Rediscovering Reading. . .
Aug. 19th, 2003 12:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hmpfThank you, thank you, thank you, my Sisters, for giving me The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. It's *exactly* the kind of book I like - it has flaws, but it's *interesting*, original (surprisingly so, since many elements would appear to be lifted from Tolkien, at first sight), slightly monstrous. . . It contains a whole world.
This, it seems, is a good year for reading. In the last few years, I only discovered one book of that kind a year. This year, I've already discovered two. (The first was Michael de Larrabeiti's 'Borrible' trilogy whose praise I have already sung here repeatedly.) I've also read some less impressive but nevertheless very satisfying stuff, such as the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, and the Harry Potter series.
I'd almost forgotten how much I love reading, immersing myself in a book. I was too busy, the last two or three years. I'm still busy, but it's a different kind of busy - until recently, there always was some nagging awareness of neglected duties at the back of my mind that made it impossible for me to relax. Now I'm between universities, between countries, between responsibilities. I'm free, kind of. And I can read.
I have quite a few books still on my 'to read' stack - among them some very welcome recent additions, mostly birthday presents - but I love making lists of books I want to read, so here are a few things I want to read when I'm done with the books on my 'to read' stack:
- Jonathan Carroll: The Land of Laughs
- Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun
- Dan Simmons: Hyperion
- Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett: Good Omens
- Iain Banks: Feersum Endjinn (or maybe some other book by Banks, haven't quite decided yet)
- Robert Zelazny: The Chronicles of Amber
- Ursula LeGuin: The Earthsea Triloy/Quartet(?)
- Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog (See,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
veritykindle, I rememeber recommendations!)
- Steven Brust: The Book of Jhereg
- Samuel Delany: Babel-17
- Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination
- Cordwainer Smith: Norstrilia
Yes, it's all geeky stuff. So what? I'm embracing my geekiness, nowadays. ;-)
Anything you think I should definitely read? Recommend it to me, here and now! I always remember recommendations, even if I only come around to reading them a few years from now.
This, it seems, is a good year for reading. In the last few years, I only discovered one book of that kind a year. This year, I've already discovered two. (The first was Michael de Larrabeiti's 'Borrible' trilogy whose praise I have already sung here repeatedly.) I've also read some less impressive but nevertheless very satisfying stuff, such as the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, and the Harry Potter series.
I'd almost forgotten how much I love reading, immersing myself in a book. I was too busy, the last two or three years. I'm still busy, but it's a different kind of busy - until recently, there always was some nagging awareness of neglected duties at the back of my mind that made it impossible for me to relax. Now I'm between universities, between countries, between responsibilities. I'm free, kind of. And I can read.
I have quite a few books still on my 'to read' stack - among them some very welcome recent additions, mostly birthday presents - but I love making lists of books I want to read, so here are a few things I want to read when I'm done with the books on my 'to read' stack:
- Jonathan Carroll: The Land of Laughs
- Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun
- Dan Simmons: Hyperion
- Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett: Good Omens
- Iain Banks: Feersum Endjinn (or maybe some other book by Banks, haven't quite decided yet)
- Robert Zelazny: The Chronicles of Amber
- Ursula LeGuin: The Earthsea Triloy/Quartet(?)
- Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog (See,
veritykindle, I rememeber recommendations!)- Steven Brust: The Book of Jhereg
- Samuel Delany: Babel-17
- Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination
- Cordwainer Smith: Norstrilia
Yes, it's all geeky stuff. So what? I'm embracing my geekiness, nowadays. ;-)
Anything you think I should definitely read? Recommend it to me, here and now! I always remember recommendations, even if I only come around to reading them a few years from now.
no subject
Date: 2003-08-19 06:36 am (UTC)That's because. . .
Date: 2003-08-19 09:46 am (UTC)If you'd read more carefully, you'd have seen that that list was a list of books I intend to buy *after* I'm through my current To Read stack, which consists, of course, of books I already own.
Re: That's because. . .
Date: 2003-08-21 07:36 am (UTC)Oops. Sorry. Screwed up again. It's just that there are so many web sites (newstickers, blogs, forums,...) I check daily that I'm constantly in a hurry. And unfortunately I'm a very slow reader. When I try to speed things up, I miss stuff.
Anyways, about your list: The only 2 books I know from that list are Earthsea and Good Omens. Earthsea is one of the few books I've read more than once. I recommend it very much, especially since it's a different kind of fantasy than LOTR and the usual party-based sword&sorcery fantasy. It's more philosophical. About Trilogy or Quartet: Make that Trilogy. The 4th book (Tehanu) sucks so much that despite trying multiple times I was never able to finish it. I find it hard to believe it's from the same author.