GeorgeC07 Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 Okay I've just ordered an kindle paperwhite and am about to start reading a lot, I hope. At least this'll keep my mind off for a while. I have finished two novels after the winter break started, and I'm currently reading Decisive Moments in History by Stefan Zweig.
Le Chat Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 Right now I'm reading Democracy in America by Tocqueville and the Iliad by Homer. My New Year's Resolution was to read the Great Books of the Western World series, at least to begin it (it's over 500 works lol.) I'll be doing a lot of reading until August!
rising_star Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 I'm loving that there are multiple threads about reading on here right now that are pretty active. The Read Harder Challenge is a great suggestion from another thread. WBUR has a great post about reading books that aren't written by white male authors. You can also check out NPR's Book Concierge if you need recommendations. I'm currently reading Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett and The Man Who Fell From the Sky by Walter Tevis. I_mix and kristincas 2
ruilinch Posted January 5, 2017 Posted January 5, 2017 I have watched so many movies in the last month that I have lost count. Sitting in the dark and watching other people having a busy life for two hours, really sets your mind free. I already think of hitting cinemas as a hobby now.
MsHypatia Posted January 9, 2017 Posted January 9, 2017 On 1/4/2017 at 7:30 PM, goldenstardust11 said: I'm reading The Help by Kathryn Sockett - a bit behind in popular readings, but have decided that post-apps will be a good time to catch up with the NYT Bestsellers list! Good book. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a good follow up if you haven't already read it. I'm currently reading Great Expectations.
kristincas Posted January 9, 2017 Posted January 9, 2017 On 12/29/2016 at 8:39 PM, qt_dnvr said: I'm out of school so I have no finals to throw my anxiety into as I wait for decisions. Instead I checked out a few library books, currently reading Dark Money Jane Mayer. Helpful to panic about the state of election financing instead of my school/career choices. What about you? What's everybody reading to keep their brain busy? I'm reading Dark Money, too! I had no idea the Libertarian movement in this country was so contrived! The stories (especially environmental) about the dark conservative right are especially upsetting with our new president =(. I'm also reading Switch: How to change things when change is hard and just got done reading First Break All the Rules (a Gallup book about Management) qt_dnvr 1
luz.colorada Posted January 9, 2017 Posted January 9, 2017 On 12/30/2016 at 5:01 AM, TK2 said: I read "Dear Committee Members", which is a short novel written entirely as a series of overblows and inappropriate recommendation letters from a crotchety professor. I thought it was hysterical, but I would appear to be its target audience right now. I slo developed a weird hobby lately of reading critical take-downs - the more venomous the better - of the whole western higher education industry as some sort of coping mechanism, but have run through what seem to be the main pillars of American-College-Is-Broken literature (The Price of Admission, College (Un)Bound, Excellent Sheep, The Gatekeepers) (All of which are almost entirely about Undergrad admission and have little to do with me...just reading for disdain and catharsis) and I'm now tentatively eyeing more academic work on higher education in general. Just read "Dear Committee Members" on your recommendation and loved it. Started and finished it on Saturday-took my mind off waiting for a day!
speechfan222 Posted January 9, 2017 Posted January 9, 2017 On 1/4/2017 at 6:30 PM, goldenstardust11 said: I'm reading The Help by Kathryn Sockett - a bit behind in popular readings, but have decided that post-apps will be a good time to catch up with the NYT Bestsellers list! I loved this book!! I'm sure you'll enjoy it as well. I'd also recommend All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. That book was incredible!!
qt_dnvr Posted January 10, 2017 Author Posted January 10, 2017 8 hours ago, kristincas said: I'm reading Dark Money, too! I had no idea the Libertarian movement in this country was so contrived! The stories (especially environmental) about the dark conservative right are especially upsetting with our new president =(. I'm also reading Switch: How to change things when change is hard and just got done reading First Break All the Rules (a Gallup book about Management) It makes me extra mad about the shift to the right too! But Trump is maybe his own club apart from the Kochs? I need to research this more and see what the author has published since the nomination and election. Now im reading Conflict Is Not Abuse by Sarah Schulman, one of my favorite non fiction writers, about the difference between conflict and problem solving and violence and victimhood. Examples span political to the personal and back and overall just a lot to chew on. My shelf to read from the library is a lot of non fiction winners of 2016 about race and mental illness. I finally realized I simply don't have the taste for fiction anymore...
