tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post5674841020113440806..comments2023-11-09T03:33:41.728-05:00Comments on Jenny and Kelly Read Books: The Tournament of Books is Here!kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07832228313612518377noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-42992759806965087612016-02-24T22:21:56.056-05:002016-02-24T22:21:56.056-05:00This past month really blasted a hole in my readin...This past month really blasted a hole in my reading mojo. Kind of... distracted.<br /><br />But I'm back on the horse! I have read 8. And started 5 others (that was the distraction thing... ) that I am working on completing now:<br /><br />The Sympathizer (oof -- dense!) <br />Bats (fun so far)<br />The Whites (I'll probably have to re-start that)<br />Oreo (10 pages in -- holy hilarious)<br />The New World (gotta just burn through that, but I get distracted by other stuff when I am at the computer! Maybe on my flight on Friday.)<br /><br />Not sure if I'll get to Tsar. I'd like to read Avenue of Mysteries. <br /><br />I'm opting out of ALL and Blue Thread (thanks for taking the hit on those).kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07832228313612518377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-56954239478911787852016-02-24T20:31:00.575-05:002016-02-24T20:31:00.575-05:00Well, just a quick update. I've finished 10 of...Well, just a quick update. I've finished 10 of 17! I have Avenue of Mysteries, Oreo, The Sympathizer, Tsar of Love and Techno, Book of Aron, Turner House and Our Souls at Night left. <br /><br />I know I should do Avenue of Mysteries next because it's up first, but want to do The Turner House which I know you really liked. Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-5844928014955408752016-01-18T19:53:06.316-05:002016-01-18T19:53:06.316-05:00An Update: Returned the Kent Haruf to the bookstor...An Update: Returned the Kent Haruf to the bookstore on discovering it had no quotation marks. Exchanged it for The Whites. I have noticed that The Story of my Teeth also doesn't have quotation marks, but it's weird as fuck and obviously in translation, so I'm just going to let that slide. <br /><br />Ended up getting A Spool of Blue Thread from the library, so I'll return that one to Amazon, too. <br /><br />Working on The Story of my Teeth---such a good tip to read the Afterward first! I think I'll finish it tonight, which takes me to 5 out of 17! Thinking I might have to start A Little Life soon, mostly to get it over with? Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-39891421784835642662016-01-16T18:02:57.295-05:002016-01-16T18:02:57.295-05:00Someone in the Goodreads group posted this helpful...Someone in the Goodreads group posted this helpful list: <br /><br />A Little Life 832 pages<br />Avenue of the Mystery 480 pages<br />Bats of the Republic 448 pages<br />Fates and Furies 391 pages<br />The Sympathesizer 384 pages<br />The Spool of Blue Thread 368 pages<br />The Turner House 356 pages<br />The Whites 352 pages<br />The Tsar of Love and Techno 352 pages<br />The Sellout 304 pages<br />The Book of Aron 272 pages<br />Oreo 240 pages<br />The Invaders 240 pages<br />The Story of My Teeth 218 pages<br />Our Souls at Night 188 pages<br />The New World 185 pages<br />Ban en Banlieue 88 pagesJennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-90222112797580022162016-01-15T14:11:03.788-05:002016-01-15T14:11:03.788-05:00Here's the big difference---there are these co...Here's the big difference---there are these colored triangles at the beginning of each chapter/point of view switch. Those are find if you read it on a non-kindle screen. But on the link above, there is also a border around the page that only looks like a black line on the computer screen. <br /><br />Huh. Sort of annoyed I spend $5 for the lesser experience, but at least I didn't spend $11. Hah!Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-46552805627411525032016-01-15T13:15:15.167-05:002016-01-15T13:15:15.167-05:00[I deleted my comment because the link wasn't ...[I deleted my comment because the link wasn't link-y and cannot be edited. Now there's a graceful "This comment has been removed" artifact. Oh, fine, Blogger...]<br /><br />In the Rooster Goodreads group, someone mentioned that it was originally released as an "app" and you can read it for free at the Atavist site <a href="https://read.atavist.com/the-new-world?no-overlay&preview#chapter-116731" rel="nofollow">here.</a><br /><br />(The UI on that is not intuitive... scroll down to the bottom and click the little right arrow. Voila! Book!)<br /><br />I wonder if that is the same or different from your eBook experience -- keep me posted!kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07832228313612518377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-18598853805762631362016-01-15T13:11:16.944-05:002016-01-15T13:11:16.944-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07832228313612518377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-24803213532530084442016-01-15T11:34:13.218-05:002016-01-15T11:34:13.218-05:00Also, I've been reading The New World on my la...Also, I've been reading The New World on my laptop or phone, definitely suspecting that it wouldn't translate to the kindle screen. Honestly, the only thing I've noticed is the chapter headings change color based on the character. Nothing else he mentioned...no animations, screen color changes. Hmm. <br />Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-52611020785744704862016-01-15T11:08:35.582-05:002016-01-15T11:08:35.582-05:00I want to say that I think they made GREAT selecti...I want to say that I think they made GREAT selections this year. I think they really drifted into more mainstream fiction in past years, but this year everything seems super interesting and weird and I've never heard of it. I love it! One thing I really want is for the ToB to introduce me to stuff I haven't read...and this year definitely qualifies. Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13205737257301534685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-761784460667108854.post-60189126740191760292016-01-14T23:56:39.342-05:002016-01-14T23:56:39.342-05:00Looks like you hit 'em all.
