1CurrerBell
Books owned or already on mail order as of December 31, 2023. Does not include Kindle (unless book also owned in treeware and Kindle edition was used as a convenient reading format). Goal of 50.
Rereads – some of which can go back as much as half-a-century – are included. Also included are books which were started prior to this year but completed during this year.
Jan (4), Feb (2), Mar (5), Apr (3), May (5), Jun (6), Jul (2),
Aug (3), Sep (2), Oct (0), Nov (0), Dec (2) ... Total (34)
Rereads – some of which can go back as much as half-a-century – are included. Also included are books which were started prior to this year but completed during this year.
Jan (4), Feb (2), Mar (5), Apr (3), May (5), Jun (6), Jul (2),
Aug (3), Sep (2), Oct (0), Nov (0), Dec (2) ... Total (34)
2CurrerBell
January:
7 ... Various, Poems of Hate 1*
16 ... Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas 4**** (reread)
26 ... T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Poems (Norton Critical 2d ed) 4**** (reread of the poems)
30 ... Daphne du Maurier, The Scapegoat 3½***
7 ... Various, Poems of Hate 1*
16 ... Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas 4**** (reread)
26 ... T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and Other Poems (Norton Critical 2d ed) 4**** (reread of the poems)
30 ... Daphne du Maurier, The Scapegoat 3½***
6rabbitprincess
Welcome back and have a great reading year!
7MissWatson
Have a great reading year!
8CurrerBell
February:
20 ... C.S. Lewis, The Space Trilogy (reread) 2½**
29 ... Elizabeth Taylor: Complete Short Stories 4****
Coming along a bit slowly so far this year but accounted for by my reading so far which has included some Big Fat Books.
20 ... C.S. Lewis, The Space Trilogy (reread) 2½**
29 ... Elizabeth Taylor: Complete Short Stories 4****
Coming along a bit slowly so far this year but accounted for by my reading so far which has included some Big Fat Books.
9CurrerBell
March:
11 ... Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water 5*****
13 ... Patricia Highsmith, People Who Knock on the Door 2**
16 ... Mikhail Bulgakov, A Country Doctor's Notebook (new read but with reread of "Morphine") 3½***
21 ... Honoré de Balzac, Country Doctor; Quest of the Absolute ... other stories 4****
26 ... Patricia Highsmith, Small g: A Summer Idyll 4****
11 ... Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water 5*****
13 ... Patricia Highsmith, People Who Knock on the Door 2**
16 ... Mikhail Bulgakov, A Country Doctor's Notebook (new read but with reread of "Morphine") 3½***
21 ... Honoré de Balzac, Country Doctor; Quest of the Absolute ... other stories 4****
26 ... Patricia Highsmith, Small g: A Summer Idyll 4****
10CurrerBell
April:
25 ... Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle reread 3***
28 ... Rumer Godden, Thursday's Children 3½***
30 ... Rumer Godden, The Dark Horse 3½***
25 ... Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle reread 3***
28 ... Rumer Godden, Thursday's Children 3½***
30 ... Rumer Godden, The Dark Horse 3½***
11connie53
Nice job, Mike! I just don't get your numbering. For a moment I thought you had already read 30 ROOTs. I guess you have your own system going there.
12CurrerBell
>11 connie53: April 25th, April 28th, April 30th. The date a book was finished. ;-)
13connie53
>12 CurrerBell: Thanks for explaining, Mike. I did not make that connection.
14CurrerBell
May:
13 ... Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea 3***
17 ... Elaine Pagels and Karen King, Reading Judas 4****
21 ... Honoré de Balzac, Eugénie Grandet; Country Parson ... other stories 4****
28 ... Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome (Norton Critical Edition) 4½****
31 ... T. Kingfisher, Thornhedge 4****
13 ... Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea 3***
17 ... Elaine Pagels and Karen King, Reading Judas 4****
21 ... Honoré de Balzac, Eugénie Grandet; Country Parson ... other stories 4****
28 ... Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome (Norton Critical Edition) 4½****
31 ... T. Kingfisher, Thornhedge 4****
15connie53
>14 CurrerBell: The book by Kingfisher looks very interesting. I have a few of her on my lists, but not this one.
16CurrerBell
>15 connie53: It's quite a quick read but very good. It's my first read of hers.
17CurrerBell
June:
3 ... Diana Wynne Jones, Castle in the Air 4****
6 ... Diana Wynne Jones, House of Many Ways 4½****
7 ... Jean Racine, Phaedra (trans Richard Wilbur) 2½** but see my review, my quarrel being not with Racine but with the Wilbur translation
16 ... Elaine Pagels, Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation 2½**
19 ... Nina Bawden, Circles of Deceit 3***
24 ... Abraham Ascher, The Kremlin (Wonders of Man) 3***
3 ... Diana Wynne Jones, Castle in the Air 4****
6 ... Diana Wynne Jones, House of Many Ways 4½****
7 ... Jean Racine, Phaedra (trans Richard Wilbur) 2½** but see my review, my quarrel being not with Racine but with the Wilbur translation
16 ... Elaine Pagels, Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation 2½**
19 ... Nina Bawden, Circles of Deceit 3***
24 ... Abraham Ascher, The Kremlin (Wonders of Man) 3***
18CurrerBell
Woo-hoo. Finally got myself up to par, halfway through the year and I'm at 25/50.
