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I'm a pretty big fan of comics as a medium, so I'll probably end up checking those out after I finish the series. I've been reading an hour or two (if not more) everyday.

 

I used to split my time pretty equally between comics and novels, but it's been pretty much all comics this summer.  I've kept up with my book club reading and that's about it.  I should probably find a novel to start...

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  • 4 weeks later...

So I started Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City", its really good but written like a history book, thought it was going to be more like a novel. Not exactly what I expected. I'm about 150 pages in and needed a bit of a break. So today I started Andy Weir's "The Martian" and I'm already a quarter of the way done with it. 

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Almost done with Murakami's "Kafka On The Shore". I can't stop reading this dude.

Agreed. His books are super addictive. I haven't read any of his in a few years, but definitely loved Kafka. I've loved pretty much everything I've read by him (I'd guess 6-7 books), with South Of The Border West Of The Sun and Dance Dance Dance being the ones I liked the least (not that they were bad - they just weren't as good as his other stuff). Wind-Up Bird and Norwegian Wood are probably my favourites. But I also loved his book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which is about running marathons, and gives a bit of insight into Murakami himself, without being an autobiography.

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Agreed. His books are super addictive. I haven't read any of his in a few years, but definitely loved Kafka. I've loved pretty much everything I've read by him (I'd guess 6-7 books), with South Of The Border West Of The Sun and Dance Dance Dance being the ones I liked the least (not that they were bad - they just weren't as good as his other stuff). Wind-Up Bird and Norwegian Wood are probably my favourites. But I also loved his book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which is about running marathons, and gives a bit of insight into Murakami himself, without being an autobiography.

South of the Birder, West of the Sun was next on my list, but maybe I'll swap in Norwegian Wood first. I think this is my 4th or 5th by him and I've loved all of them. I'd probably say The Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki was my "least favorite" but I still loved it. It was just not as fantastical as the others
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South of the Birder, West of the Sun was next on my list, but maybe I'll swap in Norwegian Wood first. I think this is my 4th or 5th by him and I've loved all of them. I'd probably say The Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki was my "least favorite" but I still loved it. It was just not as fantastical as the others

 

One of the things I noticed about South of the Border was that the translator of the book was different than most of the rest of his books, and I felt like the text was a bit less poetic, and a bit more straightforward. I know that it's hard to figure out the exact intentions of the words when reading a translation, but I do think it makes a difference.  Norwegian Wood is great, but a bit less weird/cerebral than much of his other work. 

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One of the things I noticed about South of the Border was that the translator of the book was different than most of the rest of his books, and I felt like the text was a bit less poetic, and a bit more straightforward. I know that it's hard to figure out the exact intentions of the words when reading a translation, but I do think it makes a difference. Norwegian Wood is great, but a bit less weird/cerebral than much of his other work.

Ah, ok. Yeah, the right translator can make all the difference! Sounds like Norwegian Wood may be more similar to The Colorless... But I'll still give it a go!
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i just hit the halfway mark in Bolano's 2666 and I'm pretty confident already in saying that it is the greatest thing I've ever read, and i read a ton. I've already done most of his novels/poems and I was saving this and Woes of the True Policeman for last because Maximalist fiction is my favorite, and I'm glad I did because nothing could've prepared me for how genius this book actually is. 

 

I could rave for days about it and I still have half of it to go. "favorite book" is always a tough one but I probably would've given it to Gravity's Rainbow before reading this, but I think it has finally been dethroned. the novel manages to be enthralling without too many pyrotechnics but when Bolano does decide to crank up the virtuosity he produces the most perfect and original images i've ever read. 

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i just hit the halfway mark in Bolano's 2666 and I'm pretty confident already in saying that it is the greatest thing I've ever read, and i read a ton. I've already done most of his novels/poems and I was saving this and Woes of the True Policeman for last because Maximalist fiction is my favorite, and I'm glad I did because nothing could've prepared me for how genius this book actually is.

I could rave for days about it and I still have half of it to go. "favorite book" is always a tough one but I probably would've given it to Gravity's Rainbow before reading this, but I think it has finally been dethroned. the novel manages to be enthralling without too many pyrotechnics but when Bolano does decide to crank up the virtuosity he produces the most perfect and original images i've ever read.

I was just talking with someone about how much I loved this book yesterday. So good.
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Hyperbole and a Half... not usually into comics but its actually pretty good. And surprisingly enough I found it on Bill Gates' blog. A very interesting blend of humor, awkwardness, and depression.

Here's what got me to buy the book:

http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Hyperbole-and-a-Half

 

I've been telling myself to pick that up for a while. I read her "Adventures in Depression" I think its called series of 2 online and they really helped me understand what I was going through at the time. 

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I've been telling myself to pick that up for a while. I read her "Adventures in Depression" I think its called series of 2 online and they really helped me understand what I was going through at the time. 

As someone who isn't depressed but lives with someone who is, it helped me understand a lot better. I'll have to check out that series. She has a new book up for preorder on amazon btw!

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  • 2 weeks later...

For a long time, I was struggling to get back into that reading "mode," but still constantly picking up books at thrift stores just because they were there for 50 cents to a dollar. But I'm fiiiinally getting back into it. About to finish up Morrissey's Autobiography and then I think I'm going to explore some of Herman Hesse's stuff and then move on to James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist of a Young Man. 

 

I think I'm going to make myself a fall reading list and then I'll post it here. What is on your fall reading list?

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