Two years ago, I...Looks like you hit 'em all. <br /><br />Two years ago, I killed myself reading as many of the ToB books as I could (I finished 13.5 -- not bad) (I abandoned <i>The Lowland</i> and never went back...) Last year, I said I would only read books that were genuinely interesting to me. I read 5 during the ToB (and then finally <i>Untamed State</i> later) and that was pretty liberating. This year... I am interested (to at least *some* degree) in *all* of these books! (Well, I'm scared of <i>ALL</i>) Uh oh!<br /><br />Jumping off of your discussion above... <br /><br />Regarding <i>The New World</i>, the original eBook was published in 2014... so I'm wondering how that will be addressed. Is there a rule that it only counts when it comes out on paper? From reading, I think there was supposed to be some interactive business in there... Here's what it says in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/books/review/the-new-world-by-chris-adrian-and-eli-horowitz.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow">New York Times Book Review</a>: "On my laptop screen, the sections read right to left or left to right. The border changed color between chapters. There was some very rudimentary animation..." I'm guessing that is probably not coming off in the Kindle.<br /><br />I am STOKED about <i>Bats of the Republic</i> because it's illuminated. You know I'm all about the images, baby. I love me some words, but words and pictures (especially really beautiful pictures, which this one has) together? Peanut butter and jelly!<br /><br />Another book that I am both intrigued with for having images <i>and</i> flummoxed by its publication date is <i>Oreo</i>. (Side note: I f*ing *love* the cover design of that book). So it's got tons of illustrations in it (not a good aBook) and was originally published in... 1974. It was reprinted in 2015. That's a fair pick for "published" in 2015? Kinda crazy, right? The author died in 1985 -- I am curious/nervous about the language and attitudes depicted on this topic in 1974. <br /><br />Excited about <i>The Turner House</i> because it's set in Detroit! (Although I know it's going to be depressing. Still -- fun to read those "local" settings, right?)<br /><br />There are still 10 copies available at Powell's of <i>Ban En Banlieue</i>. When you said it was impossible to find, I went ahead and ordered it in case anyone else couldn't get it. But they should be able to -- I've been watching the stock on that thing jump up and go down at Powell's since the announcement was made. So if you've given up on Powell's (weird that it won't load for you!) you can have mine. There are also a few copies now for $10 from Amazon sellers. What was the book a couple of years back that had *zero* reviews when the ToB broke? (Was it <i>Hill William</i>?) The inaccessibility of this book feels like that. (At least that book was available.)<br /><br />I have started the aBook of <i>The Story of My Teeth</i> because it's short and the narrator is good -- I'll warn you now: So far (I'm halfway through) this book is about teeth, teeth, teeth, TEETH. So... good luck with that. <br /><br />As for aBooks, I spent over an hour last night sampling and deciding what would be good candidates. Bottom line: *all* of these that are available as an aBook have good narrators, so that's a great start. Obviously <i>Bats</i> and <i>Oreo</i> are out because of illustrations. <i>The New World</i> is not available in aBook format. And I will NOT listen to <i>A Little Life</i> (if I read it at all -- at least <i>AUS</i> was short! This f'er is 720 pages!) I have already listened to <i>Fates and Furies</i> and I recommend it. Fun random fact: It's the same narrator on <i>Teeth</i> and <i>Avenue of Mysteries</i> (and he's reeeeeally good -- I've listened to him before and highly recommend him.)<br /><br />Whew! Okay -- I think that's it for me. Time to get back to reading! kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07832228313612518377noreply@blogger.com