books to read

[oyolar]

It is. I took another class by the same instructor a few years ago and really liked her.

I love Bataille, primarily his fiction, but I've read a good amount of his non-fiction as well. I genuinely think about him all the time. His ideas have become a fairly important organizing principle in my life.

I get why he's not for people though. His non-fiction / theory stuff is not always the easiest or most cogent stuff to get through. It takes a lot of reading his stuff for it to build onto one another and engaging with people who engage with him to understand him. And I still feel like I'm missing a lot of the philosophical background he engages with (Hegel, Kojève, and Shestov), which I'm hoping this class will help fill in.

[Carrolls Chesthairs]

new Walker Ryan book was a quick and enjoyable enough read

[oyolar]

I’m finishing The Vegetarian by Han Kang for a book club and holy shit it’s good.

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

I read the first two volumes of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgard and really enjoyed them. I would’ve kept reading the series, but the bookstore didn’t have the third one.

Started in on Pale Fire by Nabokov, and I’m thinking I might have picked the wrong book for vacation. The prose is absolutely awesome, and Nabokov is so witty with puns and portmanteaus etc, but he does this modernist thing where he makes the first sixty pages or so almost impossible to read. I’m going to keep going, but I know I’ll have to reread it sometime in the future.

[Blue Fescue]

I read the first two volumes of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgard and really enjoyed them. I would’ve kept reading the series, but the bookstore didn’t have the third one.

Started in on Pale Fire by Nabokov, and I’m thinking I might have picked the wrong book for vacation. The prose is absolutely awesome, and Nabokov is so witty with puns and portmanteaus etc, but he does this modernist thing where he makes the first sixty pages or so almost impossible to read. I’m going to keep going, but I know I’ll have to reread it sometime in the future.

My Struggle was good.  i had to take breaks between the books though.

Short and sweet.  What a nice read.

David Foster Wallace

[oyolar]

I read the first two volumes of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgard and really enjoyed them. I would’ve kept reading the series, but the bookstore didn’t have the third one.

Started in on Pale Fire by Nabokov, and I’m thinking I might have picked the wrong book for vacation. The prose is absolutely awesome, and Nabokov is so witty with puns and portmanteaus etc, but he does this modernist thing where he makes the first sixty pages or so almost impossible to read. I’m going to keep going, but I know I’ll have to reread it sometime in the future.

Loved My Struggle but was definitely benefitted by reading it essentially as it was being published. You can take gaps between volumes without any huge impacts. They're fairly stand alone.

Did you know what to expect going into Pale Fire or was it a blind pick-up?

[smellsdead]

parts of pale fire choked me up when i read it, took it on a wknd work trip so a quick rip worked out well.



great read, not long at all
very relevant

[devils acrobat]

I’m finishing The Vegetarian by Han Kang for a book club and holy shit it’s good.

Its definitely something special. Not sure if I would read it again but I remember a lot of details after reading it a few months back which does not happen too often.

[oyolar]

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I’m finishing The Vegetarian by Han Kang for a book club and holy shit it’s good.

[close]

Its definitely something special. Not sure if I would read it again but I remember a lot of details after reading it a few months back which does not happen too often.

Yeah, it's going to stick with me.

The Memory Police is very interesting. I love the premise and I remember being so confused by the ending. I "got it," I just didn't expect it. In retrospect, now that I'm thinking about it again, I like it a lot more.

About to start the new Pynchon, Shadow Ticket.

[botefdunn]

On volume 2 of don quichote. I had heard somewhere it was a demanding read, but finding it very entertaining actually, bit of a page turner.

[TerryFunk]

- Behold A Pale Horse by William Cooper

I always like to read this one in the fall. Seems like the message is becoming even more apparent now.

-Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers

I remember finding this one when I was 11 or 12 and being in love with it, reading it front to back 3 or 4 times. Walter Dean Myers was a great author, and had a great talent of painting scenery with his words. I also really enjoyed Monster by him as well.

-That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton

Another great book by “The Outsiders” author, albeit shorter than its predecessor. Takes place in the same world as the Outsiders but with different characters. Everything I’ve read by her is fantastic.

-Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks by Mick Foley

Most people wouldn’t be interested in reading a book about pro wrestling, but this one is different. Mick has a candid way of describing things that makes it that much more enthralling to read. Plus, he’s one tough son of a bitch.

-Acid for the Children by Flea

If you like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or have any inclination to read what LA was like in the 70’s-90’s, you might be interested in this book. Flea has a lot of crazy ass stories but what would you expect


-The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath by Philip Carlo

Philip Carlo is mostly known for the Richard Kuklinski book, but where Kuklinski was full of shit, the guy in this book was not. The subject of this book is nicknamed Tommy Karate….for reasons I’m sure you can imagine.

