Board 8 > 2021: The year of reading

(+) Yeah! (+)

One thing I'm not particularly proud of is how little I read. I used to read a lot back in high school, but since graduating college in 2015 I honestly don't think I've read a single book. I always told myself I get into reading again more, and never did. Even comics, which I hadn't read much of since high school, I never seemed to find the time for.

This year, that changed. I have a job in a kitchen that largely involves standing in one place for hours on end doing repetitive, often mindless work. Typically I'd just throw on some music, but after receiving a pair of wireless headphones as a Christmas present, I decided to start using that time more productively, and for the last 2 months I've been listening to audiobooks. I've gotta say, I'm so glad I started. In the last 2 months alone, I've finished 5 novels and I'm currently working through my 6th. So far I've finished:

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The Institute by Stephen King
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

All pretty great books! In addition, I've started reading comics again too, and since the start of 2021 I've read:

The Books of Magic Vol. 1, Books 1-4
The Books of Magic Vol. 2, #1-33 and counting
The Books of Faerie, Auberon's Tale, and Molly's Story

currently reading through Wilder Girls by Rory Power and hope to keep this trend up through the year.

in the meantime, if anyone has suggestions of especially good audiobooks (particularly ones available on the app Libby, which my local library uses) feel free to post them! I find myself most partial to a good thriller or mystery, particularly with a surreal or supernatural twist to them. Or talk about the books you've been reading!

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The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

I really loved this book. I actually got sucked in and finished it in a single night, which is not what I was expecting to do when I started it at 10pm. I highly recommend it to everyone, even if I didn't particularly enjoy the ending.

Unfortunately I heard his next book was not so great.

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Evelyn Harcastle really was a fantastic book; of the ones I've read this year I'd say it's second only to American Gods. Really just such a compelling and well-constructed murder mystery that constantly gave me The Sexy Brutale vibes. The fact that this was his debut novel only makes it more impressive.

That's sad to hear his followup was less impressive, but I still might need to give it a read regardless

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Johnbobb posted...

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Excellent choices

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Johnbobb you are changing my life this is TOO much for one single night.

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MajinZidane posted...

Johnbobb you are changing my life this is TOO much for one single night.

<3

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Johnbobb posted...

That's sad to hear his followup was less impressive, but I still might need to give it a read regardless

I might be too harsh on it (especially since I haven't read it) but the reviews I've seen across the board make it sound disappointing. I will still check it out at some point

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Wouldn't that be listening not reading

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MZero posted...

Wouldn't that be listening not reading

I see we have an uncultured buffoon who's never been to a poetry reading here.
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I'm trying to get into a habit of reading myself. Trying to finish up Shogun at the moment.

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I got really hardcore into reading a year and a half ago after picking The Lord of the Rings back up. Been consistently hitting a hundred pages a day since lockdown first started.

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Mac Arrowny posted...

I see we have an uncultured buffoon who's never been to a poetry reading here.

the people attending that aren't the ones doing the reading...
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Nice, this is always something I fall on and off of. I love to read but can go months or even years without really reading much and then read a bunch of books in a month. Speaking of, I should select my next book...

Johnbobb posted...

in the meantime, if anyone has suggestions of especially good audiobooks (particularly ones available on the app Libby, which my local library uses) feel free to post them! I find myself most partial to a good thriller or mystery, particularly with a surreal or supernatural twist to them. Or talk about the books you've been reading!

Oh, I'm gonna go ahead and throw the Dresden Files at you. It's a super common rec both around here and in fantasy circles, but I think it ticks everything you asked for here. It's about a guy who advertises himself as a wizard in the yellowpages, as a sort of PI for hire type deal. Noone thinks magic is real so he mostly just gets mocked and doesn't get much real work, but every now and then someone with a genuine monster problem comes knocking. Just think of it as the old noir detective style with magical elements. The main character is kind of a screw up with a heart of gold type guy as you might expect and people love him for it. I think this basically exactly a mystery with a supernatural twist to it like you are looking for?

The audiobooks are done by James Marsters, who you might know as Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm not really an audiobook guy at all, I really enjoy the physical act of finding a spot and reading my physical book, but I tried the first book, Storm Front, because of Marsters and thought he really captured the tone perfectly.

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Yeah I really should give Dresden Files a chance at some point. I see it talked about on this board more than like any other series, and I also have another friend who's a big fan. It's just been so long since I got into an actual book series. Honestly I'm struggling to think of a real series I read through that wasn't Harry Potter

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Johnbobb posted...

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

I just finished American Gods about a week ago! I thought the premise was super interesting but I wasn't a huge fan of Shadow. Regardless, definitely gonna check out the series I think.

How is Anansi Boys? Just from reading the synopsis in American Gods it seems somewhat related right?

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Well, don't be intimidated by length of the series! Every book is it's own self contained mystery of the week (though there is plenty of long term growth throughout the series). I'd just take it one book at a time, and you can come back for another book between other books later if it strikes you. Or not! One and done is perfectly fine here.

