I’ve just finished reading “Love Poems” by Nâzim Hikmet, and I am about to finish “The Age of Innocence” by Edith Wharton. I generally alternate fiction and non-fiction, so some non-fiction will be soon my next read.
I am a very slow reader. I savor words. Downside is I absolutely hate overwriting with a fiery passion that knows no bounds. It means I cannot read people like Stephen King or George RR Martin because I find their books horribly over written.
World's been so bleak and horrible the past couple of years I've seriously regressed to comfort reading, and Patricia A. McKillip is at the very top of that list. Just finished Winter Rose for the second time, read it years and years ago, and started Solistice Wood tonight, which I've never read before. If you've never heard of her, start with Riddle-Master of Hed or Changling Sea (both personal favorites).
Other recent comfort reads were The Sign of Four by Doyle and Murder at the Vicarage by Christie.
Also finally finished The Iliad. My god, but that was a slog. It took months. The Odyssey is much better
This makes me want to re-read CHARMING BILLY now. I own it and don’t remember it! I’m reading a lovely Irish novel called THIS IS HAPPINESS, by Niall Williams.
Reading Jennifer Egan's The Candy House, and having to grudgingly admit I can hardly remember a damn thing from A Visit From the Goon Squad. I loved it, but, you know, aging brain.
Previous book was Alice MacDermott's Charming Billy, being on an all things Irish and Irish adjacent kick. (yes, I love Martin McDonagh, and was particularly over the moon about Banshees). Charming Billy is a heartbreaking story, beautifully written.
I have Kafka on the shore on my list to read, interested to hear how you like it. I’m currently reading Babel. It’s a lot of book and the chapters are long, so it will take a while. My work schedule has me in the office every 2 weeks so i read a library book on my kindle while in the office and last week i finished Siren Queen. A weird book about an Asian actress in early Hollywood that included magic. I had also finished Look Who’s Back. It’s about Hitler waking up in 2011 Germany and people thinking he’s a comedian so they give him a platform to say what he says because “it’s funny” there was a German movie made but it’s not on streaming. I would also love to work in a bookstore or own one. And of course have a bookstore cat. We have several excellent bookstores here in New Orleans. When we move next year, bookstores is a criteria for the next city.
I love to read and used to do it more. But I read so much for work that it’s hard to carve out extra time to read for pleasure. I loved “The Dictionary of Lost Words” recently and am currently reading “Under the Whispering Door”. I also am in the process of reading Dick Ebersol’s memoir which I enjoy because of the “inside baseball” of the tv business.
I also got Kafka on the Shore this Christmas. I'm halfway through it and really enjoying it. I've only read one other of his books, The Windup Bird Chronicle, and I love the way ties the fantastical to the mundane.
Recently I picked up the William Gibson novel "The Peripheral". I wanted to read it before I watched the show, and though I'm not sure how the show turned out, the book is fascinating so far.
Don't know if you have it in your collection or have read it but I highly recommend Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition by Siegfried Giedion. Originally published in 1941 Giedion revised it and updated it through multiple editions over the years, pretty sure that the 5th Edition was the last one that he revised in 1977. It's a spectacular book about architecture and how it shapes and is shaped by society and culture. Not even sure if it's still in print but I did find it on Amazon with some used copies.
Bear looks like he’s doing easy time in one of those posh prisons.
I’m currently reading A Terrible Country and Sold on a Monday. I just added In the Garden of Beasts to the stack. The stack is in the backseat of my car because reading has been relegated to a time killing endeavor for all the days my son says to pick him up at 3:30, but he should have said 4:30.
I’ve been opting for the quicker and easier route to escapism via TV series. I’m currently watching Fauda and liking it a lot. It’s given me a better understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In my naivety, I’d have thought fact that both sides' proclivity for hugging would be mitigating factor, but no.