-Sins of my Father by Albert DeMeo

Another mob book but this one comes from the perspective of a son of a mobster. Really crazy story and could easily be made into a movie if warranted.

-The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs

This is quite possibly one of the best non-fiction books I’ve ever read. A movie was made for this book called “Rob Peace” but it really doesn’t do the book justice. Only book that has ever made me cry. Sad but fantastic.

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

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I read the first two volumes of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgard and really enjoyed them. I would’ve kept reading the series, but the bookstore didn’t have the third one.

Started in on Pale Fire by Nabokov, and I’m thinking I might have picked the wrong book for vacation. The prose is absolutely awesome, and Nabokov is so witty with puns and portmanteaus etc, but he does this modernist thing where he makes the first sixty pages or so almost impossible to read. I’m going to keep going, but I know I’ll have to reread it sometime in the future.

[close]

Loved My Struggle but was definitely benefitted by reading it essentially as it was being published. You can take gaps between volumes without any huge impacts. They're fairly stand alone.

Did you know what to expect going into Pale Fire or was it a blind pick-up?

It wasn’t totally blind, as I’ve had it on my shelf for a while, and I read Pnin a couple of years ago. But this one is definitely not Pnin, and I seriously underestimated how dense and complex a novel it would be. Probably a book I would have read a reader’s guide for before launching into it if I had bothered to look at it some before I left, but oh well. About 250 pages in and I think I’ve got it for the most part (at least how to read and enjoy it). I’m looking a lot of stuff up on my phone, and that’s really helping too.

Also, new Pynchon is (great) news to me.

[GaryDahLegend]

https://pieter-tritton.freenovelread.com/403920-el_infierno

I know a lot of people would say tough shit, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place, and that’s fair enough.
But just spare a thought for people in prison abroad – it could one day be you or your child or a family member.
People are quite frequently wrongly imprisoned in foreign countries for all manner of reasons.

i feel this is one of those unreliable narrator situations that can be read and appreciated so many different ways.

[theoriginalgoon]

been reading getting rich in spite of yourself lately. its ok

[steve]

Grapes of Wrath is worth reading as 2025 rolls into '26. What an ending

Abraham Verghese wrote Cutting for Stone, which was alright, but The Covenant of Water had me tied up for a while. Not particularly challenging, but the medical language/knowledge is well wielded. Unexpected twists, again and again.

[Atiba Applebum]

Grapes of Wrath is such an amazing read.   Def knew when I was reading where the movie would end

[oyolar]

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I read the first two volumes of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgard and really enjoyed them. I would’ve kept reading the series, but the bookstore didn’t have the third one.

Started in on Pale Fire by Nabokov, and I’m thinking I might have picked the wrong book for vacation. The prose is absolutely awesome, and Nabokov is so witty with puns and portmanteaus etc, but he does this modernist thing where he makes the first sixty pages or so almost impossible to read. I’m going to keep going, but I know I’ll have to reread it sometime in the future.

[close]

Loved My Struggle but was definitely benefitted by reading it essentially as it was being published. You can take gaps between volumes without any huge impacts. They're fairly stand alone.

Did you know what to expect going into Pale Fire or was it a blind pick-up?

[close]

It wasn’t totally blind, as I’ve had it on my shelf for a while, and I read Pnin a couple of years ago. But this one is definitely not Pnin, and I seriously underestimated how dense and complex a novel it would be. Probably a book I would have read a reader’s guide for before launching into it if I had bothered to look at it some before I left, but oh well. About 250 pages in and I think I’ve got it for the most part (at least how to read and enjoy it). I’m looking a lot of stuff up on my phone, and that’s really helping too.

Also, new Pynchon is (great) news to me.

Ah, yeah Pale Fire is very unlike anything else he's done. It's quite perplexing if you go in expecting a normal novel. There are all sorts of different recommendations on how to read it. I usually do the poem once first and then flip back to the poem as needed as I'm reading through the notes, and then read the index and flip through the poem and notes as needed.

[botefdunn]

I've plugged her on here before, my friend https://auroraascher.com/ writes great paranormal romance novels. Or maybe that isn't the right name for the genre, I just call it Demon Porn. Anyway, if you want to read something that is smart, funny,  enjoyable, and refreshing, I recommend her Hell Bent series, probably the most feel-good read I know.

*And if you also like to torture yourself a little like I do, balance it out with Gorky plays

[StormonMormon]

CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Book by Dan Piepenbring and Tom O'Neill

It's fucked !

[oyolar]

CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Book by Dan Piepenbring and Tom O'Neill

It's fucked !

It's insane. The ending is weird but it makes sense. I don't want to spoil it but ping me when you get there.

[StormonMormon]

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CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Book by Dan Piepenbring and Tom O'Neill

It's fucked !

[close]

It's insane. The ending is weird but it makes sense. I don't want to spoil it but ping me when you get there.

