In the middle of Billy Budd Sailor (I read Moby Dick a number of years after leg surgeries so I was laid up). I love Bloom’s work even when I disagree with him. My men’s non-fiction book club will be reading Elliott Ness and the Mad Butcher. And I’ve got Paradise Lost on my TBR shelf. Adam, I appreciate greatly your vid’s. I’m a classical music/opera geek. As a kid, I struggled with reading. One of the things that got me reading was liner notes. Those led me to come classics-Faust, Pt. 1; the Sorrows of Young Werther, etc. My wife was a reading intervention teacher for high-schooler and graphic novel opened reading for a lot of her students. Now, she’s a teacher/librarian at an elementary school with 20 different languages spoken-different issues-still the power of quality literature. Antigone has powerful issues that surges across the ages. It would be interesting to read Virgil with you. Maybe a weekly discussion to keep the commitment going! Just a thought. I’m still not into fantasy but am open due to your reflections. Stay fukk’n awesome my friend and keep posting! Mike
Thanks for your note, Mike. It means a lot. Buddy-reading Virgil could be a lot of fun. Drop me a line by email (it's listed on the "About" page of the channel), and let's see if we can coordinate that!
Sandman has been in my 🛒 for a while. I started watching it on Netflix but put a pause on it because I decided I wanted to watch and read along with the graphic novel... happy reading!
Good call on pausing the Netflix series! It's very faithful to the source material. I think you'll get maximum enjoyment from reading the comics first and then watching the show! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for watching and commenting!
We have a similar reading style-All over the place. While I do not normally have a plan, October has been set aside for vampires. Reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula, at present. Will follow up with Interview with a Vampire by A Rice. Depending on how well Interview goes, it may be followed up with the Lestat book. The only other book guaranteed to be read throughout the rest of 2023 is the daily offerings of Simple Abundance. A reread of the first Drizt book (D&D) has been a possibility though. The King short stories that includes the Body is also a strong contender. (The Read like A Prof is on a bookshelf in the family room.)
Nice! Great selecting, and I like how you designated October vampire month! Stoker’s Dracula is probably my favourite “horror” book ever (although it must be said I’m not a big horror reader). I love the way that book was written and it blows my mind how much it has captured people’s imaginations. I never read Interview with a Vampire, but I did read the Vampire Lestat a long time ago, and the thing that sticks out the most in my memory is the description of becoming a vampire. Decades later I can still remember the line about fingernails… I know people have mixed feelings about Anne Rice, but she knew how to make vampires interesting characters (without turning them into angsty teenagers). Thanks for sharing and happy (or spooky) reading!
Never ceases to bother me that Malazan hasn't gotten a decent re-publishing. Unless you count the incredible (and extremely expensive) Subterranean Press editions. To get a set that wasn't mass market paperbacks, I had to hunt through Better World Books and order used paperback versions whenever they popped up.
I think it's perfectly fine to appreciate a writer while recognising their shortcomings. Murakami fascinates me despite the lack of interiority of his female characters - and I'm ok with that. I mean is there any such thing as a flawless writer? Indeed a flawless book? I struggle to think of a single one even amongst my favourite works.
Quite true! Every single author in my top 10 has some things they do well, and other they don't. If there were a perfect novel or author, we'd never be discussing it.
What graphic novels have you tried? What kind of books do you usually like to read? I may be able to recommend something based on what you do like… Thanks for watching and commenting!
For Malazan, publication is not necessarily chronological as some kind of happen at the same time, there are some minor flashback sections and some wayvfar back. But publication is the way to go. I started picking up Sandman around issue 30 to end. The earlier issues are just too expensive and at some point need to start picking up the compilations.
Got it. Thanks for the correction on Malazan. Sounds like I still have the right idea, though. As for Sandman, if you enjoyed the latter half of the series, I’d definitely recommend picking up the first 30 issues in a collected edition. I stopped buying individual comic issues decades ago (back then, I think I couldn’t afford it anymore, and now I just wouldn’t know where to store them…). Now I read pretty much everything in trade paperback.
Good video. It never offends me when someone refers to a genre as junk. I love classics but also cozy mysteries and westerns too. Also since you love Murakami, you should look for the announcement tomorrow to the Nobel Prize for literature. He's one of the favorites listed.
From the names that I've read that are being thrown around, it's tough competition. Ironically, the person whose name I've heard as the favourite is an author I had never heard of before: Can Xue. Obviously, my knowledge of Chinese literature is severely lacking. Thanks for watching and for commenting!
Kawakami's Heaven should be good, but it is also on my TBR list. As for Murakami. His book 1Q84 is the worst book I have ever read in my entire life. Women there are nothing but "breasts" and "mini-skirts". Flat characters. Pretentious stuff. I would never say anyone can accuse Murakami of misogyny. They can only state a very clear fact of it.
I was debating between Heaven and Breasts & Eggs. If I like B&E, I'll probably move on to that next. If you're up for it, let me know how you like it after you're done with it. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Check out the description for links to every book mentioned in this video. What are you planning on reading before the end of the year?
I loved Antigone
In the middle of Billy Budd Sailor (I read Moby Dick a number of years after leg surgeries so I was laid up). I love Bloom’s work even when I disagree with him. My men’s non-fiction book club will be reading Elliott Ness and the Mad Butcher. And I’ve got Paradise Lost on my TBR shelf.
