Share a book you're feeling enthused about
So I know we have the biweekly "what are you reading" thread, but sometimes a book will stick with you for a while beyond reading it. I'm curious what those sticky books might be for those who would like to share. Feel free to include an honorable mention if you wish!
For example, I finished reading The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones pretty recently, and I have a feeling it's going to stick with me for a while. It has a particularly unique flavor of an often-seen paranormal/mythological creature that I appreciated, and the characters developed so much over time that I find myself thinking about it. This book wasn't at all like what I normally read (though I am trying to branch out) and I benefitted from the reading experience more than I expected to. The blurb I got for the book also tells you nothing about the story - it's basically just the hook - and I think that technique worked very well. Interestingly, most of the books I find myself thinking about for a while after I read them are horror books, but I'm not usually thinking about them for their scarier elements.
Honorable mention - Sand by Hugh Howey. I read this a year ago and often find myself recommending it to people who enjoy sci fi. I found the technology (decrepit though it is shown to be) super interesting.
Other books that are feeling memorable for me right now are part of series I'm actively working toward finishing, so I'm not really counting those, as they're called up by their universes every time I dive back in.
When I was a kid, I read an anthology of science fiction short stories called "The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF", edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. Although the stories stuck with me, I forgot the name of the anthology (along the names of most of the stories and authors).
After dedicating a solid hour to scouring through the internet's recommendations for the same damn books that are not what I was looking for, I finally stumbled across it and am happy to have it again.
Anyway, it's an excellent collection and may actually be as enjoyable to others as it was to me when I was a teenager, "but you don’t have to take my word for it."
I want to suggest a book that already has a large following: Pachinko. It was freaking incredible! Context here, I'm not Korean and knew embarrassing about modern Korean history until reading The Island of Sea Women - also a very compelling read. So I would be interested to hear what actual Koreans feel about these books. But as a poorly informed USA-ian, there were both fantastic at walking through generations and showing the tragic side of an often sterilized post WW2 period in that region. It reminded me of East of Eden or Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - also incredible reads - in how connected I felt to the family at each generation and how it showcased the struggle of average families. I trust the Steinbeck versions as he lived in the area he wrote about (as do I), and based the stories on his own family, and I just want to make sure I'm not getting an "American Dirt" version of events. If there is anyone from or has family from the settings of Pachinko (Busan, Osaka, etc...) I'd love to hear your thoughts on the era.
Sorry for bringing up such a tiny point in your comment, but I'm curious what you mean by an "American Dirt" version of events? Like maybe as a USA-ian reader we wouldn't have enough education to know if Pachinko isn't a reasonable reflection of possible events?
I think the biggest issue with American Dirt is how it was marketed - this short Slate article kind of sums up what I've heard about it.
I read American Dirt recently, and I definitely read it as fiction rather than it being portrayed as anything accurate. Most people who are immigrating aren't going through a version of events that is anything like what is shown in American Dirt. I think the publisher definitely didn't do anyone any favors marketing it as such a heavyweight book.
Anyway, I'm not at all familiar with the setting and I've been becoming more interested in family sagas, so Pachinko might go on the TBR!
Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. I know it's fiction, but it's a compelling way to learn about an area or era.
Like, this may sound ignorant, but before reading The Long Valley by John Steinbeck I didn't know the Salinas Valley is naturally a marsh or that early cold storage was such a gamble. He provides so many interesting insights about my own backyard. I'm hoping what I've learned from Pachinko is accurate as well, be it based on fictional characters. I don't want to give any spoilers, but if it's true it's a great view into the dynamics of the region.
Regardless, definitely recommend putting it on your list!
The Song of the Beast by Carol Berg
In my experience, there are two separate goals when writing words. One is to make the content compelling. This is the most common type of writing. Basically all books, novels, news articles, emails, etc fall into this category.
The other goal is to have the words and phrases themselves be compelling to listen to. This is the realm of music lyrics and poetry, and sometimes short stories. In this type of writing, the content takes a back seat. The content can even be meaningless. These can even be compelling to listen to when you don’t speak the language.
Very few works of writing, in my opinion, cross the gap and do both at once. Some people would say that the works of Shakespeare crossed this bridge and did both at once. I personally don’t agree, but I will admit I am a bit of a philistine with that era of literature.
The Song of the Beast bridges these two worlds of writing and does so beautifully. The lyrical prose is beautiful to listen to or read even if you aren’t comprehending anything. The story is one of the best dragon fantasy stories I have ever read. It is the only fantasy epic I have heard of where the main character is a bard. Seriously, if you have any interest in fantasy, read this book immediately.
This sounds really interesting. I'm going to add it to my read list.
If you enjoy it, she has written a vast library of other fantasy books. I am currently reading the rai-kirah trilogy (first book is Transformation). Absolutely an underrated author.
For nonfiction I can recommend really anything written by William Langewiesche. He was an investigative journalist for The Atlantic and has reported on topics such as nuclear proliferation, the state of international shipping, aviation (he was a pilot by training), issues along the Mexican-American border and the aftermath of 9/11 in New York (he was the only journalist given full access to ground zero).
My partner shared his article on MH17 with me and it is honestly one of the best pieces of journalism I have ever read. Langewiesche's analysis is incredibly in-depth and describes all the events as best as is possible in a direct and unassuming way that is very accessible and engaging in a way I had never seen before. I have read a few books of his over the summer (his books are based on his Atlantic articles) and find them difficult to put down once I've picked them up.
Let's see.... completely random pick of a book I loved that I read within the last year or 2..... Anatole France 'The Gods Will Have Blood' aka 'The Gods Are Athirst' published in 1912.
Second: Patrick White 'Riders in the Chariot' Published 1961.
A childhood favorite that holds up for adults, that I still love. I go back and reread it every few years.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert O'Brian
It's nominally just a children's story about slightly anthropomorphized animals trying to get by, but it actually has some hard sci-fi at its core, originially inspired by the Calhoun experiments on rodent behavior when over-populated.