I have read it multiple times Oyolar.
Mk ultra.. Vincent the story teller leaving crucial evidence out of the case , it's a wild read.

👊

[oyolar]

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CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Book by Dan Piepenbring and Tom O'Neill

It's fucked !

[close]

It's insane. The ending is weird but it makes sense. I don't want to spoil it but ping me when you get there.

[close]

I have read it multiple times Oyolar.
Mk ultra.. Vincent the story teller leaving crucial evidence out of the case , it's a wild read.

👊

Ah ok - it's crazy! The end was crazy too. Very brave of them to be honest at the end and be like "we don't have a definitive conclusion or smoking gun proof of anything - but we have a lot of crazy coincidences and we personally find it maddening that we'll likely never know 100% and we'll only get so close."

[StormonMormon]

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CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Book by Dan Piepenbring and Tom O'Neill

It's fucked !

[close]

It's insane. The ending is weird but it makes sense. I don't want to spoil it but ping me when you get there.

[close]

I have read it multiple times Oyolar.
Mk ultra.. Vincent the story teller leaving crucial evidence out of the case , it's a wild read.

👊

[close]

Ah ok - it's crazy! The end was crazy too. Very brave of them to be honest at the end and be like "we don't have a definitive conclusion or smoking gun proof of anything - but we have a lot of crazy coincidences and we personally find it maddening that we'll likely never know 100% and we'll only get so close."

Here's hoping that Patricia Krenwinkel lives another 50 years in prison, God bless Sharon Tate  Oyolar !

[StormonMormon]

I've had multiple copies of this book but I loaned them.......
I have a bunch of friends in this book I used to play hockey with.
Rest In Peace Billy Marriott n a  S/O to Jimmy Melvin SR , this was before the war .

https://archive.org/details/hellswitness0000dani

[StormonMormon]

The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War.

[j....soy.....]

I’m getting into Natalie Porter’s book….i think it’s awesome. 

https://ecwpress.com/products/girl-gangs-zines-and-powerslides

In terms of skate literature it’s the most researched and dense thing I’ve ever read. 

[brycickle]

[Coldpizza]

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CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Book by Dan Piepenbring and Tom O'Neill

It's fucked !

[close]

It's insane. The ending is weird but it makes sense. I don't want to spoil it but ping me when you get there.

[close]

I have read it multiple times Oyolar.
Mk ultra.. Vincent the story teller leaving crucial evidence out of the case , it's a wild read.

👊

[close]

Ah ok - it's crazy! The end was crazy too. Very brave of them to be honest at the end and be like "we don't have a definitive conclusion or smoking gun proof of anything - but we have a lot of crazy coincidences and we personally find it maddening that we'll likely never know 100% and we'll only get so close."

It’s been a number of years since I read this book, but I remember the ending kind of cheapening it for me.
I didn’t expect hard truths, but they kind of go through the whole thing positing it as fact until the end.
Still good though. Have you read The Fort Bragg Cartel?

[Alan]

Some of the books I've read (or have tried to read) recently.



I only managed to read half of this one, but that's only because my e-reader was being buggy and took ages to turn pages. Will come back to it later or get another copy. This book is classic Mills. Little English weirdos in mildly absurd situations. If you liked any of his other books you'll like this one, too.



I don't even know when or how I got this one but I liked it. A medieval theatre troupe gets involved in a serial murder investigation, but it's more contemplative than a traditional whodunit.



Greene was one of my favourite writers but it's been a while. This one reminded me why I liked his stuff. Again, there's a crime element but the book is really about the main character grappling with his own place in society, morality, and politics in a corrupt backwater - common themes in Greene's novels.



Now this one is a straight up crime novel. Solid hard boiled stuff from the guy who wrote Devil in a Blue Dress. Set in 1950s LA in the shadow of the Red Scare.

[oyolar]

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CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Book by Dan Piepenbring and Tom O'Neill

It's fucked !

[close]

It's insane. The ending is weird but it makes sense. I don't want to spoil it but ping me when you get there.

[close]

I have read it multiple times Oyolar.
Mk ultra.. Vincent the story teller leaving crucial evidence out of the case , it's a wild read.

👊

[close]

Ah ok - it's crazy! The end was crazy too. Very brave of them to be honest at the end and be like "we don't have a definitive conclusion or smoking gun proof of anything - but we have a lot of crazy coincidences and we personally find it maddening that we'll likely never know 100% and we'll only get so close."

[close]

It’s been a number of years since I read this book, but I remember the ending kind of cheapening it for me.
I didn’t expect hard truths, but they kind of go through the whole thing positing it as fact until the end.
Still good though. Have you read The Fort Bragg Cartel?

I haven't yet - is it actually legit? I heard about it via some conspiracy YouTube channel so I was suspicious at first but then I've heard some other people mention it so it sounds more legit.