What Are You Reading 2023
03-14-23, 10:52 PM
#51
Moderator
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
I've never participated in this kind of thread before, but I'll try to give it a shot.
I'm trying to read more, especially reading for pleasure, and I'll try to post more and thank you for your suggestions.
Here's what I read to wrap up the last couple months of 2022:
Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman
This is a good novel with excellent writing. The story revolves around a pastor's wife in a small town amidst a horrific murder. There's a lot of delicious small town politicking, some folklore mixed with Christian spirituality and Norse mythology and a character saved by wolves like a Jack London story, and characters crisscrossing paths until a final confrontation. This is my favorite of Maltman's novels.
How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture by Dan Kimball, nonfiction / religion
A book about reinterpreting the Bible, this book has tons of religious memes, bizarre sayings, and weird stories from the Bible that are tough to figure out sometimes. There's humor, scholarly work, and it's fairly accessible. This one was good, thought I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was the target audience. I think Kimball is writing to "ex-vangelicals," people of faith who are deconstructing their experience in the evangelical tradition and trying to wrap their heads around how to reconstruct faith after wrestling with particular interpretations of scripture. Most of what he gets at I'm already there and I gladly don't have a lot from my upbringing to deconstruct, though there were some new ideas, as well as points I didn't necessarily agree with, but that's okay because I don't have to agree with everything to get something out of it. Someone recommended this to me and I'm glad I gave it a shot.
Glad to finally try one of these threads, thanks for reading.
I'll post what I started in these first few months of 2023 soon.
I'm trying to read more, especially reading for pleasure, and I'll try to post more and thank you for your suggestions.
Here's what I read to wrap up the last couple months of 2022:
Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman
This is a good novel with excellent writing. The story revolves around a pastor's wife in a small town amidst a horrific murder. There's a lot of delicious small town politicking, some folklore mixed with Christian spirituality and Norse mythology and a character saved by wolves like a Jack London story, and characters crisscrossing paths until a final confrontation. This is my favorite of Maltman's novels.
How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture by Dan Kimball, nonfiction / religion
A book about reinterpreting the Bible, this book has tons of religious memes, bizarre sayings, and weird stories from the Bible that are tough to figure out sometimes. There's humor, scholarly work, and it's fairly accessible. This one was good, thought I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was the target audience. I think Kimball is writing to "ex-vangelicals," people of faith who are deconstructing their experience in the evangelical tradition and trying to wrap their heads around how to reconstruct faith after wrestling with particular interpretations of scripture. Most of what he gets at I'm already there and I gladly don't have a lot from my upbringing to deconstruct, though there were some new ideas, as well as points I didn't necessarily agree with, but that's okay because I don't have to agree with everything to get something out of it. Someone recommended this to me and I'm glad I gave it a shot.
Glad to finally try one of these threads, thanks for reading.
I'll post what I started in these first few months of 2023 soon.
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Kurt D (03-14-23)
03-14-23, 11:09 PM
#52
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Re: What Are You Reading 2023
I've never participated in this kind of thread before, but I'll try to give it a shot.
I'm trying to read more, especially reading for pleasure, and I'll try to post more and thank you for your suggestions.
Here's what I read to wrap up the last couple months of 2022:
Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman
This is a good novel with excellent writing. The story revolves around a pastor's wife in a small town amidst a horrific murder. There's a lot of delicious small town politicking, some folklore mixed with Christian spirituality and Norse mythology and a character saved by wolves like a Jack London story, and characters crisscrossing paths until a final confrontation. This is my favorite of Maltman's novels.
How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture by Dan Kimball, nonfiction / religion
A book about reinterpreting the Bible, this book has tons of religious memes, bizarre sayings, and weird stories from the Bible that are tough to figure out sometimes. There's humor, scholarly work, and it's fairly accessible. This one was good, thought I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was the target audience. I think Kimball is writing to "ex-vangelicals," people of faith who are deconstructing their experience in the evangelical tradition and trying to wrap their heads around how to reconstruct faith after wrestling with particular interpretations of scripture. Most of what he gets at I'm already there and I gladly don't have a lot from my upbringing to deconstruct, though there were some new ideas, as well as points I didn't necessarily agree with, but that's okay because I don't have to agree with everything to get something out of it. Someone recommended this to me and I'm glad I gave it a shot.
