Topic: Books You're Currently Reading?

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Oh, absolutely! "Sekigahara" went straight to my reading list I endeavour to read a non-fiction book every now and then and I love to find interesting history books to put on there (unfortunately, so many of them are dull and dry, focusing more on dates and figures rather than painting an interesting picture of what went on).

I'm about halfway through N.K. Jemisin's "The City We Became", which I am unsurprisingly enjoying a lot. What did surprise me, though, was that it turned out to be almost Lovecraftian at times (and she makes no effort to hide it, either, she references the racist old b@stard and calls him out repeatedly for it... I think she may be like me, loving the mythos he created, but reviling the man and preferring Lovecraftian works over works by Lovecraft).

And excellent tip on Dostoevsky, I'll put "Crime" ahead of "Brothers" on my list. Thanks, buddy!

About halfway thru Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. It's a gripping, riveting tale so far, so much better reading it at the age I'm at now, rather than in my late teens, a long time ago. Perhaps it's like a fine wine, "just gets better with age." 😉

Edit: Finished it now. I found it to be a masterpiece, much better than when I read it before, as I said earlier. It might even be a contender for replacing The Brothers Karamazov as my favourite book by the Russian Literary Master. You could say The Brothers Karamazov is like the Elden Ring to Crime and Punishment's Dark Souls III. 😉

Edit II: Right I've finalised my "final final" 'literary' reading list now. It now consists of the following books:

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
The Tale of the Heike by Royall Tyler (Translator.)
Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
Essays in Idleness: and Hojoki by Kenko.
The Frolic of the beasts by Yukio Mishima
The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima
Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami.
The Tokaido Road by Lucia St. Clair Robson..

And, separate to this list of Japanese fiction, I also like the look of:

The Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony Trollope.

I plan to get through as much as I can of that list and then focus on Art books, publications such as EMPIRE, Wisden Cricket Monthly and an assortment of Mangas that might take my fancy.

Edit III: After thinking it over, I've decided to skip that "final final" phase, in the belief that I can now consider myself sufficiently "well-read" to move on to Art books, Cricket books, and Magazines. Starting with:

Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition by Adrienne L. Childs
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2025 edited by Lawrence Booth
Jazzwise Magazine
Wisden Cricket Monthly

I've finished 'Faithbreaker' The final book in the Fallen God's series by Hannah Kaner. Overall I enjoyed the series but I have to say the first book 'Godkiller' was the best. Some excellent ideas and fantastic characters.

Next up it's my first ever Philip K. Dick book 'The Man in the High Castle' it was a Toss up between this and 'The Lefthand of Darkness' by Ursula K. Le Guin. I went by birth year to decide and he won by a year.

Started The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, seems very good so far, definitely classical Japanese Literature for sure, written in a very elegant style.

@RogueCooper How are you my friend? I noticed you had reached out a few times in the past so I thought I would ask how things were going with regard to your life, parenthood and most importantly 😉 (not really, parenthood is far more important, I'm sure.) your literary journey? What are you reading just now? And how is it treating you?

Finished N.K. Jemisin's The City We Became last night. Going in, I really didn't know what to expect from this. Having read Jemisin's "Broken Earth" trilogy, sci-fi/fantasy was a safe bet. Then I read "The City Born Great", the prologue to this one, and I found it messy and confusing and didn't like it that much. Still, I had committed myself to giving this novel a chance, so I dove in and... wow, just WOW. This is probably one of the most original sci-fi novels I have read in a very long while and the concept was just brilliant! It also surprised me quite a bit how Lovecraftian it actually was. I'm a huge fan of the mythos, but can't stand the miserable racist ***** or his ramblings, so I vastly prefer "Lovecraftian" to "Lovecraft". I have a feeling that this is a sentiment I share with N.K. Jemisin, going off the references to the man in this novel.
Fantastic stuff and strong candidate for favourite of the year. Five stars all the way.

Also read the Stephen King novella Strawberry Spring from his Night Shift collection. It was a decent novella about a serial killer stalking a small New England college campus. Three stars.

Before finishing off Jemisin's "Great Cities" series, I'll take a quick detour with Joe Abercrombie's latest, The Devils. Been a while since I last read Abercrombie and this would be the first for me that isn't part of the First Law universe. Very excited about this one!

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN

Let me recommend “The Tokaido Road”, by Lucia St Clair Robson.

A very well-detailed historical novel, that is set against the backdrop of the Ako-Asano affair, the so-called “47 Ronin Story”.

I read it a long time ago, and you might be able to find a copy, possibly. Should be of particular interest to you.

I imagine that you have already read James Clavell’s “Shogun”, and “Gai-Jin”. Those are the only two novels in Clavell’s Asian Saga that are set in feudal Japan.

Of the other four books in that series, one is set in early Hong Kong, another is set in Hong Kong in the 1980s, another is set in Japan during WW2, and the final book is set during the Iranian Revolution. I doubt any of those would appeal to you!

@Matthewnh Thanks for the recommendation, added to my Wishlist, thoroughly looking forward to reading it, if I can get hold of one of those much-coveted copies!

And, no, I wouldn't be interested in any of those. How is your own reading going, my friend?

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN

I just recently finished the latest Thomas Harris novel.

Looking around at my bookshelf for something else to read now. So I might finally start on the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Is there anything you can recommend?

