Recent reads

Some recent reads:

The Black Dahlia, by James Ellroy. What a great book. Never saw the movie, but will soon. The characters were superb, the afterword even better (had no idea the author's mom...oh my). Even more shocking, had no idea The Black Dahlia was based on an actual case! 

Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition, by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. Found this at Savers for $2.99, but then got 30% off! Great, short travelogue. Great little book, will donate it to the Goodwill. 

Election, by Tom Perrotta. Read this back in 2014 or 2015, on a short bus (marshrutka, or маршрутка) from Bishkek to Kara-kol on the east side of lake Issyk Kul. Picked this for our family book club. I'd really like to rewatch the movie. Matthew Broderwick and Reese Witherspoon were superb in it. He's written more, but I haven't gotten into any of his others (yet?). 

Currently I'm reading The Woman in the Dunes, by Kobo Abe. I've also started The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Heinlein on Audible. My SIL picked it for the family book club, which is funny because my wife just finished reading it a week ago! (Not a fan.) I'm also continuing my translation of the masterful novel Mi Stelojn Jungis al Revado, by Mikaelo Bronŝtejn.

99 Novels

 Had to buy this book. First off, it is written by Anthony Burgess. Best author. Secondly, it is filled with suggested novels. I can't not look at a book that recommends books for me to read. 

Turns out I already read 12 of the novels Burgess recommends. The Waughs and Greenes were easy. I've read all of them (as far as I know). I "boxed" a few dozen that I intend on reading. Once done, I'll check that box. And I'll blog about it, of course.

Herman Wouk, I already found his The Caine Mutiny on Audible and that'll be my next Audible read. The Once and Future King, of course, I've been wanting to read for years. I think it is also available on Audible. And of course the Muriel Spark novels on the list. Love that author. Nevil Shute's novel (No Highway) in this list I will check out. Isherwood. Wonderful. I also have one of the Malamud (The Assistant) already, so that'll be an easy choice. And Mary McCarthy's The Groves of Academe has been on my list for a couple years. 

20 Books of Summer

 

Thought I'd try this this summer. But I have to pick 20 books? Thankfully, the host at 746 Books is very flexible. If I decide later to change my list or reduce it, no biggie!

Therefore, here's the 20 books 15 books* I want to read between 1 June and 1 September:

The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel.

The Scar, by China Mieville.

The Ferryman, by Justin Cronin.

Mothers Don't, by Katixa Agirre.

Victory City, by Salmon Rushdie.

Lucretia and the Kroons, by Victor LaValle.

Piercing, by Ryu Murakami.

A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine.

The History Man, by Malcolm Bradbury.

This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, by Tadeusz Borowski.

Mothering Sunday, by Graham Swift.

Down There on a Visit, by Christopher Isherwood.

Breasts and Eggs, by Mieko Kawakami.

An Armful of Warm Girl, by William Spackman.

The Great Santini, by Pat Conroy.

Coming Through Slaughter, by Michael Ondaatje.

American Pastoral, by Philip Roth.

Life with Picasso, by Francoise Gilot.

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, by P.G. Wodehouse.

The Short End of the Sonnenallee, by Thomas Brussig.

#20booksofsummer23 

*On 1 July, I realized I wouldn't be able to read these 20 by 1 September. I'm reading too many books not on this list!

(underline=read; underline & blue=link to my review; strikethrough=dropped 20 to 15)

Some recent reads

 Here's a few reads.

Mother Night, by Kurt Vonnegut. What can I say? Vonnegut is incredible. This is the seventh of his I've read, and the most serious. From the very start of this book, I thought: This sounds familiar. Sure enough, once I was done, I looked at IMDB and found the 1996 movie with Nick Nolte. Never saw it. But would like to see it because the book was awesome. And the ending...unexpected. 

Ukridge, by P.G. Wodehouse. Let's start with the pronunciation. I always thought it was /uk-ridge/ and not /yuk-ridge/. But as I listened to this book, I finally learned this pronunciation. Anyway, great book. Great character. Will read more of the Ukridge books. (I'd read Love Among the Chickens years and years ago, but didn't remember Ukridge was a character in it.) Nothing more fun to read about than a British gentleman with crazy idea about raising money who borrows/steals from his friends and whose grand ideas always fail. Wonderful.

Daingerfield Island, by John Wasowicz. A first book for the author set in the area we live (about a mile's walk from our home). Not really good. Too perfect. Another of those. Sure, two car crashes and a messed up arm, but yeah, take the cop's gun and chase the killer in a BMW and purposefully crash that car to stop a killer, then try to shoot the bad-guy after your third car crash in two days. No. Stop. Will not read anymore of this author, despite the fun of his novels being set in my local area.

This Census-Taker, by China Mieville. The man can write. This is the least sci-fi-y of all his books. It really is weird. Not as weird as The Last Days of New Paris, but still weird. And very unique: from the first chapter, the switch, sometimes within paragraphs, of first-person and third-person. But wow, at the end, switching between first-, second- and third-person within three paragraphs. Masterfully done. Thank you, sir.