StoryGraph MR Reading Challenge Masterpost

[issybird]

Originally Posted by hildea

I ended up picking Rose Lerner's "The Wife in the Attic" for January. It's a Jane Eyre retelling, and both a left over (a book I've been planning to read for a while) and the first in a new series. I liked it a lot, which isn't a surprise as I've read and liked many other books by Lerner.

Thank you for mentioning this; I’m going to look into it. I’ve always sided with Bertha.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think that’s part of what set my teeth on edge a bit; it’s a perfectly pleasant read but there’s a lack of rigor. And I run into variations of this problem frequently it seems, when the voice of the text doesn’t match the reality of the setting. Historical novels with 21st century sensibilities, for example; it’s also endemic in myth retellings in the original setting.

Indeed. I suppose it's because she does stuff on TV also, where she is being quite chatty. I have just watched her programme on Agatha Christie, which was okay, but didn't inspire me to get her book.

Somehow it's acceptable there because of the whole tone of the programme, where the printed (or electronic) page needs a bit more gravitas. It's a pity, because clearly she has done a lot of research.

[astrangerhere]

Anyone interested in doing a buddy read of Julie Otsuka's The Swimmers?

[JSWolf]

I've finished The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman, The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket, and The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett.

I'm not reading in order. But that's OK. I'm also involved in other challenges on TSG.

[ZodWallop]

Tomorrow's the last day of January and I finished both my January reads and my Raymond Chandler book of the month. Did everyone finish their reads for the month?

[Bookpossum]

Yes, I read mine (Home Fire) and a second one on the list as well, Jane Austen at Home.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Anyone interested in doing a buddy read of Julie Otsuka's The Swimmers?

That was one of the best novels I read last year, if anyone’s on the fence. I’d be interested in a discussion although it’s been long enough since I read it thatI don’t know how much I could contribute.

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Yes, I read mine (Home Fire) and a second one on the list as well, Jane Austen at Home.

I read both of those, too, and bumped my own selection down the calendar. Loved Home Fire, thought Jane Austen at Home was merely ok.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

That was one of the best novels I read last year, if anyone’s on the fence. I’d be interested in a discussion although it’s been long enough since I read it thatI don’t know how much I could contribute.

I'm already 75% through it. It has some earmarks of Otsuka (a family that was interned), but the back half is thoroughly unsettling (and beautifully done).

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I'm already 75% through it. It has some earmarks of Otsuka (a family that was interned), but the back half is thoroughly unsettling (and beautifully done).

The first section about the pool was one of the most accurate and evocative pieces of prose I’ve ever read. For me, I think the key identifying trait of Otsuka’s writing is the use of the first person plural.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

The first section about the pool was one of the most accurate and evocative pieces of prose I’ve ever read. For me, I think the key identifying trait of Otsuka’s writing is the use of the first person plural.

That part was STELLAR. I also love how everyone is named and has careers even though they are only in one sentence. it reminds me vaguely of the same style in Anthony Marra, particularly in A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon.

[JSWolf]

I have finished The Wind and the Willow by Kenneth Grahame. It's an odd book. Not as good as I was hoping.

[Uncle Robin]

I'm mow halfway through Il Principe: testo semplificato in italiano corrente and the publishers have done a great job, it's a lot easier to follow than I expected. It starts with a preface that really drives home the amazing work that translators do. The preface talks about the difficulties and challenges of taking a book written in Medieval Tuscan and putting it into simplified contemporary standard Italian. That left me thinking " if that translation, moving it through time from one language to its child language, was hard, moving an author's thoughts between completely unrelated languages is little short of miraculous"

[Fbone]

For February my shortest book in the pile is A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Elizabeth Bear, Scott Lynch, Katherine Addison.

So, I'll add and read for this month.

[Bookpossum]

I have read my February book: A Stairway to Paradise by Madelaine St John. It was short, by an author whose delicate style I enjoy, and an eternal triangle story, so fitted the criteria well. I enjoyed it, but not as much as St John's first book, The Women in Black.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Anyone interested in doing a buddy read of Julie Otsuka's The Swimmers?

Originally Posted by issybird

That was one of the best novels I read last year, if anyone’s on the fence.

I read Otsuka's When the Emperor was Divine and have The Buddha in the Attic. Haven't picked up The Swimmers yet.