What book are you reading, and what do you think of it?

[hbelkins]

I wish I had more time to read. Between work and home obligations and sleep, I don't see how people find time to read as much as they do.

I've decided that, if I have enough time to watch a dozen videos on YouTube, then I have enough time to read a book.

This is true, but I'm one of those who hates videos when the written word will do. So I don't watch YouTube videos, unless I call up some music and have it on while I'm doing something else. I see links posted frequently on social media about something that interests me, and get excited to read the story, and then get aggravated when I see it's a link to a video. I read faster than a lot of people do, so why do I want to sit and watch a 10-minute video about something when I could read the transcript of the video in about three minutes? I'm a throwback. Video has far less appeal than text.

That's another reason I prefer written words to audiobooks. And I only subscribe to one podcast, which I speed up to 1.5x but often slow back down to 1x if there's something I don't want to miss. A friend of mine keeps a list of books she reads each year, and I don't know how she finds time to do them all. I think she listens to some of them as audiobooks, but I still can't find the time to do that.

[vdeane]

Didn't that get turned in to a short-lived TV show of some sort?

Yep.  It started with a two hour special that covered some of the more interesting items, then a season of hour long episodes covering general themes, and then a second season of half-hour episodes that didn't cover anything new but turned it into a game show.

[hbelkins]

So I get an email at work today with the subject, "Message from Secretary Jim Gray."

What's in the video? A five-minute YouTube video. Grrr. I'd rather have his written statement that I could read in a minute vs. having spent five minutes watching the video.

[webny99]

I had read every book in the house (well, maybe not quite...) by age 11 or 12 and pretty much stopped reading for pleasure at that point.

I learned to read quite young, and now I pretty much read in paragraphs instead of individual words. I can't remember the last time I read something that took me more than 2 hours, much less had to be spread out over multiple days. So, this thread is at least quite enlightening for me.

[Mr_Northside]

I'm currently enjoying the Keith Richards autobiography "Life".

[kphoger]

Not knowing what the COVID library status is where everyone lives, I recommend checking out the book shown below if and when you can make it to the library.

I read it just last year, and I enjoyed it quite a lot.  It's a post-apocalyptic book that takes place in Ontario and Michigan, while and after a highly contagious strain of the flu decimates the world population.  It's not super nerdy, and I think it would have broad appeal to both men and women, both young and old alike.

[kphoger]

I recently started reading The Brothers Karamazov (abridged edition), the final novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, published in series in 1879-80.  Recently, I had a hankering to get into a book, but I never know what kind of book to get from the library.  Never having read a Russian novel before, I decided to check one out.  Not wanting to read a book as long as War and Peace, I looked for something more manageable, and The Brothers Karamazov seemed like one I might at least halfway enjoy.

So far, I'm about 30 pages in, out of about 720 (it's only about 6 inches tall), and I'm not sure what I think yet.  It seems that I'm still in the introductory part of the story–telling the characters' back-stories before getting to meat of the story.  But, not being at all familiar with the book, I don't yet know what to expect–say–100 pages from now.  It's certainly a different type of story-telling than I'm used to, with quite a bit of narrator-perspective commentary about the characters.  Thumbing through the pages to come, however, it appears to be much more conversation-driven later on in the book.  So I guess I don't know yet if I like the book or not.  Time will tell.

Just yesterday evening, I checked out my second Dostoevsky book.  This time, it's The Idiot.

As for The Brothers Karamazov, I'd say it took about half the book to get the plot really going.  It was a gradual ramping-up that lasted pretty much the entire book.  The increase in drama was almost unnoticeable page-by-page but, by the time I was in the last fourth of the book, it was starting to get pretty dramatic, and it was a wild ride toward the end of the book.  Certainly a different type of reading experience than I was used to.

[kphoger]

Most recently, I read The Promise Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.  It's about a doctor who, in the 1960s, delivers his wife's twins, sees that one of them has Down syndrome, and instructs his nurse to take child and put her in a home–before his wife wakes up from the anesthesia.  The nurse doesn't go through with it, and then the novel alternates between the lives of all the affected parties.  It explores how that decision affects not just the people who know what happened, but also how it affects various relationships.

Basically, it's a chick book.  But it's also quite engaging for a man to read as well.  I did enjoy it, and I was very happy to have had such mild spring weather here allowing me to read multiple chapters at a time on the front porch.

[1995hoo]

I just finished Brandon Sanderson's Rhythm of War (book four of his Stormlight Archive series). Took me most of four months to read it because it's over 1200 pages (I read it on a Kindle). Good series, a lot going on. I won't call it as sprawling as the Wheel of Time, at least not yet, but it's close. Not as many characters to keep straight in your mind, which helps when the story is this long. So far none of the four books has been under a thousand pages.