Adam, I appreciate greatly your vid’s. I’m a classical music/opera geek. As a kid, I struggled with reading. One of the things that got me reading was liner notes. Those led me to come classics-Faust, Pt. 1; the Sorrows of Young Werther, etc.
My wife was a reading intervention teacher for high-schooler and graphic novel opened reading for a lot of her students. Now, she’s a teacher/librarian at an elementary school with 20 different languages spoken-different issues-still the power of quality literature.
Antigone has powerful issues that surges across the ages. It would be interesting to read Virgil with you. Maybe a weekly discussion to keep the commitment going! Just a thought.
I’m still not into fantasy but am open due to your reflections. Stay fukk’n awesome my friend and keep posting! Mike
Thanks for your note, Mike. It means a lot. Buddy-reading Virgil could be a lot of fun. Drop me a line by email (it's listed on the "About" page of the channel), and let's see if we can coordinate that!
I’ll send one tonight.
Sandman has been in my 🛒 for a while. I started watching it on Netflix but put a pause on it because I decided I wanted to watch and read along with the graphic novel... happy reading!
Good call on pausing the Netflix series! It's very faithful to the source material. I think you'll get maximum enjoyment from reading the comics first and then watching the show! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for watching and commenting!
We have a similar reading style-All over the place. While I do not normally have a plan, October has been set aside for vampires. Reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula, at present. Will follow up with Interview with a Vampire by A Rice. Depending on how well Interview goes, it may be followed up with the Lestat book. The only other book guaranteed to be read throughout the rest of 2023 is the daily offerings of Simple Abundance. A reread of the first Drizt book (D&D) has been a possibility though. The King short stories that includes the Body is also a strong contender. (The Read like A Prof is on a bookshelf in the family room.)
Nice! Great selecting, and I like how you designated October vampire month! Stoker’s Dracula is probably my favourite “horror” book ever (although it must be said I’m not a big horror reader). I love the way that book was written and it blows my mind how much it has captured people’s imaginations. I never read Interview with a Vampire, but I did read the Vampire Lestat a long time ago, and the thing that sticks out the most in my memory is the description of becoming a vampire. Decades later I can still remember the line about fingernails… I know people have mixed feelings about Anne Rice, but she knew how to make vampires interesting characters (without turning them into angsty teenagers). Thanks for sharing and happy (or spooky) reading!
Never ceases to bother me that Malazan hasn't gotten a decent re-publishing. Unless you count the incredible (and extremely expensive) Subterranean Press editions. To get a set that wasn't mass market paperbacks, I had to hunt through Better World Books and order used paperback versions whenever they popped up.
I know, right? Maybe my little internet bubble skews my perception, but I feel like the series is popular enough to merit a new edition…
I think it's perfectly fine to appreciate a writer while recognising their shortcomings. Murakami fascinates me despite the lack of interiority of his female characters - and I'm ok with that. I mean is there any such thing as a flawless writer? Indeed a flawless book? I struggle to think of a single one even amongst my favourite works.
Quite true! Every single author in my top 10 has some things they do well, and other they don't. If there were a perfect novel or author, we'd never be discussing it.
You’ve given me some ideas…thanks 🤘
You’re more than welcome!
I like reading elementary and middle grade graphic novels with my kids, but can't seem to get into them for myself. Need to try them again!
What graphic novels have you tried? What kind of books do you usually like to read? I may be able to recommend something based on what you do like… Thanks for watching and commenting!
For Malazan, publication is not necessarily chronological as some kind of happen at the same time, there are some minor flashback sections and some wayvfar back. But publication is the way to go.
I started picking up Sandman around issue 30 to end. The earlier issues are just too expensive and at some point need to start picking up the compilations.
Got it. Thanks for the correction on Malazan. Sounds like I still have the right idea, though.
As for Sandman, if you enjoyed the latter half of the series, I’d definitely recommend picking up the first 30 issues in a collected edition. I stopped buying individual comic issues decades ago (back then, I think I couldn’t afford it anymore, and now I just wouldn’t know where to store them…). Now I read pretty much everything in trade paperback.
Good video. It never offends me when someone refers to a genre as junk. I love classics but also cozy mysteries and westerns too. Also since you love Murakami, you should look for the announcement tomorrow to the Nobel Prize for literature. He's one of the favorites listed.
From the names that I've read that are being thrown around, it's tough competition. Ironically, the person whose name I've heard as the favourite is an author I had never heard of before: Can Xue. Obviously, my knowledge of Chinese literature is severely lacking. Thanks for watching and for commenting!
Kawakami's Heaven should be good, but it is also on my TBR list. As for Murakami. His book 1Q84 is the worst book I have ever read in my entire life. Women there are nothing but "breasts" and "mini-skirts". Flat characters. Pretentious stuff. I would never say anyone can accuse Murakami of misogyny. They can only state a very clear fact of it.
I was debating between Heaven and Breasts & Eggs. If I like B&E, I'll probably move on to that next. If you're up for it, let me know how you like it after you're done with it. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Have you tried lifting some weights
Of course. Can't you tell by my jacked physique?