Glad to finally try one of these threads, thanks for reading.
I'll post what I started in these first few months of 2023 soon.
I'm trying to read more, especially reading for pleasure, and I'll try to post more and thank you for your suggestions.
Here's what I read to wrap up the last couple months of 2022:
Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman
This is a good novel with excellent writing. The story revolves around a pastor's wife in a small town amidst a horrific murder. There's a lot of delicious small town politicking, some folklore mixed with Christian spirituality and Norse mythology and a character saved by wolves like a Jack London story, and characters crisscrossing paths until a final confrontation. This is my favorite of Maltman's novels.
How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture by Dan Kimball, nonfiction / religion
A book about reinterpreting the Bible, this book has tons of religious memes, bizarre sayings, and weird stories from the Bible that are tough to figure out sometimes. There's humor, scholarly work, and it's fairly accessible. This one was good, thought I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was the target audience. I think Kimball is writing to "ex-vangelicals," people of faith who are deconstructing their experience in the evangelical tradition and trying to wrap their heads around how to reconstruct faith after wrestling with particular interpretations of scripture. Most of what he gets at I'm already there and I gladly don't have a lot from my upbringing to deconstruct, though there were some new ideas, as well as points I didn't necessarily agree with, but that's okay because I don't have to agree with everything to get something out of it. Someone recommended this to me and I'm glad I gave it a shot.
Glad to finally try one of these threads, thanks for reading.
I'll post what I started in these first few months of 2023 soon.
reading is wonderful!
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story (03-15-23)
03-15-23, 08:22 AM
#53
Moderator
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
Ive only read December Park and Come with Me. If you like Stephen King, I would be pretty surprised if you didnt like Malfi from what I have read. December Park was a great coming of age story, not quite the level of IT or McCammon's Boy's Life, but it is really good. Come with Me was also very good, a mystery with a touch of ghost/spirt thrown in. After reading those two, I will definitely seek out more from him.
I would probably say Come with Me may be the better first read, mainly because December Park is pretty beefy, but I loved DP. I do see Bone White frequently mentioned, and will probably be my next read from him.
I would probably say Come with Me may be the better first read, mainly because December Park is pretty beefy, but I loved DP. I do see Bone White frequently mentioned, and will probably be my next read from him.
03-16-23, 02:00 PM
#54
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
Finished:
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom. The 3rd book I've read by Brom (also The Child Thief and Krampus) and I've enjoyed them all (I'll get to Lost Gods soon). I enjoy his brand of dark fantasy/horror. Not surprising considering his background as an artist (and his drawings that are sprinkled through his books enhance things), but he has a very visual style of writing. Whether it's setting a scene or describing a big action set-piece. This story has a predictable story arc, but it was still fun. I've seen in it lots of movies and tv shows, but I don't remember reading many books about Puritanical era witch hunts. Although in this book, the witch and the "Devil" are very real ... and we're strongly on their sides
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom. The 3rd book I've read by Brom (also The Child Thief and Krampus) and I've enjoyed them all (I'll get to Lost Gods soon). I enjoy his brand of dark fantasy/horror. Not surprising considering his background as an artist (and his drawings that are sprinkled through his books enhance things), but he has a very visual style of writing. Whether it's setting a scene or describing a big action set-piece. This story has a predictable story arc, but it was still fun. I've seen in it lots of movies and tv shows, but I don't remember reading many books about Puritanical era witch hunts. Although in this book, the witch and the "Devil" are very real ... and we're strongly on their sides
03-16-23, 06:25 PM
#55
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Re: What Are You Reading 2023
I finally finished The Ink Black Heart today after starting it in August 2022. I thought it was very good, but overly long at 1,462 pages. I know the author is quite controversial, but I really love the books. I love Strike and Robin. They're really well written characters.
03-16-23, 10:11 PM
#56
Moderator
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
I read The Cuckoo's Calling several years ago with my book club and we overall liked it quite a bit. I haven't read any of the rest of their work, though.
03-17-23, 10:42 AM
#57
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Re: What Are You Reading 2023
I haven't been disappointed with any of them, but each book gets substantially longer than the previous book. All of the books have been adapted for tv except The Ink Black Heart, but it's coming. You can watch them on HBO Max.
