books to read

[oyolar]

Cranked through A Farewell to Arms and then read White Teeth. White Teeth was good, but it seemed lazy in the last hundred pages or so. I wish she would have held the stride she had in the first 3/4s and made the ending more worth while. Also read A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, which was great. I’ve got Brief Interviews With Hideous Men on my shelf and I’m probably gonna dig into that soon. I’m reading Anna Karenina now, and man, it’s really holding up to the hype built around it. Characters are all so well developed and Tolstoy was clearly committed to writing something all the way through.

I’m a fan of DFW’s non-fiction but found Brief Interviews... not particularly memorable. It was fine but that’s kind of it.

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

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Cranked through A Farewell to Arms and then read White Teeth. White Teeth was good, but it seemed lazy in the last hundred pages or so. I wish she would have held the stride she had in the first 3/4s and made the ending more worth while. Also read A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, which was great. I’ve got Brief Interviews With Hideous Men on my shelf and I’m probably gonna dig into that soon. I’m reading Anna Karenina now, and man, it’s really holding up to the hype built around it. Characters are all so well developed and Tolstoy was clearly committed to writing something all the way through.

[close]

I’m a fan of DFW’s non-fiction but found Brief Interviews... not particularly memorable. It was one but that’s kind of it.

What sort of criticisms would you lob at the book? Have you read any of his other fiction stuff?

[RCB3]

Just finished The Emerald Mile and it was wonderful. Such a wild story and so much research put into it. Would definitely recommend it, especially if you have any connection to river rafting.

[oyolar]

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Cranked through A Farewell to Arms and then read White Teeth. White Teeth was good, but it seemed lazy in the last hundred pages or so. I wish she would have held the stride she had in the first 3/4s and made the ending more worth while. Also read A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, which was great. I’ve got Brief Interviews With Hideous Men on my shelf and I’m probably gonna dig into that soon. I’m reading Anna Karenina now, and man, it’s really holding up to the hype built around it. Characters are all so well developed and Tolstoy was clearly committed to writing something all the way through.

[close]

I’m a fan of DFW’s non-fiction but found Brief Interviews... not particularly memorable. It was fine but that’s kind of it.

[close]

What sort of criticisms would you lob at the book? Have you read any of his other fiction stuff?

I’ve read The Broom of the System but none of his other story collections. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest shirt story person out there but I didn’t feel much of a desire to continue down his short story path after finishing Brief Interviews. It wasn’t particularly bad, it just wasn’t memorable to me. It felt like too self-consciously clever and overwrought kind of? The classic DFW critique where it seems like he’s writing more to show how smart and clever he is than to tell the story he needs to tell.

Infinite Jest is still on my list of books to read though. Maybe this year finally.

[roy742547]

'Mans Search for Meaning' - Viktor Frankl

This is an incredible book written by a Jewish psychiatrist who lived/survived through the concentration camps in WW2 - so has a pretty unique perspective on some deep aspects of human behaviour.

For me, the key message it drives home is the point that a lot of our happiness is derived from our need to feel as though what we are doing in life is worthwhile - even if we are suffering now, we can fight through it if we think that the suffering is worthwhile.

A really good example that struck a chord with me in the book is where an old man goes to the author suffering from depression after the loss of his wife of many decades. The author pointed out that if he had passed away before her, then she would have had to face the pain that he was facing now - therefore by suffering himself, he was actually saving her from the same suffering - this change in perspective gave meaning to his suffering and thus made it infinitely more tolerable.

Examples aside - I think this is an incredible book that's that's well worth a look, with a huge number of insightful observations on human behaviour, motivation and needs.

[euro tm]

i finished please kill me recently and it’s definitely my favorite book i’ve ever read.

also just started patti smith’s book called just kids and so far it’s amazing.

[Peter Zagreus]

Just stopping by to mention that I read some Flannery O'Connor today and it was good, as always.

[rocklobster]

Decided to put the game controller down and use the Kindle my wife got for me. Started myself off with a softball to get the vibe going.

Just finished When Breath Becomes Air - pretty good, easy enough to finish. A good look at how we tackle life with the specter of cancer looming over you.

