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Do you have a reading goal?
Yes  43%  [ 19 ]
No  57%  [ 25 ]
Total votes : 44
 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jun 30th, '19, 04:03    


Akili Li

Joined: Nov 24th, '15, 22:02
Posts: 19542
Hugs: 223741
Mood: contemplative
Location: Buried under the To-Do list
The neighbors really are -when I have books to drop off for trade they get to look through them and see if they want any books, first, but they've said they are only interested in mysteries, so I'm not sure how many they'll end up with.

It is kind of fun? But also overwhelming. I waver back and forth.

There's a LOT of religious works, and philosophical works, and a lot of these I feel like I *should* read before I say "don't keep them", but it's a slow slogging process to get through them, so I get discouraged. I should really stop and look up if our library has a copy before I stick myself with the task of actually reading them all.... especially if I know I'm not going to want to keep them, just have read them.
Hm.
That would definitely help speed things up.
Meanwhile, I'm much faster getting through the fiction!

(0) (0)
I want to buy or trade for these knuffels:
Earth Gen 18, Light Gen 19, Fire Gen 21, Air/Light/Water Gen 22, Light Gen 23, Earth/Light Gen 25, Darkness Gen 26.
Please PM me if you can help!

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 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 1st, '19, 17:40    


AliceON

Joined: Feb 9th, '10, 19:43
Posts: 10210
Hugs: 102968
@Akili: looks like you need a database of what's in the boxes and what can be borrowed from the library. which means sorting through everything multiple times. and sounds very motivating if procrastination is the aim... I hope you figure out the best way to sort the stuff soon and don't get discouraged because it's so much work!



turns out I did make some progress on my challenge. comiccon germany took place this weekend and I bought some comics and read them. not sure it really counts because those are two thin issues and the content within each more or less equals a chapter. but not a book or a graphic novel volume. and even if I count them, it's 3 books where it should have been 12 within half a year so I'm still behind.

I do have a chance to finish 'Sea of Rust' this month, though, and a russian fantasy book that I'm reading with other women. maybe I can finish 'Artful' too, that would be great

wulfilalice wrote:list till 30.06.
Spoiler

'Artful'
by Ali Smith



'Spinning Silver'
by Naomi Novik



'Sea of Rust'
by C. Robert Cargill



'Moscow 2042'
by Vladimir Voinovich



Algorithms to Live By
by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths



The Fifth Season
N.K. Jemisin



'Memoirs of Lady Trent'
by Marie Brennan



~

actually read:


'The Importance of Being Earnest'
by Oscar Wilde



'Cloven: Bloodlines' issues 1-2
by Kit Buss



list till 31.08.
Spoiler

'Красное на красном'
by Вера Камша



'Artful'
by Ali Smith



'Sea of Rust'
by C. Robert Cargill



'Moscow 2042'
by Vladimir Voinovich



Algorithms to Live By
by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths



The Fifth Season
N.K. Jemisin



'Memoirs of Lady Trent'
by Marie Brennan



~




how's everyone else doing?

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 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 1st, '19, 18:52    


jacobgrey

Joined: Jun 27th, '10, 20:26
Posts: 10667
Hugs: 131889
Mood: (◡‿◡)
Website: http://www.rhiannondaverc.co.uk
Location: England
I just finished the one I was reading in ebook with all the shifting perspectives. I got a deal for Kindle Unlimited for a while so I'm going to go ahead and read the rest of the series too, I think.
I'm also behind though. 24/52 books so far. Only a few behind but it took so much work to catch up even to there.

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SELLING OLD FP SETS
First fairy 8.4.15; 2nd 7.6.17
My books ~*~ My magazine



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 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 1st, '19, 19:57    


AliceON

Joined: Feb 9th, '10, 19:43
Posts: 10210
Hugs: 102968
oh speaking of amazon, a friend on goodreads just posted that all individual Will Wight's ebooks will be free on July 4th

https://www.willwight.com/a-blog-of-dub ... n-july-4th

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 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 2nd, '19, 00:08    


jacobgrey

Joined: Jun 27th, '10, 20:26
Posts: 10667
Hugs: 131889
Mood: (◡‿◡)
Website: http://www.rhiannondaverc.co.uk
Location: England
Oh wow! Do you know any of his books to recommend them? I've not heard of them before but some of the covers catch my eye with the hint of something that might be my kind of style.

