readingtogether | November Group Read: Kick Off Post

glinda posting in

It’s November the 1st! Ready, steady - read!

In exciting news we’ve got lots of new participants this year - thank you to everyone to promoted it to their reading lists! - so just a couple of brief housekeeping notes. Check-ins will be every Friday, with a final sneaky wee extra check-in/round up post on the 30th to share the joy/commiserate! Don’t worry if you forget to check in, there’s no penalty, commenting late or checking in for two weeks at the same time is perfectly fine! Also some people find making a list at the start and sharing it helps with accountability, so if that’s something you’re into then feel free to use the comments on this post for that.

And most importantly: have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

glinda

Ok, so this year I’m attempting to tackle my backlog of hardback books - I normally read more on the go so generally prefer paperbacks - really lean into the whole #stayhome vibe. I want to read any four of the following books:

Yang and Grogg - Frank Beattie
The Silver Chanter - Wendy Wood
Modern Scotland - James G Kellas
The Sundance Kids - James Mottram
Deep light - Frances Hardinge
Provenance - Ann Leckie
Gun Island - Amitav Ghosh
Colony - Rob Grant
And Another Thing... - Eoin Colfer
A Song for Arbonne - Guy Gavriel Kay
Rant - Chuck Palahniuk
Dragonhaven - Robin McKinley

Edited Date: 2020-11-01 11:47 am (UTC)

From:

peaceful_sands

I’ll be interested to see what you think of provenance and a song for Arbonne as both are on my TBR pile but not to be tackled just now.

Edited Date: 2020-11-01 05:38 pm (UTC)

From:

taichara

I decided to read the Bleach manga this fall and I'm 20 volumes in.

For November I'm doing the other 54. }3

Booyah ~

(also possibly the FFXV novel, but Bleach has priority)

From:

peaceful_sands

Enjoy!

From:

kalloway

I made a list here; it's the top shelf of many misc shelves of 'stuff that needed to go somewhere' at one point or other. There are a few movies and anime series on here but I'm going to count them as mostly-related. ^^;; (Like, the second Rocket Girls light novel + the anime, or an Atlantis tie-in plus the movie I've never seen.)

Dunno how far I'll get, but hopefully I'll make a dent. A few of these I've read before, but it's been awhile. ^^;;

From:

peaceful_sands

Ancillary justice is on my TBR pile somewhere too. Hope you enjoy the ones you get to.

From:

goodbyebird

I'm not at home, so digital only for me.

Current candidates:
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
The True Queen by Zen Cho
Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch
The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz
+ a couple of the new Ms Marvel trades and some team comics Kamala's been in.

Edited Date: 2020-11-01 12:40 pm (UTC)

From:

peaceful_sands

I hope you enjoy your November reads. I read A Memory calledEmpire and found it interesting not too long ago. A Starless Sea is on my wish list for when I’m further down the TBR pile.

From:

goodbyebird

Good to know! Fingers crossed for Starless Sea :)

From:

kore

Yay Kamala! Did you read G. Willow Wilson's run? I really liked that one.

From:

goodbyebird

Oh yes, I read that as it came out. Really loved it. But as it usually is when a run completes, I drop out. Saladin is a great writer though, I've enjoyed loads of his stuff, so high expectations.

Just recently played the new Avengers game, and they did real good by Kamala! Now I'm thirsty for more of her adventures hehe.

From:

kore

I heard her story in that game was really good! (I suck at gaming, I have no hand-to-eye control)

From:

fred_mouse

Ooh, that is a lovely list. The top three are ones I've read and I absolutely adore all of them.

From:

goodbyebird

Oh yay, that's great to hear :D

From:

lebateleur

If I can knock four or five of these shelf-sitters off the following list this month, I'll be happy:

1. The Angel of the Crows – Katherine Addison
2. In Pursuit of Harmony – Gustav Heldt
3. The Reign of Wolf 21 – Rick McIntyre
4. The Silver Bough vol. 3 – F. Marian McNeill
5. Isolde – Rosalind Miles
6. The Serpent’s Tooth – Diana L. Paxson
7. The Last Emperor – Shiba Ryotaro
8. 王朝唐紅ロマンセ-王朝ロマンセ外伝 - 秋月こお
9. 王朝月下繚乱ロマンセ王朝ロマンセ外伝(2) - 秋月こお
10. 蟲師 (6) - 漆原友紀

From:

peaceful_sands

Good luck and hope you enjoy the ones you get to

From:

lebateleur

Thank you! I made a some initial progress this week, so there's that.

From:

glinda

Ooh books in two languages - definitely playing on hard mode! *looks guiltily at own collection of unread Gaelic comics*

From:

lebateleur

Oh cool! Which flavor of Gaelic do you read? I used to be decent at Gàidhlig and have been working my way through the material on LearnManx.com during quarantine.

From:

glinda

It’s Gàidhlig that I read :) I can often get the jist of conversations in Gaelige, depending on the accent, but I’ve never tried Manx Gaelic, how are you finding it?

From:

lebateleur

I'm really enjoying it! It's pretty intuitive, especially if you've encountered Gàidhlig before--the grammar and spelling are simplified and probably much more intuitive for English speakers: gee = ag ith; dooiney = duine; va = bha; vel = am bheil, etc. And there's faaar more audio available for Gaelg now than when I was trying to get a footing in Gàidhlig (although there's even more Gàidhlig audio these days, as well. 😅)

From:

glinda

Honestly, their adoption of the letter 'v' is such a good idea, must make learning to spell so much easier for both kids and adult learners! (although there's even more Gàidhlig audio these days, as well. 😅) We've got a whole TV channel these days, very fancy! :p

From:

peaceful_sands

My intention is to have at least 10 finished by the end of the month a mix of paper and audio. The first two are already started

1. The Outcasts by John Flanagan
2. River God by Wilbur Smith

After that no definite decisions but the following are likely contenders:

3. Dissolution by C. J. Sansom
4. Artemis by Andy Weir
5. The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue
6. Fractured by Teri Terry
7. Open veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano

From:

kore

Emma Donoghue! I love her.