They are fairly light reads anyways.

I'm curious about Anansi Boys. I thought American Gods was kinda neat but didn't *really* pull me in. From what I understand it's about Mr Nancy?

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BlackDra90n posted...

I just finished American Gods about a week ago! I thought the premise was super interesting but I wasn't a huge fan of Shadow.

yeah honestly Shadow wasn't really the most interesting character himself, but that was fine because the supporting characters are all really memorable. The audiobook was really good too; unlike most it was actually a big cast reading, with a lot of different actors doing the various parts, and Neil Gaiman even narrating the "Coming to America" segments. The guy playing Mr. Wednesday sounded so similar to the show I could've sworn it was Ian McShane (it wasn't)

CoolCly posted...

I'm curious about Anansi Boys. I thought American Gods was kinda neat but didn't *really* pull me in. From what I understand it's about Mr Nancy?

Yeah, it's not a direct spinoff, but essentially is a self-contained story about the god Anansi and his family line. It's kind of like American Gods in that it deals with gods and god-like people living among humans, but instead of being the country-wide road trip, it's a lot smaller of a story, dealing with just a handful of characters. It's really good though, and keeps that same light-magic feel of American Gods. Gaiman is just a really good writer.

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I might give it a shot then, I like Gaiman's writing.

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Tagging and tracking: I work as a Circulation Librarian, after all.

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Keeping this post separate:

For American Gods, the reader makes the difference. Did you get the full cast unabridged production? It's one of my favorite recommendations for patrons, too.

For Anansi Boys, I never listened to the audiobook, but the book itself is American Gods' world, from the point of view of one of Mr. Nancy's sons. It is also much, MUCH less dark in tone.

For the Institute: it was pretty good. Stephen King is a great writer, to be sure, but his stuff is very hit or miss for me, and I've never heard his audiobook productions.

I haven't read or listened to the other two from the first post, but then I see Dresden Files as an audiobook recommendation - very, very much yes. I'm listening through them all again, finally just had the newest novel come through my own Libby app today.

If I'm reminded at work tomorrow, I'll pull up some other recommendations of mine. I try to give two monthly, and they tend to always be "one that was adapted into a movie or series" and one a nonfiction: American Gods definitely hit that one.

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Earthshaker posted...

For American Gods, the reader makes the difference. Did you get the full cast unabridged production? It's one of my favorite recommendations for patrons, too.

I did! It was excellent all around. Would likely be my top audiobook recommendation so far

Earthshaker posted...

For Anansi Boys, I never listened to the audiobook, but the book itself is American Gods' world, from the point of view of one of Mr. Nancy's sons. It is also much, MUCH less dark in tone.

oh yeah, Anansi Boys was borderline goofy at times (particularly the voice of the absurdly awful Grahame Coats) but still has similar vibes

Earthshaker posted...

For the Institute: it was pretty good. Stephen King is a great writer, to be sure, but his stuff is very hit or miss for me, and I've never heard his audiobook productions.

It was read by Santino Fontana (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Frozen) which also drew me to it. He did good voice work but also read a touch slow for my taste. Also while the book was good it was also KINDA difficult to get through at times due to how much focus the first half of the book gives to the slow, gruesome torture of children. I read a lot of Stephen King though, probably more than any other writer tbh

Earthshaker posted...

I haven't read or listened to the other two from the first post, but then I see Dresden Files as an audiobook recommendation - very, very much yes. I'm listening through them all again, finally just had the newest novel come through my own Libby app today.

The other two are, for the most part, murder mysteries, which I've been finding myself getting more into lately. 7 1/2 Deaths really found that nice balance of supernatural and mystery I didn't know I was craving. Wilder Girls is doing something similar although also going into some of the children torture stuff from The Institute >_>. With all the Dresden files I might have to look into it to see if it's available through my library


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Also I had a friend recommend Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (which sounds great and has an audiobook read by Lin-Manuel Miranda) but that's not available on Libby. Tempted to use an Audible free trial to get that one.

Other books I have marked on Libby to check out, though they're either not available yet or I haven't gotten to them yet:

• The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• The Guest List by Lucy Foley (wait is currently >6 months long)

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Oh hey, speaking of child murder, if you haven't watched the Hunger Games movies (and even if you have,) the audiobooks of the initial trilogy are... okay. I don't particularly care for the reader (I believe she played a Medical Examiner on one of the Law and Order shows) but she does a pretty good job of capturing the voice of a melodramatic but also terrified teenage girl.

Can't make a recommendation about the prequel yet, as I've only heard about two chapters of it, but it was MUCH better written (I still can't tell whether Suzanne Collins did the Hunger Games intentionally or she needed a bit of practice with the Gregor the Overlander series.)

