What are you reading?

[emily]

The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars by Christopher Cokinos. The history of shooting stars is amazing, very poetical. I liked reading about the Polar Explorers who took big risks to find meteorites and transport them back to the ship, the significance of shooting stars in different cultures throughout history, and and jewellery and accessories from meteorites, e.g., an asteroid belt (a belt decorated in asteroids), hehe.
 
My favourite type of meteorite stone is pallasite, which looks like glowing leopard spots in a metallic base. The spots are similar to peridot and seem to glow from the inside.
 

 
Did you know that in Inuit lore, meteors are the feces of the stars? In one story, the Moon-Man spits on the earth and the people below exclaim that "the stars are shitting."
 
Sometimes the author recounts events that transpired while he wrote the book, and a lot of the time he writes about his failed marriage and his relationship with his mistress, like he wrote about cuddling in bed with one and then the other, it was too much! I skipped those parts.

[Elpis]

I haven't been reading much lately. I seem to have less and less time for it. But I do enjoy the Kiki strike series on occasion.

[YuuakuRisa]

I'm reading The Handmainden's Tale by Margret Atwood. It's basically women losing nearly all rights to freedom, education, dress and religion is enforced harshly.


The book's pace is slow but super interesting and scary.

[Elpis]

^ive heard of that one before but haven't actually read it. I should probably check it out sometime.

[Melon]

Anyone read any good third person POV books lately? Every book I've read recently is first and I'm tired of it.

[star]

I'm reading Pnin. But I'm barely out of the first chapter, so I couldn't say if its good or not, but I'm going to guess yes.

[star]

I have my book a month test tomorrow and I haven't read a book. I need spark notes fir a nonfiction book that a teen would read.   

[sheikhyerbutay]

[quote="emily"]
The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars by Christopher Cokinos. The history of shooting stars is amazing, very poetical. I liked reading about the Polar Explorers who took big risks to find meteorites and transport them back to the ship, the significance of shooting stars in different cultures throughout history, and and jewellery and accessories from meteorites, e.g., an asteroid belt (a belt decorated in asteroids), hehe.
 
My favourite type of meteorite stone is pallasite, which looks like glowing leopard spots in a metallic base. The spots are similar to peridot and seem to glow from the inside.
 

 
Did you know that in Inuit lore, meteors are the feces of the stars? In one story, the Moon-Man spits on the earth and the people below exclaim that "the stars are shitting."
 
Sometimes the author recounts events that transpired while he wrote the book, and a lot of the time he writes about his failed marriage and his relationship with his mistress, like he wrote about cuddling in bed with one and then the other, it was too much! I skipped those parts.
[/quote]
I have never seen a meteor like before!  It must be very light weight.
 
Uh, yeah, having a mistress is a really fast way to fail a marrige for sure.
 
I just started reading "Treasure Traitor" by L.J. Popp.  L.J. Popp lived as a missionary for two years in Japan.  She wrote Treasure Traitor while living there.  It is required reading for me because next January I start lessons in her Japanese language classes.  Yea!  Finally getting serious about learning Nihongo!
 
Quote:  "In a universe torn by war, two governments vie for power:  The elemental Kingdom and the telepathic Hierarchy.  Hierarchy women with animal bonds think nothing of sacrificing their beasts' lives to protect themselves.
 
Except sixteen-year-old Renagada.  The bond with her carrion-eater bird  Acha is two-sided, and she knows his mind as much as he knows hers.  When Rena overhears her parents plotting to kill Acha because of superstition, she must leave her fiance and home of sheltered luxury to flee with Acha into the desert.  Peril awaits them at every turn, and someone is tracking them..."

[aine]

Is it time for a bump yet?

Here's a dump of the few of my recently read titles. My 40-60 minutes daily commute to and from work is both a curse and a blessing.

Haruki Murakami - 1Q84. I didn't finish it yet, I'm only a bit into the last book 3. But I love every bit of it so far. Murakami created a vast, subtle universe and it takes some 200 pages for the story threads that we follow to get anywhere near each other's influence. And then another 400 pages for the greater picture to start taking shape. But I just can't get enough of those slow, meticulous description of the apparently everyday and normal. I want to rush through it to the end, but I also want to savour every page and have it never come to an end. I was a bit wary about picking it up - I read a few things by Murakami earlier and I felt I got tired of his style which I found too subtle or sublimated. But in 1Q84 he seems to have struck the perfect balance.

James Clavell - Shogun. Another 1000+ page novel, vastly different from 1Q84, but my feelings about it were quite similar. I didn't feel bored or weary of reading it for a minute. As probably most people I first got to know this story from the TV miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune. It was actually re-watching the series not too long ago that prompted me to pick up the book, and it turned out to be very rewarding. There's was more character development, way more political background, and most importantly way more cultural details. From the few reviews I read, while a work of fiction (though vaguely based on real events) and not 100% accurate, it is generally a great introduction to Japanese culture of that important nation-shaping period which can also be the key to better understanding of the country today's culture and art. I highly recommend it to anyone with a deeper interest in Japan than the obvious contemporary pop-culture products.

Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness. I like to call it "dyslexia simulator" in my mind. That's not so say I didn't enjoy it, but there were very few sentences in the whole novel that I didn't need to read and re-read repeatedly not to lose track of what was going on. I didn't keep track of how long it took me, but reading it definitely left me mentally and physically tired. Which I think serves as a testament to Conrad's elaborate literary style. It wasn't much unlike the slow and exhausting trudge up the Congo river. In any case, it's rightfully called a classic that's just a shame not to know.

Arthur C. Clarke - 2001, 2010, 2061, 3001. The so called Space Odyssey series. 2001 is a brilliant companion to the Kubrick's film, in a way co-written by the director. It stands its own ground as a novel, at the same time helping to explain many wtf moments from the film. 2010 picks up the plot in the way we know from the sequel film (also great IMO and unjustly held to the 2001's standards), although it is a noticeable step-down in the grandness of the concept. After that, 2061 and 3001 are quite frankly pure garbage, with ideas and themes not worthy of a grade schooler's piece of fanfiction. Both books quite simply poop all over the mystery of the original work and explain things in the most hackneyed fashion possible. A few times I had a good laugh, but I'd advise you not to waste your time with them. And I definitely can't bring myself to consider them a 2001 "canon".

[freezingkiss]

Let's revive an old thread! Reading got me through extended lockdowns and is the only non toxic media where I don't feel like my eyeballs are falling out.

Currently reading:

The Book of Hidden Wonders by Polly Crosby - such a sweet, sad book full of incapable adults and kids trying to make it on their own. I'm assuming a huge twist is coming.

A Short History of Stupid by Bernard Keane and Helen Razer - goodish (think in the style of 'Calling Bullshit' and 'Thinking Fast and Slow' but a bit less academic), but misses the mark at times by veering too deeply into philosophical history and swearing a bit too much, even for me, an Australian. However, it does make good points about over diagnoses of mental illness (we have reasons to be depressed about modern life) and the deterioration of journalism.