19rabbitprincess
Excellent work! :)
20CurrerBell
July:
1 ... Dick Russell, The Real RFK Jr.: Trials of a Truth Warrior 2½**. Nothing against Bobby. I very well may vote for him in November. My quarrel with this book isn't with its subject but with its complete absence of footnote/endnote sourcing of content, which makes the author's claims absolutely unverifiable. Good campaign biography, but it should have been a whole lot more.
8 ... The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Winter 2024 2**
1 ... Dick Russell, The Real RFK Jr.: Trials of a Truth Warrior 2½**. Nothing against Bobby. I very well may vote for him in November. My quarrel with this book isn't with its subject but with its complete absence of footnote/endnote sourcing of content, which makes the author's claims absolutely unverifiable. Good campaign biography, but it should have been a whole lot more.
8 ... The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Winter 2024 2**
21CurrerBell
August:
8 ... Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (Modern Library) (trans Julie Rose) 4½****
21 ,,, Iain Pears, Arcadia 4½****
25 ... Tom Purdom, Lovers & Fighters, Starships & Dragons 4****
8 ... Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (Modern Library) (trans Julie Rose) 4½****
21 ,,, Iain Pears, Arcadia 4½****
25 ... Tom Purdom, Lovers & Fighters, Starships & Dragons 4****
22MissWatson
>21 CurrerBell: Congrats on finishing this. I'm still eyeing it anxiously.
23CurrerBell
>22 MissWatson: The Julia Rose (Modern Library) translation is superb and it also includes superb endnotes, which can be essential considering Hugo's mania for digressions. BUT...
Read it in the Kindle version, preferably on a smart phone. In addition to the lighter weight, it's a whole lot easier to access an endnote on a simple screen touch and the endnote sought pops up at the bottom of the screen. The interface is better on the smart phone app than on the web-based browser version of Kindle, where the endnote takes you to a separate page and away from the main text. (I don't have a dedicated Kindle machine any more, so I can't say what that's like.)
Also, bookmark your Kindle position frequently. The novel itself is divided into volumes, which are subdivided into books, which are further subdivided into generally rather short chapters. These short chapters, however, are not indexed in the Kindle version's table of contents, so it can be easy to lose your place if you move around in the book (for example, by using the search feature to refer back to a previously mentioned minor character, etc).
Good luck if you decide to give it a try!
Read it in the Kindle version, preferably on a smart phone. In addition to the lighter weight, it's a whole lot easier to access an endnote on a simple screen touch and the endnote sought pops up at the bottom of the screen. The interface is better on the smart phone app than on the web-based browser version of Kindle, where the endnote takes you to a separate page and away from the main text. (I don't have a dedicated Kindle machine any more, so I can't say what that's like.)
Also, bookmark your Kindle position frequently. The novel itself is divided into volumes, which are subdivided into books, which are further subdivided into generally rather short chapters. These short chapters, however, are not indexed in the Kindle version's table of contents, so it can be easy to lose your place if you move around in the book (for example, by using the search feature to refer back to a previously mentioned minor character, etc).
Good luck if you decide to give it a try!
24connie53
Hi Mike, a bit late to congratulate you on reaching the halfway point. Nice job and still going strong to the end.
26connie53
>25 CurrerBell: The link takes me to a book by Barbara Michaels, Mike. I don't think you meant to do that.
27CurrerBell
>26 connie53: THANK YOU! I usually notice those things before I post. (Wendt is one of the most distinguished writers of the Pacific. He's German/Samoan and has spent much of his life teaching and writing in New Zealand. His best-known, and the best of his books that I've read, is The Leaves of the Banyan Tree. Black Rainbow isn't all that great, having a Kafka feel to it but without Kafka's specific talent; but that 2**-rating shouldn't be taken as a judgment of Wendt's overall work.)
30CurrerBell
>29 connie53: Thank you so much! Just got back into bed from pjysical therapy and they seem pleased with progress.
31CurrerBell
December:
18 ... Samuel Delaney, Dhalgren ½*. In addition to lost ROOTing time due to my broken hip, I got mired down in this dog, one of the worst and most disgusting books I've ever read. I should have Pearl-ruled it, but I had gotten through so many pages that I wanted to finish it both for Big Fat Book as well as ROOTing credit
26 ... Mikhail Bulgakov, A Dead Man's Memoir: A Theatrical Novel 3***. I might have rated it lower had it not been by Bulgakov. Probably the weakest of his works that I've read, it's a satirical memoir of his life in the Moscow theater world. Most of the individuals he satirizes (under assumed names) are individuals no one but a specialist in 1930s Russia would recognize with the singular exception of Stanislavsky.
18 ... Samuel Delaney, Dhalgren ½*. In addition to lost ROOTing time due to my broken hip, I got mired down in this dog, one of the worst and most disgusting books I've ever read. I should have Pearl-ruled it, but I had gotten through so many pages that I wanted to finish it both for Big Fat Book as well as ROOTing credit
26 ... Mikhail Bulgakov, A Dead Man's Memoir: A Theatrical Novel 3***. I might have rated it lower had it not been by Bulgakov. Probably the weakest of his works that I've read, it's a satirical memoir of his life in the Moscow theater world. Most of the individuals he satirizes (under assumed names) are individuals no one but a specialist in 1930s Russia would recognize with the singular exception of Stanislavsky.