Tim, two comments. I find your ongoing discourse on your home(s) and life there to be fascinating, mainly because my perspective seems to be totally opposite. My wife and I live in a compact two-bedroom apartment with a great communal garden. It’s quiet and lovely but both of us treat it as something akin to blank space. We spend ages there but are not wedded to it and almost treat it like an office plus hotel room. We get out a lot, to cafes and long hikes, etc. Lately I’ve been experiencing some kind of distaste for all the homes of our friends, suddenly viewing them as “mausoleum” or “display homes” rather than cozy, lived-in pleasures. Anyway, to cut to the chase, I’ve been wanting to pursue my thinking, to see if I can revolutionise my own conception of my own home, so I’ve piggybacked off your reading list and bought the Akiko Busch book. Thanks!
Second, I’m going in the opposite direction with my reading. Over the last half decade, I’ve read three books a week, fiction and nonfiction, ja wide variety of genres. This year, needing (like you) to put writing at my center, and perhaps a little burned-out, one of my New Year resolutions was “STOP READING.” That is, I’ll keep reading “a bit” (book groups, etc.) but in general want some peace from neverending words on pages.
Great stuff. I've been reading a lot of books about LA (history, power structures): The Annotated Big Sleep (which is really great), picked up a copy of City of Quartz from a Little Free Library and a book on LA Buildings Then and Now (used book store find today), also an omnibus of Walter Mosley Easy Rawlins novels (the first three), plus the other two of the Socrates Fortlow collection, which I think is the best thing he's written. Seems fitting for both LA and Black History Month.
Also listening to John Lurie's audiobook, which I'm just tearing through. It makes me think a bit less of Lurie (he craps on Jim Jarmusch a fair bit, a LOT of it is drugs and sex with various girlfriends, but also has some of the musings on creativity that make Painting With John such good viewing, and some of the same type of observations on life). Before that I listened to Mercury Pictures Presents which was a really excellently imagined book on the film industry centered around WWII and the European Emigres (especially Italian ones fleeing fascism). One of the best novels I've read/listened to in a long time.
I’ve just finished reading “Love Poems” by Nâzim Hikmet, and I am about to finish “The Age of Innocence” by Edith Wharton. I generally alternate fiction and non-fiction, so some non-fiction will be soon my next read.
I am a very slow reader. I savor words. Downside is I absolutely hate overwriting with a fiery passion that knows no bounds. It means I cannot read people like Stephen King or George RR Martin because I find their books horribly over written.
World's been so bleak and horrible the past couple of years I've seriously regressed to comfort reading, and Patricia A. McKillip is at the very top of that list. Just finished Winter Rose for the second time, read it years and years ago, and started Solistice Wood tonight, which I've never read before. If you've never heard of her, start with Riddle-Master of Hed or Changling Sea (both personal favorites).
Other recent comfort reads were The Sign of Four by Doyle and Murder at the Vicarage by Christie.
Also finally finished The Iliad. My god, but that was a slog. It took months. The Odyssey is much better
This makes me want to re-read CHARMING BILLY now. I own it and don’t remember it! I’m reading a lovely Irish novel called THIS IS HAPPINESS, by Niall Williams.
Tim, I believe I’m the world’s slowest reader.
Reading Jennifer Egan's The Candy House, and having to grudgingly admit I can hardly remember a damn thing from A Visit From the Goon Squad. I loved it, but, you know, aging brain.
Previous book was Alice MacDermott's Charming Billy, being on an all things Irish and Irish adjacent kick. (yes, I love Martin McDonagh, and was particularly over the moon about Banshees). Charming Billy is a heartbreaking story, beautifully written.
I have Kafka on the shore on my list to read, interested to hear how you like it. I’m currently reading Babel. It’s a lot of book and the chapters are long, so it will take a while. My work schedule has me in the office every 2 weeks so i read a library book on my kindle while in the office and last week i finished Siren Queen. A weird book about an Asian actress in early Hollywood that included magic. I had also finished Look Who’s Back. It’s about Hitler waking up in 2011 Germany and people thinking he’s a comedian so they give him a platform to say what he says because “it’s funny” there was a German movie made but it’s not on streaming. I would also love to work in a bookstore or own one. And of course have a bookstore cat. We have several excellent bookstores here in New Orleans. When we move next year, bookstores is a criteria for the next city.
I love to read and used to do it more. But I read so much for work that it’s hard to carve out extra time to read for pleasure. I loved “The Dictionary of Lost Words” recently and am currently reading “Under the Whispering Door”. I also am in the process of reading Dick Ebersol’s memoir which I enjoy because of the “inside baseball” of the tv business.