kristincas Posted January 10, 2017 Posted January 10, 2017 11 hours ago, qt_dnvr said: It makes me extra mad about the shift to the right too! But Trump is maybe his own club apart from the Kochs? I need to research this more and see what the author has published since the nomination and election. Now im reading Conflict Is Not Abuse by Sarah Schulman, one of my favorite non fiction writers, about the difference between conflict and problem solving and violence and victimhood. Examples span political to the personal and back and overall just a lot to chew on. My shelf to read from the library is a lot of non fiction winners of 2016 about race and mental illness. I finally realized I simply don't have the taste for fiction anymore... Ha! Same here! A friend lent me the Wheel of Time, but I couldn't get past a few pages. I'm sure it's an amazing fantasy series, but I just couldn't get into it. I've been on the non-fiction train for a while now. Jane Mayer does have some Trump writings - a quick google search gave me this gem: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/24/documenting-trumps-abuse-of-women. She also had a good NPR interview about her experience publishing Dark Money: http://www.npr.org/books/authors/138006088/jane-mayer I'll have ot check out Sarah Schulman, thanks for the recommendation! (and for distracting me from refreshing my email 50 times)
li'lsebastian Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 On 12/29/2016 at 9:43 PM, speechfan222 said: I'm currently reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It's a great book. I really enjoy how it's written. I'm a little behind in having a chance to read the book once it was published, but reading it now. About half way through and trying to finish it as soon as I can. Classes start in 11 days and I'm pretty sure I won't have much time for reading fiction books. If I don't finish it in time, I will definitely read at night before bed. I'm reading Gone Girl at the moment! My friend got it for me for Christmas, I'm enjoying it so far. I'm also nearly done with The Exorcist.
pebs Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Vertical by Stephen Graham. Which, while fascinating, is a somewhat academic geography book. Which...isn't helping me chill. I should probably read something else.
eadwacer Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 On 12/31/2016 at 8:36 AM, angel_kaye13 said: I started a compilation of essays, "The Body in Parts: Fantasies of Corporeality in Early Modern Europe," edited by David Hillman & Carla Mazzio, but I'm incredibly lethargic in finishing it, despite my good intentions and how fantastic it is, due to wanting to soak up all the laziness of winter break that I can. But! My good-intentions reading.^^ I was thinking of reading that soon! It's a little late for me, but I've been doing a lot of work recently on dismemberment and man-eating in Old and Middle English lit, so I feel like it might be an interesting follow-up. Glad to hear it's good! Right now I'm taking a break to read some fiction, so I'm doing The Watchmaker of Filligree Street by Natasha Pulley. So far it's a quietly hilarious and emotionally gentle magical realist novel just shy of steampunk. I'm enjoying it so much I'm kind of drawing it out. angel_kaye13 1
goldenstardust11 Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 Thank you all for the recommendations. I just finished The Help and did enjoy it very much! Now reading Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
BellaAung Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 Hello, I'm currently reading "Milk and Honey" by Rupi Kaur. It's a great book of short poems divided into four sections: the hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing. I'm also thinking about rereading Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak."
kekology4 Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 currently reading queer necropolitics and feminist genealogies, colonial legacies, democratic futures. both are great, and helping the application process go by a liiittle quicker.