@Matthewnh I just finished Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. That is a very good book, arguably his best, in some ways. Alternatively, you could consider The Women at the Pump by Knut Hamsun ,if you are looking for something more light-hearted, but of equal quality.

As I mentioned yesterday, my next book is Joe Abercrombie's "The Devils" and after only two chapters today it feels like this could be a solid favourite.
So much so that I ordered the special edition hardcover from Broken Bindings.
Now, I read digital mainly due to issues with my eyesight, but also due to convenience (always having my books with me wherever I am) and, in my current living situation, very limited shelf space.
The two first reasons are why any physical books I buy will be purely for "having it on the shelf" purposes, and I have even put a moratorium on that until I relocate some time next year, but this one I felt I couldn't risk missing out on.
This is very rare

@RogueCooper Hope it all goes well. Good luck with your book. Next up for me is Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition, edited by Adrienne L. Childs, or possibly Wisden Cricketers Almanack 2025

Edit: Oh and I was reading Crime and Punishment before that, which I believe you've read? I thought it beggared even The Brothers Karamazov to a certain extent, absolutely fantastic book.

But now, that, I feel, will be my last literary project, exclusively reading Art and Cricket stuff, book-wise, from now on. (I said in a previous post, just edited, that I feel well-read enough now, and just to add to that I was mostly previously interested in the Classics, I think I've told you before that I don't like much of the modern stuff, have read most of the Classics now so can move on to my other interests that are book-format related, just to clarify, as it has been a while since I said it and it may have slipped your mind!).

Currently reading Wisden Cricketers Almanack 2025 The articles seem fascinating and thoroughly well-written, thus far. Obviously it's Non-Fiction so you can't hold it to the same standards as a novel, but I will say Wisden appear to be the leading authority on Cricket, with regard to the printed word. And I will just add that I would highly recommend the book to any fans of Cricket, or anyone who wishes to learn more about it as a sport.

Edit: I read the article James Anderson Retires this morning in the mammoth tome that is the Almanack, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Great and very insightful reflections on the 'Lord of Lord's career! .

I finished 'The Man in the High Castle' last night. An interesting take on an alternative future had the Nazi's won the war. I must read more P.K. Dick.

I also finished Saga Deluxe volume 3, just got to catch up with the pile of comics that make up the 4th volume.

Tonight I will start 'The Left hand of Darkness'. Looking forward to reading my first Le Guin novel.

@MightyDemon82 I also have "The Left Hand of Darkness" on my list, looking forward to reading how you find it

I have now decided to begin reading Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. For the first time ever. Yes, I know…it is just one of those things I always meant to get around to.

I am really enjoying them so far, now that have got used to the writing style.

@Matthewnh Nice! I've been considering that myself, glad to hear it's a worthwhile endeavour

I am currently reading Chris Ofili ,a book on the artist, edited by Judith Nesbitt. It seems like there is a mini-essay on each of his pieces in the book, in addition to some background information about Ofili, created up until the point when the book was published. It seems fairly comprehensive so far.

Edit: I read a bit more of the Chris Ofili book and the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2025 today, they are very good books, which I would recommend to anyone interested in Black Art or Cricket.

The reasoning behind Ofili's choice of subject matter and incorporation of both stereotypical and traditional black cultural elements into his work is unveiled in the book and the author makes the artist's creative cognitive process as clear as they can to the reader.

Edit: I also finished the Five Cricketers of the Year section of the Wisden book today, and especially liked the comment sections on Dan Worrall and Jamie Smith, two cricketers, who thoroughly deserve to be included in the book.

I finished Chris Ofili edited by Judith Nesbitt and have moved on and am now about halfway thru Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition, edited by Adrienne L. Childs. It is a very enlightening look at the way African American art has been incorporated, starting with it's origins in "found" (purloined, originally historically, afaik) objets d'art from Africa, into the European Modernist Tradition. Also the way African American Artists have incorporated images from their ancestors religious and spiritual practices into their "contemporary" work of the time. Going forwards, up 'till today.

Edit: I have almost finished the Riffs and Relations book, and plan for my next book after the Basquiat biography which I intend to have a look at after 'Riffs' to be The Warden by Anthony Trollope. I know, I know, it's a return to literature, of sorts, but, yeah there is only so much you can read on art and cricket. I hope that a little variety will go a long way for me, as I'm sure it will for a lot of people.

Edit II: I finished 'Riffs' and found it thoroughly educational and edifying. My main takeaway from the book was that some African American Artists have leaned towards the abstract form of expression in order to free themselves from what may be the 'restrictive' perception of others towards them, moving beyond the physical, which defines us in the eyes of those who see us ,who do not care to delve deeper, and towards the spiritual, non-physical and esoteric through the process of artistic abstraction.

I am now starting Jean-Michel Basquiat. 40th Ed.: And the Art of Storytelling (45th Edition) by Eleanor Nairne, as my next book, should be good, as I think he's a great artist.

Edit: I've finished the 'Basquiat' book now, the actual text in the book only consitutes about 100 pages, so it was a quick read, accompanied by lots of full-colour reproductions of the artist's work. Sounds like he led a truly artistic,creative and bohemian life during his short tenure on this earth.

Next up for me will be The Warden by Anthony Trollope, which should take me longer to get through.