This one is a memoir.
Ordered this on Amazon today.

I'm in the mood for a book to really absorb me. The last one was probably The Story of the Night which I keep thinking back to. :(

I've rated a few books 4 or 5 stars since but wasn't hit in the same way.
 
There is of course only one book we should all be reading this season, and it really is a stunning guide to love, life, beauty and getting your anal requirements met at funerals :disco:

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I’d say writing is a step above, so it definitely counts.

Meanwhile, I’m lagging behind my ”one book per week” plan because 1Q84 is taking ages to read. I’m finding it hard to sit down and read without being distracted by other things.
 
@Mats are you still reading Stormlight or are you taking a break?
 
@Phoenix, I was just thinking about the books and you, our very own Wit. I've got 200 pages left of Words of Radiance. I'm really enjoying the plot, the world, the characters, however the writing leaves something to be desired overall, especially the superficial and/or quippy dialogues and monologues of Shallan and Kaladin. it verges on what I imagine YA is written like... some of the drawings are horrible too, it's like being transported back to deviantart in 2003 :D I'll be taking a break after I'm done with this TOME and then resume in the new year

why is there no paperback of Edgedancer? :evil:
 
I saw you just reviewed the interlude between book 3 and 4 favourably so I'm glad it stays interesting!
 
@Phoenix, I was just thinking about the books and you, our very own Wit. I've got 200 pages left of Words of Radiance. I'm really enjoying the plot, the world, the characters, however the writing leaves something to be desired overall, especially the superficial and/or quippy dialogues and monologues of Shallan and Kaladin. it verges on what I imagine YA is written like... some of the drawings are horrible too, it's like being transported back to deviantart in 2003 :D I'll be taking a break after I'm done with this TOME and then resume in the new year

why is there no paperback of Edgedancer? :evil:

Edgedancer is part of Arcanum Unbounded (a collection of short stories from the Cosemere) so that’s where you can get a printed version. Let me know if you ever pick it up cause it has 2 other good short stories worth reading that are not part of any series that are some of his more refined work.

I agree about the dialogue but he likes quips and dad jokes so everyone makes them (the worst offenders are Lyft and Lopen). I like the art and it gets more refined as you go along.

Dawnshard the novella was good as a world expansion and it’s from the POV of Rysn who I’ve enjoyed in the interludes. It’s a good appetizer for book 4 which is coming out next week :disco:
 
Rysn is the travelling merchant girl, right? I've enjoyed her interludes too. Lopen is such a latino caricature :D I just noticed Steven Brust has finally published a new volume in his Vlad Taltos series. he's much better at quips!

thanks for pointing me in the direction of the collection, much more palatable cover art too
 
@Phoenix I'm DONE! Shallan and Kaladin better not start k-i-s-s-i-n-g. great ending though, I do love a fantasy cliffhanger. Jasnah, I knew it! :disco: and I really want to know who or what Wit is...
 
@Mats I've just started a new Pamuk: The Museum of Innocence. I don't know what power this man has over me but I'm only 15 pages in and I'm locked and loaded into it.
 
@Phoenix I'm DONE! Shallan and Kaladin better not start k-i-s-s-i-n-g. great ending though, I do love a fantasy cliffhanger. Jasnah, I knew it! :disco: and I really want to know who or what Wit is...

Wit is not an exclusive Stormlight character, he’s a Cosemere character (he appears in all the books although this is the most we get of him) and some day Brandon wants to write a trilogy about him. But I’m sure we will get more of his motivations as the books progress (hint: the letters in the epigraphs are from and to Wit).
 
Wit is not an exclusive Stormlight character, he’s a Cosemere character (he appears in all the books although this is the most we get of him) and some day Brandon wants to write a trilogy about him. But I’m sure we will get more of his motivations as the books progress (hint: the letters in the epigraphs are from and to Wit).

sounds like a sort of Tom Bombadil of Sanderson's universe
 
I see you enjoyed Murata's Earthlings, @Beverley ?

I did! Some parts with the teacher really turned my stomach and made for uncomfortable reading, but I found it quite easy and enjoyable otherwise. It's not a very complex allegory, is it? I was sort of hoping she'd want to get with her cousin again at the end!

What did you think?
 
I did! Some parts with the teacher really turned my stomach and made for uncomfortable reading, but I found it quite easy and enjoyable otherwise. It's not a very complex allegory, is it? I was sort of hoping she'd want to get with her cousin again at the end!

What did you think?

I haven't read it yet! I really liked the deadpan attitude of Convenience Store Woman so I'm a bit scared this'll be too abstract for me. it's required reading chez moi however. it'll probably be a January purchase
 
I haven't read it yet! I really liked the deadpan attitude of Convenience Store Woman so I'm a bit scared this'll be too abstract for me. it's required reading chez moi however. it'll probably be a January purchase

It's a child's perspective for most of it, so it's mega easy to read!

I've got Breast and Eggs on my reading list and more Tsushima, but Mrs Bev says I have to read something else before going back to Japan. :(
 
It's a child's perspective for most of it, so it's mega easy to read!

I've got Breast and Eggs on my reading list and more Tsushima, but Mrs Bev says I have to read something else before going back to Japan. :(

it's been re-published or something, Breasts and Eggs? I read it many years ago and wondered why it was out again... I still haven't read Child of Fortune which is the only other Tsushima I know of. it's on one of the shelves though, like so many others :bruised:

I got Earthlings by the way, chance would have it that the bookstore I popped into earlier had on it sale for the weekend. I got one of Aleksijevitj too. it's going to be a heavy xmas :santa: and thanks for implying that I read like a child :D
 
it's been re-published or something, Breasts and Eggs? I read it many years ago and wondered why it was out again... I still haven't read Child of Fortune which is the only other Tsushima I know of. it's on one of the shelves though, like so many others :bruised:

I got Earthlings by the way, chance would have it that the bookstore I popped into earlier had on it sale for the weekend. I got one of Aleksijevitj too. it's going to be a heavy xmas :santa: and thanks for implying that I read like a child :D

Mieko's only just been translated into English! I've been saving Kawabata and Osamu Dazai for a visit to Japan. And I didn't mean to imply that, I was thinking about me! I have to read so much for class at the moment, I was really grateful for somrthing unchallenging! :D

Report back on Earthlings though. :david:
 
Mieko's only just been translated into English! I've been saving Kawabata and Osamu Dazai for a visit to Japan. And I didn't mean to imply that, I was thinking about me! I have to read so much for class at the moment, I was really grateful for somrthing unchallenging! :D

Report back on Earthlings though. :david:

I've never read Dazai besides No Longer Human. so fucking bleak! I wonder if there is a documentary about him and Tsushima, that's a pretty wild personal story. I wonder if she felt that his shadow loomed over her. Kawabata is a gem, you haven't read any yet? I still have four of his major works to go, and some of them could easily be revisited, The Sound of the Mountain in particular. avoid Thousand Cranes
 
*continues monologue*

@Beverley , did you notice Earthlings glows in the dark? :disco:

But mine doesn't! :cry:

I've heard of, but not read Yoko Tawada. She's a bit sci-fi, right? The Last Children of Tokyo? What do you think of her?

I really need to spend a year not buying new books and not being stuck with class reading lists so I can delve into the international classics that I really care about!
 

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