Why is Substack turning "like" to "lime" all the time? SIGH
I literally LOL’d throughout this post --such fun!
Last year I decided to create new habits --one was to read more (and consume less news).
Currently reading Anthony Horowitz --Magpie Murders stuff and one of his Sherlock Holmes books. Also, such fun!
I also got Kafka on the Shore this Christmas. I'm halfway through it and really enjoying it. I've only read one other of his books, The Windup Bird Chronicle, and I love the way ties the fantastical to the mundane.
Recently I picked up the William Gibson novel "The Peripheral". I wanted to read it before I watched the show, and though I'm not sure how the show turned out, the book is fascinating so far.
Don't know if you have it in your collection or have read it but I highly recommend Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition by Siegfried Giedion. Originally published in 1941 Giedion revised it and updated it through multiple editions over the years, pretty sure that the 5th Edition was the last one that he revised in 1977. It's a spectacular book about architecture and how it shapes and is shaped by society and culture. Not even sure if it's still in print but I did find it on Amazon with some used copies.
https://www.amazon.com/Space-Time-Architecture-Tradition-Enlarged/dp/0674830407/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2D3V6K1NXFE1E&keywords=space%2C+time+and+architecture&qid=1675470848&sprefix=space%2C+time+and+ar%2Caps%2C210&sr=8-4
As a designer with a particular type-fetish, I've always been drawn to architecture and this book is amazing.
Bear looks like he’s doing easy time in one of those posh prisons.
I’m currently reading A Terrible Country and Sold on a Monday. I just added In the Garden of Beasts to the stack. The stack is in the backseat of my car because reading has been relegated to a time killing endeavor for all the days my son says to pick him up at 3:30, but he should have said 4:30.
I’ve been opting for the quicker and easier route to escapism via TV series. I’m currently watching Fauda and liking it a lot. It’s given me a better understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In my naivety, I’d have thought fact that both sides' proclivity for hugging would be mitigating factor, but no.
Tim, two comments. I find your ongoing discourse on your home(s) and life there to be fascinating, mainly because my perspective seems to be totally opposite. My wife and I live in a compact two-bedroom apartment with a great communal garden. It’s quiet and lovely but both of us treat it as something akin to blank space. We spend ages there but are not wedded to it and almost treat it like an office plus hotel room. We get out a lot, to cafes and long hikes, etc. Lately I’ve been experiencing some kind of distaste for all the homes of our friends, suddenly viewing them as “mausoleum” or “display homes” rather than cozy, lived-in pleasures. Anyway, to cut to the chase, I’ve been wanting to pursue my thinking, to see if I can revolutionise my own conception of my own home, so I’ve piggybacked off your reading list and bought the Akiko Busch book. Thanks!
Second, I’m going in the opposite direction with my reading. Over the last half decade, I’ve read three books a week, fiction and nonfiction, ja wide variety of genres. This year, needing (like you) to put writing at my center, and perhaps a little burned-out, one of my New Year resolutions was “STOP READING.” That is, I’ll keep reading “a bit” (book groups, etc.) but in general want some peace from neverending words on pages.
So ... the quest for meaning continues apace...
Great stuff. I've been reading a lot of books about LA (history, power structures): The Annotated Big Sleep (which is really great), picked up a copy of City of Quartz from a Little Free Library and a book on LA Buildings Then and Now (used book store find today), also an omnibus of Walter Mosley Easy Rawlins novels (the first three), plus the other two of the Socrates Fortlow collection, which I think is the best thing he's written. Seems fitting for both LA and Black History Month.
Also listening to John Lurie's audiobook, which I'm just tearing through. It makes me think a bit less of Lurie (he craps on Jim Jarmusch a fair bit, a LOT of it is drugs and sex with various girlfriends, but also has some of the musings on creativity that make Painting With John such good viewing, and some of the same type of observations on life). Before that I listened to Mercury Pictures Presents which was a really excellently imagined book on the film industry centered around WWII and the European Emigres (especially Italian ones fleeing fascism). One of the best novels I've read/listened to in a long time.