Author Topic: Books Read in 2016  (Read 4035 times)

philip918

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #10 on: May 12, 2016, 08:27:06 PM »
Books:

The Woman in the Dunes
Black Wings Has My Angel
The Master of Go
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
The Sound of the Mountain
A Burglar's Guide to the City


Comics:

Demon chapters 20-21
Gotham Academy vol 2
Preacher book 1
Sandman vol 5
Black Panther #1
Rat Queens vol 3
Fear Agent vol 1
Batman: Hush
Batman (2011) vol 4
Batman (2011) vol 5
Umbrella Academy vol 1
« Last Edit: May 13, 2016, 12:10:28 PM by philip918 »

JakeIsntFake

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #11 on: June 01, 2016, 09:46:14 PM »
In School (2016)

The Scarlett Letter (1850, Nathanial Hawthorne)
The Grapes of Wrath (1939, John Steinbeck)
Armies of the Night (1968, Norman Mailer)
The Great Gatsby (1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald)
A Tale of Two Cities (1859, Charles Dickens)
The Tempest (1610, William Shakespeare)

Outside of School (2016)

The Garden Party and Other Stories
(1922, Katherine Mansfield)
Rolling Nowhere (1987, Ted Conover)
1984 (1949, George Orwell)
The Mad and the Bad (1972, Jean-Patrick Manchette)
Smoke and Mirrors (1998, Neil Gaiman)
Brave New World (1931, Aldous Huxley)
The Stranger (1942, Albert Camus)
The Picture of Dorian Grey (1890, Oscar Wilde)
Some Rain Must Fall and Other Stories (2000, Michel Faber)
The Catcher in the Rye (1951, J.D. Sallinger)
One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014, BJ Novak)
Notes from Underground (1964, Fyodor Dostoevsky)
At Swim-Two-Birds (1939, Flann O'Brien, aka Brian O'Nolan)
If on a winter's night a traveler (1979, Italo Calvino)
The Face of Another (1964, Kobo Abe)
Fahrenheit 451 (1953, Ray Bradbury)
Works (2002, Éduard Levé)
« Last Edit: January 23, 2017, 10:16:14 AM by JakeIsntFake »
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Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2016, 09:55:12 PM »
Jake, how did you find the Camus? I read The Plague during my school which was a very interesting book. Also what did you think of Smoke and Mirrors?

JakeIsntFake

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2016, 11:58:52 PM »
Jake, how did you find the Camus?

I just finished it, so I'm still processing this one (and if ever a novel needed processing), but it mostly blew me away. Though I am indeed not an extremist absurdist like Camus, the conveyance of the idealogy through a narrative was impeccable and enthralling. At times, it's an arresting thriller; other times, it's a philosophical essay; others, it's a bone-dry and economical absurdist procedural. So many facets contained in this otherwise "novella" (122 pages, though I've only heard it referred to as a novel). It is quite bleak, but Camus is so immersive and, in some ways, convincing with his concepts that they almost recede to a subtle, axiomatic reality in the story.

I'm interested in reading some of his other work now, if not for just some of his short fiction. Do you recommend The Plague?

Also what did you think of Smoke and Mirrors?

I was certainly skeptical initially, because, though genre is usually irrelevent to me, I didn't think I cared much for "fantasy." But I quickly fell in love with Gaiman's brand of magical realism and imagination. My favorite story was "The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories," which is a subdued, yet sprawling piece of metafiction about a British writer on his visit to L.A. to adapt his work to film. With Gaiman's proclivity for magic, the story shows great flashes of Muholland Drive. Another that I'd like to mention is a story called "Murder Mysteries," also somewhat meta, which, to summarize it, is essentially a noir that takes place in Heaven. Gaiman pulls it off. However, a book with thirty works in it is bound to have it's highs and lows, and they unforunately ended up equalizing for me. Gaiman occasionally gets carried away in a few stories that are either impotently sexual, like "Foreign Parts", or inanely bizarre, as in "Snow, Glass, Apples." On a side note, Gaiman has also included an index of brief annotations about what inspired him for each and every individual work; I thought that was a nice mechanical touch. But, in conclusion, I can surely recommend it for those aforementioned stories.

Thanks for asking!
« Last Edit: June 02, 2016, 01:18:36 PM by JakeIsntFake »
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Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #14 on: June 02, 2016, 06:18:00 PM »
I would recommend The Plague, although it should be noted that it is more than 30 years since I read it. As it was a school text there were lots of areas that were discussed in class about The Plague. As you may guess from the title it is also bleak.

I did not realise that Smoke and Mirrors was a short story collection, I will have to see if it is at the library. I have read Gaiman's Ananasi Boys which was very good. In the fantasy area if you like Gaiman's style you might like Weave World by Clive Barker, who is way better known for his horror, but the book is almost fable-like.

JakeIsntFake

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #15 on: June 02, 2016, 06:44:34 PM »
I would recommend The Plague, although it should be noted that it is more than 30 years since I read it.
I have read Gaiman's Ananasi Boys which was very good. In the fantasy area if you like Gaiman's style you might like Weave World by Clive Barker, who is way better known for his horror, but the book is almost fable-like.

Noted and noted. I haven't yet heard of Clive Barker, but I'll be sure to check him out. I look forward to the horror elements added to that Gaiman style.
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St. Martin the Bald

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #16 on: June 26, 2016, 07:09:48 PM »
Weave World is a great read - that an The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub were my first forays into the urban fantasy/horror genre.
Barker by the way is responsible for Hell Raiser and Nightbreed (called Cabal in book form)
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1SO

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2016, 10:49:35 PM »
I grew up on Clive Barker. A number of great, original stories that he told. I like Weave World, but I like The Great and Secret Show even more. The Damnation Game is one of my favorite books of all time. An exciting supernatural thriller with moments of true horror and dread.

Beavermoose

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #18 on: July 30, 2016, 08:52:15 PM »
2014 List
2015 List

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.



1.1Q84
2.Brave New World
3.Ready Player One
4.And Then There Were None
5.Oryx and Crake
« Last Edit: January 06, 2017, 01:30:02 AM by Beavermoose »

BlueVoid

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Re: Books Read in 2016
« Reply #19 on: September 06, 2016, 10:36:07 PM »
My new job gets me unlimited audiobooks. This year I've read:

The Southern Reach Trilogy
1984
The Time Machine
As You Wish
Smarter Faster Better
The Power of Habit
Deep Work
Faithful Spy
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Girl on the Train
The Lost City of Z

Currently Reading: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

By far the most books I've consumed in a year by a long shot. I'm trying to stagger what I read-- 1 newer fiction, 1 non-fiction, 1 classic. Repeat.
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