After finishing that, I wanted something much lighter, so I've just started The California Golden Seals: A Tale of White Skates, Red Ink, and One of the NHL's Most Outlandish Teams. As the name implies, it's about the failed hockey franchise. About as far from epic fantasy as you can get!

[hbelkins]

Just finished my second reading of Hillbilly Elegy. Since Vance's grandparents are from an adjacent county (the one where I work) I am quite familiar with much of the book's setting. I still don't understand why it upsets the left so much. It's a pretty accurate portrayal not only of life for Appalachian migrants to the industrial midwest, but of those who stayed in the hills.

[kphoger]

Just yesterday evening, I checked out my second Dostoevsky book.  This time, it's The Idiot.

Well, I didn't finish The Idiot before I ran out of renewals at the library.  However, a couple of months ago, I decided to check the book out all over again, and so I picked up where I'd left off.  I'm almost to the end, with just three chapters to go.

This may well be my last Dostoevsky book.  It's hard for me to keep the characters straight (it doesn't help that they all go by three different names), but it's also hard for me to form a connection to them.  At least in this novel, I feel some connection to the main character–but not to anyone else.  There's also too much family and social intrigue for my liking.  I realize that this last point is probably a mark of the author's genius, in capturing the nuances of complicated social structures, but I guess it's just not for me.

[skluth]

Just finished Maus I. Maus II is sitting on my nightstand now.

I didn't know How the States Got Their Shapes was a book. I enjoyed the TV series and recommend watching them if you get the chance. I also recommend using a DVR to fast-forward as some of the History Channel commercials can be a bit much. It's perfect for watching on those nasty weather days where any outdoor activity is worth postponing.

[MATraveler128]

Just finished Maus I. Maus II is sitting on my nightstand now.

I didn't know How the States Got Their Shapes was a book. I enjoyed the TV series and recommend watching them if you get the chance. I also recommend using a DVR to fast-forward as some of the History Channel commercials can be a bit much. It's perfect for watching on those nasty weather days where any outdoor activity is worth postponing.

I have the How the States Got Their Shapes book. It's definitely worth a read. I still remember binge watching the episodes.

[Takumi]

I'm concurrently reading two books: When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! by Yogi Berra, a humorous read that talks about some of his famous Yogiisms and meanings behind them, and The Puppy Handbook, because I have a new four-legged baby arriving in a month or so.

[adventurernumber1]

Most recently (in the past few weeks) I finished reading Debbie Harry's memoir Face It, which was a very good and engaging read.

I read a good bit in elementary school, but my recreational reading largely tapered off as the compulsory reading picked up in middle school and high school. The only non-school book I really read during those years was The OCD Workbook (something I definitely needed to read, and credit with helping me manage my OCD over the years, along with medication and cognitive behavioral therapy). However, ironically, I got back into reading at the start of college while doing my assigned reading for my history classes. Being a history major (then), I knew I was going to have to read a lot, so I got into the groove and was enthusiastic about the assigned reading. I'll take reading over mindless busy work any day, so it was a breath of fresh air compared to high school. Once having the spare time, this spilled over into recreation as I actually started reading books for fun again for the first time in over half a decade. My reading pace, however, is pitifully slow. This means I haven't actually read that many books since then. However, I have spent time reading, and thus far I have usually either been reading memoirs (usually of musicians I am a fan of) and history books. Although, I could probably stand to expand my scope, and with that said I have taken some suggestions of some of the books mentioned in this thread that sound very interesting. Since I got back into reading, one of my favorite places to read is outside on a nice day. Spending more time outside is another thing I had a new-found appreciation of in recent years, particularly during the height of the pandemic where sitting on the back patio was a safe and relaxing way to get outside.

[kphoger]

Since I got back into reading, one of my favorite places to read is outside on a nice day. Spending more time outside is another thing I had a new-found appreciation of in recent years, particularly during the height of the pandemic where sitting on the back patio was a safe and relaxing way to get outside.

Even before the pandemic, I started reading on the front porch.  One additional benefit is that the sunlight makes it easier on my eyes, whereas I sometimes strain to read indoors.

I just finished my second Dostoevsky book, and I'm guessing it'll be my last by him.  We went to the library to drop it off and to check out some books for my youngest son, but I didn't get another book to read.  I've decided not to get another book until I've gone to the eye doctor for a new prescription.

[hbelkins]

I've started in on Men in Black by Mark Levin, which is a critical look at Supreme Court activism.

Once that's done, I plan to read Slouching Towards Gomorrah by Robert Bork, which seems to be especially relevant today.

The last book I read was a re-read of Hillbilly Elegy, which is very relevant to me since I have worked for years in the county from which J.D. Vance's family originated. In fact, I was working there the year he was born, so I'm very familiar with the Kentucky territory of which he writes. Nothing he penned is inaccurate, so I don't understand why that book has been criticized the way it has been.

