1Nickelini
Did I miss a post about this? It's October 1st so time for everyone to share their favourite (or worst) reading memories
2Dilara86
The novels that stand out for me this quarter were both written by authors from Central Asia:
The White Steamship by Chingiz Aitmatov
The Mountain and the Wall by Alisa Ganieva
On the non-fiction side, I really enjoyed Filles de la Terre : Apprentissages au féminin (Anjou 1920-1950) by Frédérique El Amrani-Boisseau about the lives of working-class girls/young women born in the late 19th, early 20th centuries in Anjou. It's a bit of niche subject, but I found it fascinating.
The White Steamship by Chingiz Aitmatov
The Mountain and the Wall by Alisa Ganieva
On the non-fiction side, I really enjoyed Filles de la Terre : Apprentissages au féminin (Anjou 1920-1950) by Frédérique El Amrani-Boisseau about the lives of working-class girls/young women born in the late 19th, early 20th centuries in Anjou. It's a bit of niche subject, but I found it fascinating.
3thorold
I had a rather patchy quarter, all sorts of bits and pieces from the TBR and tail ends of other topics. A lot of good books, but not much that really made me sit up and take notice.
- The real stand-out new book was Ali Smith’s Summer (and the Seasonal quartet as a whole, of course).
- Serowe by Bessie Head was a leftover from the Southern Africa theme of Q2, and turned out to be a really interesting oral-history portrait of a village in Botswana, in the same tradition as Akenfield and Jorwerd.
- I enjoyed Thomas Bernhard’s collected poems much more than I expected. Probably a dangerous book to have on the shelf, though, liable to implode and turn into a black hole of concentrated gloom... :-)
Most interesting non-fiction was probably the recent bio of Frederick the Great by Tim Blanning. But I enjoyed Angus Wilson’s little books on Zola and Dickens too. And my second instalment of Henry Havard.
- The real stand-out new book was Ali Smith’s Summer (and the Seasonal quartet as a whole, of course).
- Serowe by Bessie Head was a leftover from the Southern Africa theme of Q2, and turned out to be a really interesting oral-history portrait of a village in Botswana, in the same tradition as Akenfield and Jorwerd.
- I enjoyed Thomas Bernhard’s collected poems much more than I expected. Probably a dangerous book to have on the shelf, though, liable to implode and turn into a black hole of concentrated gloom... :-)
Most interesting non-fiction was probably the recent bio of Frederick the Great by Tim Blanning. But I enjoyed Angus Wilson’s little books on Zola and Dickens too. And my second instalment of Henry Havard.
4avaland
My reading picked up once I made adjustments.
As mentioned before I no longer finish books that are substandard in some way or just not doing anything for me, so I would consider all of my reads for the quarter quite good, or very good. It is difficult to chose, but after some thought, these are my favorites for the quarter:
Novels:
The Colonel's Wife by Rosa Liksom (2019, Finnish/Lapland)
Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon (2013, US)
Poetry:
The Unfastening: Poems and Dwellers in the House of the Lord: A Poem by Wesley McNair (poetry, US, 2020)
Short Stories:
Valentines: Stories by Olaf Olafsson (2007, Icelandic-American)
Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed by Jason Brown (linked stories, 2019, US)
As mentioned before I no longer finish books that are substandard in some way or just not doing anything for me, so I would consider all of my reads for the quarter quite good, or very good. It is difficult to chose, but after some thought, these are my favorites for the quarter:
Novels:
The Colonel's Wife by Rosa Liksom (2019, Finnish/Lapland)
Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon (2013, US)
Poetry:
The Unfastening: Poems and Dwellers in the House of the Lord: A Poem by Wesley McNair (poetry, US, 2020)
Short Stories:
Valentines: Stories by Olaf Olafsson (2007, Icelandic-American)
Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed by Jason Brown (linked stories, 2019, US)
5rhian_of_oz
A large component of my reading this quarter included Jodi Taylor's Chronicles of St Mary's series which was exactly what I needed. It's fun and interesting so I'd recommend it if that's what you're after.
The following are my favourites:
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Kathleen O'Connor of Paris by Amanda Curtin
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The following are my favourites:
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Kathleen O'Connor of Paris by Amanda Curtin
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
6Nickelini
I read 11 books this quarter and feel like it was a successful reading experience. Of note:
My favourite book of the quarter: The Breaking of a Wave, Fabio Genovese
The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio - After 4 months of reading, I finished this on the first day of the quarter, so perhaps it doesn't really belong here. However, reading this during a global pandemic is classic and deserves a mention.
I Remember Nothing, Nora Ephron
My Sister, the Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East 1978 - 1984, Riad Sattouf
The Summer Villa, Melissa Hill
My favourite book of the quarter: The Breaking of a Wave, Fabio Genovese
The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio - After 4 months of reading, I finished this on the first day of the quarter, so perhaps it doesn't really belong here. However, reading this during a global pandemic is classic and deserves a mention.
I Remember Nothing, Nora Ephron
My Sister, the Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East 1978 - 1984, Riad Sattouf
The Summer Villa, Melissa Hill
7bragan
I've had some good reading this past quarter!
Book that I rated 4.5 or 5 stars:
Fiction:
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Kingdom of Gods by N. K. Jemisin
Non-fiction:
Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat
Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything by Theodore Gray
Humor:
Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
Book that I rated 4.5 or 5 stars:
Fiction:
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Kingdom of Gods by N. K. Jemisin
Non-fiction:
Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat
Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything by Theodore Gray
Humor:
Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
8markon
I'm afraid the only standout on my list for the third quarter is Louise Erdrich's The night watchman, which I am slowly scanning back through to see what complexities I missed.
>5 rhian_of_oz: I also thought Children of time was excellent, and it was the first Tchaidovsky I read. Have you read anything else by this author?
>7 bragan: I enjoyed The inheritance trilogy and due to your post discovered there is an ebook short story prequel and ebook novella post trilogy that I have yet to read.
>5 rhian_of_oz: I also thought Children of time was excellent, and it was the first Tchaidovsky I read. Have you read anything else by this author?
>7 bragan: I enjoyed The inheritance trilogy and due to your post discovered there is an ebook short story prequel and ebook novella post trilogy that I have yet to read.
9rhian_of_oz
>8 markon: I've only read Children of Time so far though I have the sequel Children of Ruin in my TBR pile.