I'll start on Brave New World tonight.

[JB]

Decided to put the game controller down and use the Kindle my wife got for me. Started myself off with a softball to get the vibe going.

Just finished When Breath Becomes Air - pretty good, easy enough to finish. A good look at how we tackle life with the specter of cancer looming over you.

I'll start on Brave New World tonight.

I checked out 1984 while I was waiting for Please Kill Me to be shipped over from another library. I was assigned to read 1984 in high school, but I don't think I read a single page because I didn't remember any of it. No idea how I passed the class. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and wish I would've read it sooner. Brave New World is on my list too, but I've got a few others to get through first. I'm trying to space out what kind of books I'm reading so I don't get burnt out on any particular style.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Please Kill Me now. It's a fun read, very similar to Meet Me in the Bathroom, but darker. You can tell that the younger generation of musicians in MMitBR were a bit more reserved when recalling all the debauchery that went on. These guys from the 70's, they don't give a fuck. All the nazi shit that seemed to be totally normal was a real shocker to me. I knew a bit about this, but the degree to which so many guys were into like 13-16 year old girls is totally fucked up too. And it's all recalled totally shamelessly. Definitely gave me a sour taste in my mouth.

I've got Jenny O'dell's How To Do Nothing on deck. I watched this talk and her views seemed really intriguing and the book has been pretty well reviewed so I'm excited to dive into that.

[Glue Reed]

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If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" book thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

[close]

If you're more into those early bands (like I am) definitely read Please Kill Me next. I thought it was much better than Meet Me in the Bathroom (although I did enjoy that as well). Please Kill Me is just packed with interesting (and gnarly) stories, while I found Meet Me in the Bathroom to have sections I didn't much care about (like Vampire Weekend, for instance). I mean, Please Kill Me is worth reading just for the Iggy stories. Honestly can't believe that dude is still alive.

Our Band Could Be Your Life is also good, as others mentioned. There is also an L.A. version of Please Kill Me called We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. It's also an oral history book. But I haven't read it yet so I can't really comment on it.

Get Lexicon Devil: Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash.  It is by far my favorite punk 'interview style' book.  It does an excellent job painting a picture of the earliest formation of the LA punk scene and where all those fucking weirdo's came from, and how they got that way.  Tons of truly bizarre, unique individuals that created this amazing scene before hardcore came in and ruined it.

We Got the Neutron Bomb is a decent book but leaves a lot out.. mostly because there is just way too much to cover in L.A. punk.  It's definitely worth reading if you are a fan, though.

If you're looking for books about the formation of punk (like the ground covered in Please Kill Me), you'd really like From Velvets to Voidoids.  Gives a really detailed perspective of the creation of American punk, but unlike PKM it talks about Cleveland and Boston which was happening at the same time.  The writer is a little biased, but still a good read.

Also check out Under The Black Sun, by John Doe of X.  Great book about the early LA scene, but different then the Darby Crash book as it covers different regions in LA.  Each chapter is written by a different person;  someone who was there as a musician, writer, fan, filmmaker, etc.. 

[JB]

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If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" book thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

[close]

If you're more into those early bands (like I am) definitely read Please Kill Me next. I thought it was much better than Meet Me in the Bathroom (although I did enjoy that as well). Please Kill Me is just packed with interesting (and gnarly) stories, while I found Meet Me in the Bathroom to have sections I didn't much care about (like Vampire Weekend, for instance). I mean, Please Kill Me is worth reading just for the Iggy stories. Honestly can't believe that dude is still alive.

Our Band Could Be Your Life is also good, as others mentioned. There is also an L.A. version of Please Kill Me called We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. It's also an oral history book. But I haven't read it yet so I can't really comment on it.

[close]

Get Lexicon Devil: Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash.  It is by far my favorite punk 'interview style' book.  It does an excellent job painting a picture of the earliest formation of the LA punk scene and where all those fucking weirdo's came from, and how they got that way.  Tons of truly bizarre, unique individuals that created this amazing scene before hardcore came in and ruined it.