[J N Winkler]

Even before the pandemic, I started reading on the front porch.  One additional benefit is that the sunlight makes it easier on my eyes, whereas I sometimes strain to read indoors.

What kind of light have you been using indoors?  Next to my reading chair, I have a floor lamp that shines directly on book pages, giving me anywhere between 200 and 500 lux (measured using a smartphone light meter app).  I have found it's pretty hard to break 50 lux with a table lamp next to an armchair, even if it is fitted with a 100 W bulb (or a CFL/LED with equivalent lumen output), and I don't consider that adequate for comfortable reading.

I've long suspected that part of the popularity of ebooks (especially on devices with their own screen illumination) comes from unresolved lighting problems.

I just finished my second Dostoevsky book, and I'm guessing it'll be my last by him.  We went to the library to drop it off and to check out some books for my youngest son, but I didn't get another book to read.  I've decided not to get another book until I've gone to the eye doctor for a new prescription.

I'm nearsighted and wear glasses now, having worn contacts in the past.  I suspect I am now also mildly presbyopic.  I don't even try to read books while wearing glasses--I just take them off.  When I was still wearing contacts, I routinely wore reading glasses.

[kphoger]

What kind of light have you been using indoors?

? Whatever the lamps put out ?

[J N Winkler]

? Whatever the lamps put out ?

That's just it--lamp type, positioning, bulb/light source output, etc. all matter in terms of illumination.  If it's noticeably easier to read outside with the sun as your light source, that suggests to me you're not getting enough light on book pages indoors.

[kphoger]

? Whatever the lamps put out ?

That's just it--lamp type, positioning, bulb/light source output, etc. all matter in terms of illumination.  If it's noticeably easier to read outside with the sun as your light source, that suggests to me you're not getting enough light on book pages indoors.

Well, obviously I'm not getting enough light on book pages indoors.  That's precisely the problem.  But it can be greatly mitigated by getting a new prescription.

I went about a dozen years without glasses.  I broke a pair, realized I could see OK without them, didn't want to pay for a new pair anyway, and just did without.  But, a few years ago, I started having to really strain to read, especially in dim lighting.  So I went to the eye doctor.  My eyesight had gotten so bad that we had to quit the eye exam partway through because my brain stopped being able to focus my eyes on the chart correctly.  After getting my glasses, reading suddenly became clear again.  I have no doubt that a new prescription will make it similarly easier.

[kkt]

I wish I had more time to read. Between work and home obligations and sleep, I don't see how people find time to read as much as they do.

I've decided that, if I have enough time to watch a dozen videos on YouTube, then I have enough time to read a book.

This is true, but I'm one of those who hates videos when the written word will do. So I don't watch YouTube videos, unless I call up some music and have it on while I'm doing something else. I see links posted frequently on social media about something that interests me, and get excited to read the story, and then get aggravated when I see it's a link to a video. I read faster than a lot of people do, so why do I want to sit and watch a 10-minute video about something when I could read the transcript of the video in about three minutes? I'm a throwback. Video has far less appeal than text.

That's another reason I prefer written words to audiobooks. And I only subscribe to one podcast, which I speed up to 1.5x but often slow back down to 1x if there's something I don't want to miss. A friend of mine keeps a list of books she reads each year, and I don't know how she finds time to do them all. I think she listens to some of them as audiobooks, but I still can't find the time to do that.

I agree about videos.  I would much rather read text than watch a video about, unless there's something particularly compelling about the video format, which there usually isn't.  Yes, reading is faster than watching a video, but it's also about eye strain.  I can read a printed book for 10 hours and not get as much eye strain as I do from an hour at the computer.

[amberjns]

My husband loves to read outdoors, and this summer, he arranged a place for himself in parents' garden. He bought a chair and watched a thousand videos about what lighting he would need. The only thing he didn't consider was the bugs, which gladly joined his reading every evening. I wanted to play a trick on him and bought Lord of the Flies as a gift, but he did not appreciate the joke for some reason. Now I think The Metamorphosis fits better

Sorry for being a little off topic.

Advertising link removed.  --J N Winkler

[kirbykart]

Currently I am reading Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie. I have already read Murder on the Orient Express and Ten Little Indians (published today as And Then There Were None).

[1995hoo]

I am reading Wrath of the Sun, the sixth and final book in the "Lords of Alekka" series by A.E. Rayne. The series is the sequel to the same author's "Furyck Saga," another six-book series I read a year or two ago. Fast-moving and entertaining stuff, though some people might feel there is too much violence. The author says she is fascinated by the Vikings (although she lives in New Zealand), and that's apparent from how many of the characters have Norse-looking names.

I'm at a loss for what I'll read next.