03-17-23, 11:30 AM
#58
Moderator
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
That's the one Streaming service we actually don't have. Perhaps the HBO's calling...
Just realized out book club has read The Cuckoo's Calling and The Cuckoo's Egg. We need more cuckoo bookoos!
Just realized out book club has read The Cuckoo's Calling and The Cuckoo's Egg. We need more cuckoo bookoos!
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Kurt D (03-23-23)
03-23-23, 11:35 PM
#64
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Re: What Are You Reading 2023
Still reading Gravity's Rainbow. On page 606 ...
03-24-23, 04:24 PM
#66
DVD Talk God
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
i remember back when this was coming out.. released 1 book at a time.. i was sitting up at books a million waiting for them to open each time one of them was released (along with quite a few other people)
03-27-23, 12:40 PM
#67
New Member
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns has captured my heart. The issue is related to women's rights. I want males as well as women to read it. (But sorry, Idk how to add that image
)
)
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Kurt D (04-06-23)
03-29-23, 10:10 AM
#68
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
Finished:
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. Very different in style and tone than the only other thing I've read Jemisin (the Broken Earth trilogy). Consistently entertaining and imaginative, even if I struggled to like most of the "heroes" (which I suspect was a "New York" thing). I liked it enough to eventually get around to the second half of the "duology", which is already out. Thankfully this had an ending, with things clearly open to where a second book could go.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. Very different in style and tone than the only other thing I've read Jemisin (the Broken Earth trilogy). Consistently entertaining and imaginative, even if I struggled to like most of the "heroes" (which I suspect was a "New York" thing). I liked it enough to eventually get around to the second half of the "duology", which is already out. Thankfully this had an ending, with things clearly open to where a second book could go.
04-06-23, 04:16 PM
#70
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
Finished:
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones. This is where I cut bait with this author ... despite all the critical and reader raves, I don't like his writing style and don't enjoy reading his books (besides this, I previously read It Came From Del Rio and The Only Good Indians). For what was supposed to be a "fun" book, it was anything but. And I love slashers and all the horror movies Jones name drops, but it was done so frequently that it felt intrusive into the story. I get that it was a stylistic choice, but when the narrator's thoughts constantly meander it makes it hard for me to stay engaged with reading. I did like the reverse Scooby Doo plot twist:
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones. This is where I cut bait with this author ... despite all the critical and reader raves, I don't like his writing style and don't enjoy reading his books (besides this, I previously read It Came From Del Rio and The Only Good Indians). For what was supposed to be a "fun" book, it was anything but. And I love slashers and all the horror movies Jones name drops, but it was done so frequently that it felt intrusive into the story. I get that it was a stylistic choice, but when the narrator's thoughts constantly meander it makes it hard for me to stay engaged with reading. I did like the reverse Scooby Doo plot twist:
Spoiler:
Last edited by brainee; 04-07-23 at 02:57 PM.
04-06-23, 06:12 PM
#71
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Re: What Are You Reading 2023
finally finished
I often didn't do more than 5 pages a day, and took many a day off, but I was dogged in my determination to finish.
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon (for posterity ...)
I often didn't do more than 5 pages a day, and took many a day off, but I was dogged in my determination to finish.
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon (for posterity ...)
Last edited by Kurt D; 04-06-23 at 10:41 PM.
04-06-23, 10:08 PM
#72
Moderator
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
Hey, so I know I'm new to this thread but something to consider is to not just post a photo but write the name of the book and the author. The photos always run the risk of becoming broken links some day. I also wonder if the titles and authors end up more searchable for the interwebs. I dunno, just a thought.
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brainee (04-07-23)
04-06-23, 10:32 PM
#73
Re: What Are You Reading 2023
Hey, so I know I'm new to this thread but something to consider is to not just post a photo but write the name of the book and the author. The photos always run the risk of becoming broken links some day. I also wonder if the titles and authors end up more searchable for the interwebs. I dunno, just a thought.
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story (04-22-23)
04-06-23, 10:42 PM
#74
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Re: What Are You Reading 2023
I often only write the title and author, but sometimes make the effort to include a picture. I thought about going the extra mile with my last post, but decided I wanted to be more like the cool kids! It turns out I was the fool.
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story (04-22-23)
04-07-23, 10:54 AM
#75
Re: What Are You Reading 2023