We Got the Neutron Bomb is a decent book but leaves a lot out.. mostly because there is just way too much to cover in L.A. punk.  It's definitely worth reading if you are a fan, though.

If you're looking for books about the formation of punk (like the ground covered in Please Kill Me), you'd really like From Velvets to Voidoids.  Gives a really detailed perspective of the creation of American punk, but unlike PKM it talks about Cleveland and Boston which was happening at the same time.  The writer is a little biased, but still a good read.

Also check out Under The Black Sun, by John Doe of X.  Great book about the early LA scene, but different then the Darby Crash book as it covers different regions in LA.  Each chapter is written by a different person;  someone who was there as a musician, writer, fan, filmmaker, etc.. 

I'll give those a shot. What I liked about MMITBR is that it covered a really wide range of bands, and while PKM is a bit more intense, it's really only focused on a small handful of bands. I like just about every band featured in PKM, but I kept hoping that it would branch off and start talking about people outside of the Ramones/Dolls/Stooges/Velvets/Pistols crowds. I remember getting to a chapter called "The Fall" and thinking "Awesome, we get some Mark E. Smith now" but it was about Patti Smith falling off a stage.

Anyone have any suggestions for some post-punk focused books? I read the 33 1/3 book on Wire's Pink Flag and I enjoyed that for a quick history of the album. Personally, it was those years in the late 70s/early 80's that produced most of my favorite albums. I love rock n roll, but I feel like things really started getting interesting in punk once they started trying to take the rock n roll out of it.

[baggy spandex]

I've got Jenny O'dell's How To Do Nothing on deck. I watched this talk and her views seemed really intriguing and the book has been pretty well reviewed so I'm excited to dive into that.

Thanks for sharing that talk. I hadn't heard of her book and now I really want to read it.

[patrick c.]

Sorry if it's been posted already but I just found out about Golden Gates by Conor Dougherty(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/books/review/golden-gates-housing-conor-dougherty.html). Really hyped to read it and turns out the author skates:

[KoRnholio8]

disclaimer: i've become a huge fan of NOFX a few years ago and I like them more each year

I am half done with their autobiography and it is waaay gnarlier than what I imagined from their goofy performances. Definitely a page-turner

[drewsmahgoos]

Just started Infinite Jest the other day. I'm very much enjoying it at the moment. Wallace has a great writing style. Really fun read. Big book but I usually read larger books anyway. I'm a huge fan of Russian Lit and usually read something by a Russian and then an easier, usually sci fi novel in between. But, Infinite Jest has been on my to read list for way too long now.

[theresnothinghere]

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+butch+manual&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS799US799&sxsrf=ALeKk02OPw04J-IhIrCLUkrHrq1EVoL4iw:1585719572324&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMhsnewcboAhWMZ80KHdA8AiUQ_AUoAXoECBUQAw&biw=1280&bih=666#imgrc=KMm72s7RJE14jM

Picked this up and recommend for any fellow fags with a sense of humor.

[Dr-Feelgood]

halfway through this book and im really enjoying it

[Peter Zagreus]

Trying to get into sci-fi again. Can't tell if this is good yet.

Hobby horse.

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

Due to the Corona pandemic, it's time for books again. Maybe one of the few perks there are.

This book won the German Prize for Literature. It's about identity, migration and his grandmother's fading memory due to Alzheimer's disease. The author fled from Bosnia with his family when he was a child. He publicly contradicted Peter Handke's insane statements about genocide in former Yugoslavia when he was awarded the Nobel Prize last year. A translation of Stanisic's book isn't available yet, but when it is, I strongly recommend it!



Trevor Noah is one of my favorite comedians and I absolutely loved his memoir. Funny, sad, moving, smart. Absolute page turner.



Bill Bryson is hilarious and this book about Shakespeare is no exception. His thesis is that "every Shakespeare biography is five percent fact and 95 percent speculation". He sums up sources and claims about Shakespeare's life and while he dismisses conspiracy theories about Shakespeare's authorship, he shows that scholars have come up with all sorts of wild claims about Shakespeare as a person and writer, solely based on a handful of documents.