(0) (0)
SELLING OLD FP SETS
First fairy 8.4.15; 2nd 7.6.17
My books ~*~ My magazine



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 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 2nd, '19, 06:56    


Akili Li

Joined: Nov 24th, '15, 22:02
Posts: 19542
Hugs: 223741
Mood: contemplative
Location: Buried under the To-Do list
*goes to make a note and try to snag the books to read when they're free*

If I like them after reading, I'll pay for a physical copy, no worries; I know creators need support. There's just so many possible creators to support that a free read first is pretty much a must...

plus something specifically recommended instead of a random sampling of "get through these so you can use the hallway again" is very tempting right now.



I wasn't really thinking of a database. You're a lot more creative and organized! I was going to be lazy and take the current box in-progress at home right now (I'm off on another family visit thing, where we swapped people around), and instead of pulling out a book, reading it, and then either trading it away or finding a spot on the shelves, instead of all that, just pull it out, look the title up online to see if it's listed in the library database, and putting it straight in the trade-shelf so I can immediately grab the next book out and do the same thing (until I get to one not in the library and then go back to the "read it first" method). It's slow going; when I'm home I'm mostly only getting through a book every other day of the non-fiction, sometimes more like one a week if it's particularly dense (and NOT counting textbooks, those get set aside special if I want to look at them first because those take me a lot longer). And if I don't recognize the title at all of course there's an extra half hour or so looking it up and reading reviews if they're out there (which isn't always the case) and all that lovely stuff.

It'll all get done eventually, though.


You are still saving up Spinning Silver? I caved and got that from the library a while back and zipped through it.
(Not really spoilers, don't worry, just my idiosyncratic reaction):
First person, sigh..... so frustrating. I know I would LOVE that book if it weren't for the first person thing. I still mostly enjoyed it even with that, but I'm definitely not buying it until I can get it used in MMPB, because first person is just.... it's good to have a nice long break in between rereads on those.

Ended up with yet another first person trilogy recently, too (REALLY WISH it wasn't so darn common!). By.... um. Rachel Bach? I think? Pen name of the same woman who did that Nice Dragons series.
Apparently she likes writing in first person, and apparently all my library holds came through in a consistent timing...
This was the military-space opera trilogy thing. Pawn of something, Honor's something, Heaven's Queen? Something like that. Decent, but definitely first person and that is just so not my gig.

edit: Fortune's Pawn, Honor's Knight, Heaven's Queen, maybe. That sounds about right, more or less.

(0) (0)
I want to buy or trade for these knuffels:
Earth Gen 18, Light Gen 19, Fire Gen 21, Air/Light/Water Gen 22, Light Gen 23, Earth/Light Gen 25, Darkness Gen 26.
Please PM me if you can help!

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 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 2nd, '19, 16:10    


Sanssouci

Joined: Jun 29th, '14, 02:58
Posts: 3703
Hugs: 78168
Location: New York
I read one book by Georgette Heyer and hated it. But I am giving her one more shot.
I just started reading The Toll-Gate.

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 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 2nd, '19, 21:34    


jacobgrey

Joined: Jun 27th, '10, 20:26
Posts: 10667
Hugs: 131889
Mood: (◡‿◡)
Website: http://www.rhiannondaverc.co.uk
Location: England
How come you don't like first person, Akili? I actually prefer it most of the time. I like getting more into the character's viewpoint and their thoughts.

(0) (0)
SELLING OLD FP SETS
First fairy 8.4.15; 2nd 7.6.17
My books ~*~ My magazine



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 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 3rd, '19, 18:39    


Akili Li

Joined: Nov 24th, '15, 22:02
Posts: 19542
Hugs: 223741
Mood: contemplative
Location: Buried under the To-Do list
It either throws me out or feels squicky, in short form.

