Away we go, squares!

Started Lupin III Greatest Heists - a collection of Manga by Monkey Punch.
Tomorrow will arrive the Oxford World Classics translation of War and Peace

I have War and Peace in my "Am I ever gonna actually read this?" pile. It's the Penguin Press version, but I have no idea how different the various translations are. I'm sure not planning on doing a comparison!

Started The Grapes of Wrath last week. Really enjoying it so far.

I balanced translation ratings versus cost. There's a newer translation out there that's supposed to be dope, but the Oxford is very well regarded and was inexpensive for my book budget. Last year I read Gravity's Rainbow, so I decided I would tackle at least one weighty classic a year.

Grapes of Wrath is awesome and very timely even now.

UPS has been slow though, so plowed through Lupin III: Thick as Thieves yesterday instead.

I thought that War and Peace was wonderful. Give it a try.

Low Level Hell, written by a scout pilot flying an OH-6 loach helicopter In Vietnam.

Still planning to get into Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, looking for best translation.

According to Goodreads, I set personal records (at least since I started using the site in 2014) in 2023 for books (53) and pages (20154)!

Just finished:

Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Yes, the cover is adorable. At this point I've read enough of Scalzi that I know what I'm getting. I was feeling sick and wanted something "easy". And Scalzi is that. His books are breezy with mostly short sentenced dialog and minimal descriptions. Yet again we have a plucky underdog hero ... what he lacks in abilities he makes up with unrelenting snark (as do his friends). The premise is cute (a nobody thrown into the family business of being a super villain) and there were some funny bits, although it felt like more could've been done.

Got it sittin' in my pile now. Will probably go for something "light" after Grapes, then hit into that.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 1843. I have the original manuscript edition, which my sister gave me for Christmas, 1980.

I read it more carefully this time around. I noticed a joke about the worthlessness of American securities. I looked it up. The American economy crashed in 1837. Half the banks failed. I suppose that a bunch of English investors lost a bunch of money. The American economy didn't really get going again until the Gold Rush of 1848.

The things I learn from reading old books.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I can see why it's a classic: the good bits are brilliant. I'm glad I read it. But, since it's a book written for children in the Victorian Age, it is very heavy on the moral lessons. Most chapters have one. It's worth reading if for no other reason than the main character, Jo. Not many characters are as engaging as she is.

Alcott was an abolitionist, a feminist, and later a suffragette. Her father was a noted intellectual and their house a stop on the Underground Railroad. The book is based generally on her family.

Finished:

Just finished Grapes of Wrath. That's gonna stay with me for awhile.

Just finished:


Such a fun read. If you like some supernatural/horror elements in your westerns, this book is for you! I reads a little video gamey, like a western version of Fallout, with the gang coming across horrors in every town they come across but it’s such a breezy enjoyable book.

Started Project Hail Mary the other day. By Andy Weir; the guy who wrote The Martian (which I haven't read, but now plan to!). I'm about a quarter into this and enjoying it immensely! It's probably the most fun science fiction I've ever read. Hope the rest of it holds up.

Finished:

Silver Nitrate by Silva Moreno-Garcia. I had previously read Mexican Gothic by the author. I quite liked this. I like horror stories about movies and the mythology of cinema. And it's just a fun story about the movie scene in early 90s Mexico, a lost horror movie, battling sorcerers, magic, and evil undead nazis.

Yeah. It's been 45 years since I read it, and I still remember scenes.

The Crystal Gryphon by Andre Norton. High fantasy. I loved this book as a teenager. It's still very good.

I'm nostalgic about this book and I feel sad that it's mostly forgotten.

A note first: weather has reduced me to cellular hotspot for Internet, which is slow. For that reason, many posts which are just images of the book cover don't load. Others reading this forum may be differently abled and simply can't see the image. For those reasons, please consider including text with your image, and maybe even your thoughts on the book. Just a picture of a book doesn't interest me too much.
/pedantry

Very slowly working through War and Peace. With the power out, I wanted something punchier, so reread Splatterpunks - the 1990 anthology of for then truly transgressive horror. It did not do my head well, so then read 2001 A Space Odyssey which is much like the movie with which it was concurrently authored: heady and emotionless. It's a great companion piece to flesh out that masterpiece of a movie.

Just starting Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick because my kid just finished it. We watched Blade Runner: The Final Cut because of this. Interesting how very little the movie has to do with the book.

Just started

Reading:

@Kurt D. I usually post the title and author of the last book I read, sometimes followed by a picture of the cover.

I skipped book two of the trilogy because I remembered that it was a dud. Most of the books she wrote at the time were bad. This book is good, though. Getting the help of a second author really perked up her writing at a time when she was clearly getting old, sad, and tired.

Just finished this. One of the few books I've read that I made extra time during the day to get back to. Very enjoyable Sci-Fi adventure!

This month i started with Man In the High Castle, then I've been on a Murakami binge it seems, I read Hard Boiled Wonderland At The End Of The World, The Wing Up Bird Chronicle and Hear The Wind Sing.
now im starting on Pinball 1973