Currently reading Egan's book and I really like it so far. I haven't seen any mentions of her around here, even though people shouldn't be too far from her book's target group (postmodern fiction, music and Punk rock).



Next up, like everyone else, I'll be reading this before watching the Netflix series. I literally got the last English-speaking copy available on Amazon Germany (I know, I know... usually I do support local bookstores).



So... what are y'all currently reading?

[Alan]

Adding the Egan book to my list, ta!

At the moment, I'm reading quite light fare fiction wise, Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is up next (thanks to Rich who recommended it here!). I read the first few pages the other day and I'm into it already.

[behavioralguide]

read a bunch of stuff but most has been mentioned earlier,
didnt see anyone talk about this one so:

Seven brief lessons on physics by Carlo Rovelli;
talks about/ explains things like the general theory of relativity, quanta, time, probabilty and heat etc.
Really (really) well written and only about 80 pages without feeling dense,
definitly recommend.




could anyone recommend me some (good) literary thrillers? having a bit of a readers- block down here in my cabin.
preferably something modern contemporary(post 2000)

[Abyss1]

read a bunch of stuff but most has been mentioned earlier,
didnt see anyone talk about this one so:

Seven brief lessons on physics by Carlo Rovelli;
talks about/ explains things like the general theory of relativity, quanta, time, probabilty and heat etc.
Really (really) well written and only about 80 pages without feeling dense,
definitly recommend.




could anyone recommend me some (good) literary thrillers? having a bit of a readers- block down here in my cabin.
preferably something modern contemporary(post 2000)

I just finished this if youre into physics, it's hard to follow at times when he goes into spin theory but overall is easy to digest, and if youre watching DEVS than it helps context the show

[childhood]

I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a really good suspenseful horror-thriller type book, I'm about to start re-reading it actually. It's semi-recent too.

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/cfb43b893890d5ab04813322743b24b020200406164012/ef37387e37f3174cb67570f7856eed1120200406164038/780696
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Thinking_of_Ending_Things

[tedwhigham]

1984 and Catch 22

[oyolar]

Adding the Egan book to my list, ta!

At the moment, I'm reading quite light fare fiction wise, Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is up next (thanks to Rich who recommended it here!). I read the first few pages the other day and I'm into it already.

Nice - let me know what you think of it!

Went through a few books since the last time this thread popped up:
Weather by Jenny Offill
Crash by J.G. Ballard
The Sorcerer’s Apprentices by Lisa Abend (great book about what it’s like to work a stage at elBulli. I devoured it in a weekend.)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk.

Has anyone read Otessa Moshfegh? I tried to start Eileen but made the mistake of reading a profile on Moshfegh beforehand that really did not make her sound great and it turned me off on trying. So I’m waiting to forget that profile before I try her again.

And then for audio books, I listened to Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener, which got a lot of hype but fell flat to me. It sounded like every other tech person who was disillusioned by the tech industries memoir, except she actually almost made it a career. It didn’t break new ground at all. You All Grow Up and Leave Me by Piper Weiss was really good though. I finished listening to that in no time. A great memoir of a woman growing up while being coached by Gary Wilensky, this well-respected tennis coach who ended up being a child predator and killing himself after failing to kidnap an ex-student of his. A really good blend of investigative reporting and personal writing.

Decided that now is as good a time as ever and started Infinite Jest this past weekend. Wish me luck.

[Nosferatu]

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Adding the Egan book to my list, ta!

At the moment, I'm reading quite light fare fiction wise, Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is up next (thanks to Rich who recommended it here!). I read the first few pages the other day and I'm into it already.

[close]

Nice - let me know what you think of it!

Went through a few books since the last time this thread popped up:
Weather by Jenny Offill
Crash by J.G. Ballard
The Sorcerer’s Apprentices by Lisa Abend (great book about what it’s like to work a stage at elBulli. I devoured it in a weekend.)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk.

Has anyone read Otessa Moshfegh? I tried to start Eileen but made the mistake of reading a profile on Moshfegh beforehand that really did not make her sound great and it turned me off on trying. So I’m waiting to forget that profile before I try her again.