To be more specific...



First there's the whole amnesiac thing.

Where someone supposedly of normal everyday intelligence feels the need to reiterate to themselves who and what they are. Internally. For no known reason.

Do you go around thinking to yourself, "My name is X, and I'm a Y!" every so often?
No?
I don't, either.
Which means either they're someone with serious amnesiac issues who constantly has to reaffirm to themselves who they are (except they only do it at the beginning of a book, so that's not really true, now, is it?), or they completely break immersion by implying they know they're addressing someone else -INSIDE THEIR OWN HEAD.

Which is just flat out WRONG and if you or I or anyone remotely sane had an inkling that someone was reading our minds on an ongoing basis we would freak out and try and stop it or find out who/what/why/how and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, but no, these people just blithely accept it, SOMEHOW, and don't even address it other than to CLARIFY for this unknown auditor things that said auditor should already know perfectly well given that, oh yes, we are positing they have access to what the viewpoint character is thinking.

Thinking for even a BRIEF moment on the implications of that are disquieting in the EXTREME and completely keep me from enjoying a story. I flat cannot feel any identification at ALL with someone who would view that as acceptable.

If they somehow don't know that someone is monitoring their thoughts, their thoughts become highly inexplicable, and strange (because of those moments where they have to carefully think through explanations of things they should be VERY FAMILIAR with), and it throws me right out.

If they don't do that, and it's written well and the author avoids that trap, sometimes I don't have trouble... except that then I feel like a voyeur and that's ALSO a problem, throws me out, and leaves me feeling befouled on an ethical level. Massive non consensual invasion of privacy, right there, and if the character is "not real" enough that this isn't an issue, then they aren't real enough for me to get into the story. If they're real enough to suck me in, they're real enough to trigger that "EW what am I DOING?" moment... bad enough you read about other peoples' private moments, it's so many times worse when you are invading their very minds.

If the character somehow DOES know, and isn't factoring that mental-oversight at all into their actions or thoughts, that also becomes highly unsympathetic and alien and throws me right out, because who wouldn't be concerned by that?

Every once in a while you come across a rare book done well. Where the character is clearly talking to an audience (YES! Consent! I approve!) and ALSO is careful in what information they give (just like someone relaying a story actually would do, without going into details of highly private things that no, people would NOT just share with strangers...
those books I don't mind at all.
Those books are fine!

But it's REALLY HARD to find those, because it's hard to do well and it's EASY to mess them up.






There's also a minor issue where even when you can get past everything else long enough to start getting sucked into a story, typically the characters think in very different ways than I think, and make choices very different from what I would choose, and there's that barrier where the language is trying to pretend it is happening "to me", except NO, that is NOTHING like what I would think or do or say, so I get re-reminded immediately that this is someone else's story, only it is so jarring because why are they pretending it is my story? Why are they using language like it is happening to me? Oh, wait, it's not, it's happening to them... but then why are they talking like that, not as if they're telling me what happened to them but as if they're narrating their own lives to themselves, for some inexplicable reason? Or if it's not inexplicable, and they're trying to relay a story that happened to themselves, to someone else, in diary or report or whatever, why are they giving these private details that no one sane would ever give?

And boom -I'm thrown right back out again.


I really don't care for first person books. I'd probably be more tolerant if they were less common, but incident after incident of awful just compounds the awful.

(0) (0)
I want to buy or trade for these knuffels:
Earth Gen 18, Light Gen 19, Fire Gen 21, Air/Light/Water Gen 22, Light Gen 23, Earth/Light Gen 25, Darkness Gen 26.
Please PM me if you can help!

    Top
 Post subject: Re: The 2019 Reading Challenge
Posted: Jul 3rd, '19, 19:53    


Sanssouci

Joined: Jun 29th, '14, 02:58
Posts: 3703
Hugs: 78168
Location: New York
I don't care if a book is first or third person as long as whichever the author picks is done well. I read The Hired Girl recently, and I liked that, and that was first person. But it was written as diary entries, which I think really helps with a lot of those issues.

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