TK2 Posted January 14, 2017 Posted January 14, 2017 On 09/01/2017 at 11:34 PM, luz.colorada said: Just read "Dear Committee Members" on your recommendation and loved it. Started and finished it on Saturday-took my mind off waiting for a day! Yay! I'm glad youu liked it. I read it in a day as well. It helped me work up the nerve to do a round of reminders for my letter-writers. (It took only two more rounds of that to get (almost) all the letters, even! (just 2 out of 23 to go!)) On 12/01/2017 at 6:04 PM, wet gremlin said: Vertical by Stephen Graham. Which, while fascinating, is a somewhat academic geography book. Which...isn't helping me chill. I should probably read something else. I just started that as well...I think his approach is great but the wirting is just a little thin (and more academic than I expected)3 Like could have used a strong edit, just for language's sake. It does make it a little frustrating to read as an 'entertainment' book.
angel_kaye13 Posted January 15, 2017 Posted January 15, 2017 On 1/13/2017 at 1:38 PM, eadwacer said: I was thinking of reading that soon! It's a little late for me, but I've been doing a lot of work recently on dismemberment and man-eating in Old and Middle English lit, so I feel like it might be an interesting follow-up. Glad to hear it's good! Sorry for the delayed response, @eadwacer, I wanted to wait for my up votes to refill. Glad to see another medievalist floating around, and that I'm not a total nerd in my reading interests! ^^ Completely failed on reading this thru by the end of winter break, but with thesis the focus of this semester, I'll likely have this down, come hell or high water. So if I change my mind about its merits, I'll let you know. ;-) Best luck with your apps/hearing back, mayhap we'll both hear happy news soonish!
I_mix Posted January 15, 2017 Posted January 15, 2017 Currently reading Rashoumon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryuunosuke Akutagawa and I'm almost done with American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
RevTheory1126 Posted January 16, 2017 Posted January 16, 2017 I've been craving some escapism for sure, recently picked back up some of the Magic: The Gathering novels/anthologies... currently reading Rath and Storm, just ILL'd The Brothers' War. If anyone is into MTG, or just enjoys a decent-but-at-times-corny fantasy novel, the first book, Arena, is also worth picking up.
lizie.johnson Posted January 16, 2017 Posted January 16, 2017 Currently reading Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran. Geared toward a slightly younger audience, so it's a nice light read during this stressful waiting period.
GreenEyedTrombonist Posted January 16, 2017 Posted January 16, 2017 I haven't been reading as much as I want, but I am slowly making it through 1984. Last night I finished part 1 and got down to 2 chapters to read in part 2. I'm still on track to finish it before the semester starts (and I'm actually assigned to read it, haha). I've also been working my way through the Valiant Universe (comic books) because I volunteer as a moderator for a company that's partnered with them and I want to better understand the background material for one of the shows. Right now I'm in the middle of Act 3, hoping to get to Act 4 before the end of February.
RevTheory1126 Posted January 16, 2017 Posted January 16, 2017 19 minutes ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said: I've also been working my way through the Valiant Universe (comic books) because I volunteer as a moderator for a company that's partnered with them and I want to better understand the background material for one of the shows. Right now I'm in the middle of Act 3, hoping to get to Act 4 before the end of February. I'm intrigued @GreenEyedTrombonist, is reading the Valiant Universe "in order" a thing? Is this what you are referring to: https://vertigology.net/2015/12/09/the-complete-valiant-reading-order/ ? If so, that sounds really cool!
GreenEyedTrombonist Posted January 16, 2017 Posted January 16, 2017 3 minutes ago, RevTheory1126 said: I'm intrigued @GreenEyedTrombonist, is reading the Valiant Universe "in order" a thing? Is this what you are referring to: https://vertigology.net/2015/12/09/the-complete-valiant-reading-order/ ? If so, that sounds really cool! That is what I'm doing! It's been pretty awesome, though my public library only lets me check out 6 digital comics a month and doesn't have physical copies of Valiant. I got a few for the holidays, but I've also probably spent more money than I should picking up books myself. I can't help that they're awesome, haha.
RevTheory1126 Posted January 16, 2017 Posted January 16, 2017 10 minutes ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said: That is what I'm doing! It's been pretty awesome, though my public library only lets me check out 6 digital comics a month and doesn't have physical copies of Valiant. I got a few for the holidays, but I've also probably spent more money than I should picking up books myself. I can't help that they're awesome, haha. There's a good used bookstore in my neighborhood, I'll go check there. #feelinginspired
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