And then for audio books, I listened to Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener, which got a lot of hype but fell flat to me. It sounded like every other tech person who was disillusioned by the tech industries memoir, except she actually almost made it a career. It didn’t break new ground at all. You All Grow Up and Leave Me by Piper Weiss was really good though. I finished listening to that in no time. A great memoir of a woman growing up while being coached by Gary Wilensky, this well-respected tennis coach who ended up being a child predator and killing himself after failing to kidnap an ex-student of his. A really good blend of investigative reporting and personal writing.

Decided that now is as good a time as ever and started Infinite Jest this past weekend. Wish me luck.

What did you think of Weather? I hadn’t read her first book so the short burst style took me a minute to get the pacing. I enjoyed it though.

[Nosferatu]

I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a really good suspenseful horror-thriller type book, I'm about to start re-reading it actually. It's semi-recent too.

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/cfb43b893890d5ab04813322743b24b020200406164012/ef37387e37f3174cb67570f7856eed1120200406164038/780696
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Thinking_of_Ending_Things

I was thinking of picking this up soon. Charlie Kaufman is directing a movie of it.

[childhood]

Yeah that's actually why I read it in the first place. Really looking forward to that movie, hopefully it won't wind up getting delayed.

[oyolar]

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Adding the Egan book to my list, ta!

At the moment, I'm reading quite light fare fiction wise, Angels in the Moonlight by Caimh McDonnell. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa is up next (thanks to Rich who recommended it here!). I read the first few pages the other day and I'm into it already.

[close]

Nice - let me know what you think of it!

Went through a few books since the last time this thread popped up:
Weather by Jenny Offill
Crash by J.G. Ballard
The Sorcerer’s Apprentices by Lisa Abend (great book about what it’s like to work a stage at elBulli. I devoured it in a weekend.)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk.

Has anyone read Otessa Moshfegh? I tried to start Eileen but made the mistake of reading a profile on Moshfegh beforehand that really did not make her sound great and it turned me off on trying. So I’m waiting to forget that profile before I try her again.

And then for audio books, I listened to Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener, which got a lot of hype but fell flat to me. It sounded like every other tech person who was disillusioned by the tech industries memoir, except she actually almost made it a career. It didn’t break new ground at all. You All Grow Up and Leave Me by Piper Weiss was really good though. I finished listening to that in no time. A great memoir of a woman growing up while being coached by Gary Wilensky, this well-respected tennis coach who ended up being a child predator and killing himself after failing to kidnap an ex-student of his. A really good blend of investigative reporting and personal writing.

Decided that now is as good a time as ever and started Infinite Jest this past weekend. Wish me luck.

[close]

What did you think of Weather? I hadn’t read her first book so the short burst style took me a minute to get the pacing. I enjoyed it though.

I thought it was good but different from what I was expecting at first. It was similar to History. A Mess. which I read earlier this year in that both had weird premises and the author had to decide whether to take a more internal/personal exploration or explore the external, weird situation more. I thought and hoped both would explore the external situation more, but they both took the internal path. Which was fine, but it took a little more time to get into it for me then.

I didn’t expect the short blurb style either but I think it was an interesting way to kind of mimic text messages, tweets, social media posts, etc. and kinda reflect what it’s like to communicate and interact with the digital world today.

[Jagr]

i picked this up at a local bookstore like a week before everything got shutdown because of covid. i remember i could really feel the tension in some of the employees there, like they were a bit bummed every time i touched a book and potentially put my germs there. when you think about it bookstores are quite unsanitary in this way. but still awesome places and i want to visit them more when this virus situation chills out. my city has a lot of them which is a special thing.

anyways glad i found this book, i read and enjoyed the original book a lot, always fun to read about how well respected creative people in the past got to work. this one is exactly the same format and everything, except it focuses exclusively on women, which is cool. haven't started it yet but im sure it will be good like the first one

Didn't realize there was a second daily rituals book. I loved the first. Need to check out. I wish it was easier to support the local bookstores, especially used bookstores, in my town right now...none have online or phone ordering or anything like that.