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Finished Wilder Girls

Started The Snowman

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Dropping my list of recommendations I've made in the past half a year at work, and culling out the movies. Note the descriptions were for my department's benefit - I organize the recommendations there, and at first, I was "please describe it like you were posting a tweet" and then we found my coworkers and I can't glean any information about our recs if we didn't add more info when trying to "sell" it as a checkout. I will italicize additional remarks.

I've excised American Gods, since you already read it, and the Great British Bake-off, which is not a book.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Caitlyn Doughty
Semi-autobiographical nonfiction of a crematorium operator as she explains the culture, biology, and industry behind death in the modern world.
The author runs a podcast about death and dying, from what I understand. She also has a book that's more child-based but still about death: When I Die, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?

This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper
A family gathers to sit shiva when the patriarch passes away, and the adult children deal with a neighborhood and the relationships they left behind by choice or circumstance.
The movie's pretty good too. I like a lot of Tropper's stuff, but it's colloquially known as "dick lit" - the male counterpart to chick lit.

Room Emma Donoghue
A story told from the point of view of a boy born in captivity his kidnapped mother, her captor, and his life in the small shed the eponymous room, are all he has ever known.
Skip the movie. This is pretty fucking hard to read if you are familiar with any abduction cases.

The Martian Andy Weir
When an inaugural space mission to the Red Planet goes awry, an astronaut becomes stranded on Mars while he and his crew struggle to reunite and return to Earth.
Again, it's a book with a movie. The movie was decent. The book is better.

Horns Joe Hill
A man on the edge awakens one day to find two goat-like horns protruding from his temples, and consciously acknowledging they exist encourages others around him to reveal their secrets or enact their desires.
ANOTHER book with a movie. Maybe I have a theme going here. Can't speak of how good the movie is, and the book is... well, it's a bit more vulgar than I would recommend for patrons, typically, but I very much love stuff that incorporates mythology - in this case, that of Lucifer himself.

Sculptor Scott McCloud
A graphic novel telling the story of the titular sculptor, who suffers from creative block until he makes a deal with Death itself to expand his medium and create sculpture using only his bare hands.
I don't recommend graphic novels, usually - it's not a medium I can get behind. This one, however, worked really well, since it's hard to picture in your minds eye some fucked-up sculpture.

Around this time is when we realized we couldn't describe them to patrons that easily.

Have You Eaten Grandma? Or, the Life-Saving Importance of Correct Punctuation, Proper Grammar, and Good English - Gyles Brandreth.
An oftentimes humorous look into common and uncommon mistakes of spelling and grammar which define the English language. The book is not necessarily one to pick up and read all the way through; it is more of a "coffee-table" book that you can pick up, flip through, enjoy a random chapter, and put back down for another day. Included are excerpts on punctuation, spelling, pluralization, differences between American and British English, and an evolution of language; though the subject may sound dry, the book does a wonderful job explaining it thoroughly in ironically simple English.
I'm also flipping through another one of Gyles's nonfictions about last words and graveside humor. He does pretty well, I think.

Before I Go to Sleep S.J. Watson
Every morning, Christine Lucas awakens to find she has grown significantly older in what is, in her mind, overnight. A strange man comes to her aid and informs her that he is her husband and that she was in a car accident ten years prior resulting in significant amnesia she is functional on a daily basis, but remembers nothing after her early 20s. Christines brain forgets everything that has happened that day and resets to an earlier time when she goes to bed at night. The suspenseful story that follows Christine has her attempting to cope with this repetitive revelation and the relationships she gains and loses daily.
Yet again, a movie-book. This movie was great, and so was the book. Big however: I don't care for S.J. Watson's second book, Second Life, where I actively detest the ending. All the buildup and the villain goes fucking Snidely Whiplash at the end. Ugh.

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I remember really enjoying Horns the novel. It's from before Joe Hill started writing much too much like his father... The movie is pretty meh.

If you like Gaiman, I'd recommend Neverwhere.

If you like Stephen King, I'd recommend 11/22/63.

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Johnbobb posted...

Finished Wilder Girls

Started The Snowman

Just finished The Snowman, not sure what to go for next. Gonna look into some of these recommendations. I have the first Dresden Files book in hold for when it comes available

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wilder girls so good
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I know I've mentioned this before in chats and whatnot, but I'd recommend the "Wearing the Cape" series by Marion G. Harmon. 8 books thus far (just checked, all available in audio format), and I've enjoyed them all. Superhero fiction, in a realistic setting...while still maintaining the rules and guidelines of superherodom.

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About 4 hours left in The Diviners, and I'm digging it so far. It's labelled as "young adult" but it seems much darker than I'd imagine so I'm not exactly clear who the intended audience was

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young adult is more about specific themes like fitting in and finding yourself than it is about content or heaviness. half of popular YA nowadays is post-apocalyptic anyways so
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Yep. "Young adult" nowadays is very "coming to terms" with stuff, usually death, identity, or sexuality.

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looks like the next book will be Storm Front, as that's the first one that became available to borrow

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'za
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