From:

peaceful_sands

So I'm in for a treat then? I've read Room but nothing else by her so far.

From:

kore

I think so! I liked Room a lot, and Slammerkin is a classic, and I really loved Kissing the Witch. I have her newest one, about nurses in the flu pandemic (The Pull of the Stars). I know I read at least one other book by her but right now can't remember which one, arrgh. It might've been one of her nonfiction books. She can be a bit grim tho (as you probably saw in Room, heh).

From:

lebateleur

I read River God some years ago and really enjoyed it.

From:

kore

My entire apartment is basically a TBR stack!...ahahaha lolsob. I don't have a list yet, but I've been reading too much nonfiction and really want to get back into short stories and novels. I have been reading WAY TOO MANY of the many many books about the Trump administration. I did just get the new giant biography of Sylvia Plath (over 1,000 pages!) and I think I'm about 1/3 of the way through it so far. I'm going to try to do that "read some of the books I already have to cut down on new purchases" thing. ....yeah

From:

peaceful_sands

I understand your problem with an overwhelming TBR pile. I'm trying to read more than I buy all the time now but it's hard! Hopefully you'll find a few things that to grab your interest and help you get through a few this month.

From:

kore

To be honest, I just really need to break out of this cycle of nonfiction political books, memoirs, trashy true crime books, and trashy thrillers /o\

From:

goodbyebird

Have you read Murderbot books or the Wayfarers series? They would absolutely soothe your soul.

From:

kore

I LOVE Murderbot (and even wrote fic! also, LOVE that icon). I've heard about the Wayfarers series, but haven't read it yet -- that's a great idea.

From:

monksandbones

My book pile is as follows.

Currently reading, and I want to finish this month:

1) Alastair Campbell, The Alastair Campbell Diaries, volume three: Power & Responsibility, 1999–2001
2) Jeremy D. Popkin, A New World Begins: A History of the French Revolution

Embarrassing COVID book pile/mount TBR, and I'm hoping to read three of these this month:

1) Kyle Harper, The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease & The End of an Empire
2) Catherine Hanley, Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior
3) Tanya Tagaq, Split Tooth
4) Waubgeshig Rice, Moon of the Crusted Snow
5) Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
6) Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies
7) Daisy Dunn, The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny
8) Sylvie Bépoix and Hervé Richard, eds., La forêt au Moyen Âge
9) Alastair Campbell, From Blair to Brown, Diaries: Volume 6, 2005-2007
10 Alastair Campbell, From Crash to Defeat, Diaries: Volume 7, 2007-2010

From:

peaceful_sands

Good luck - hope you enjoy your reading and are able to finish your goal.

From:

glinda

Embarrassing COVID book pile/ Ha, don’t we all have one of those? I made a physical pile of my books for this challenge, and it may not have been a good choice as they’re hardbacks and...it looks a bit intimidating! (The Fate of Rome sound like either the best or the worst book to be reading in these times!)

From:

goodbyebird

That's a really interesting pile of books!

From:

fred_mouse

I have done an audit on the books on the iPad, identified those that are 'in progress' (that includes the 1%, which means 'I opened that') and then picked ten, of which I want to have read 4. Appreciate the kick in the rear that this challenge gives me to actually commit to reading things!

From:

glinda

That’s very organised of you! Good luck making progress! (My list is a physical pile of books, on a chair, In the middle of my living room, which will hopefully annoy/motivate me into reading them!)

From:

fred_mouse

I find lists motivating! I hope your pile of books reduces at a rewarding rate.

From:

steorra

My main goal is to finish reading two books that I've started:

1. A Stó:lō-Coast Salish Historical Atlas, edited by Keith Thor Carlson (I'm about two thirds of the way done! I want to actually finish!)

2. The High King, by Lloyd Alexander. I've read and enjoyed the rest of the series. I've started this book twice and gotten sidetracked/stalled both times. I probably need to start over yet again since it's over half a year since the last time.

I'd also like to read, if I can:

3. Historical Brewing Techniques: The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing, by Lars Marius Garshol, which just I borrowed from a colleague.

4. A couple more chapters of A History of Wales, by John Davies. It's a huge book, and I'm currently only aiming to read as far as the chapter that ends in 1282, but that's a hundred pages beyond where I am right now.

From:

glinda

Ooh, those sound really interesting, especially the Salish Atlas! Good luck!

From:

steorra

It's a really great book. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in First Nations of the relevant area. I had to get it for a class in undergrad - the prof chose it because it's produced by the Stó:lō people themselves - and I used it enough back then to know that it was interesting, but I hadn't read it cover to cover, and now I want to.

From:

althea_valara

I have the first three issues of Death Note: Black Edition out from the library, so I need to finally read those so I can return them.

Otherwise, I'd like to re-read Ready Player One as I believe its sequel to due to release this month.

I rarely read these days, choosing to get my story needs from video games, so if I get these four books read I'll be very happy!

From:

glinda

Ah yes, I’ve got a couple of library books in my pile too, I’ve really had them out far too long... :/ Sometimes we just need to get our stories in different formats, for about four years I barely read anything and got most of my stories from drama podcasts, whereas now I barely listen to those and read a lot more. Good luck with getting through your books!