Category: Random

Question Tuesday: What Is Your Reading History?

Posted May 8, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Question Tuesday / 0 Comments

Welcome to a new section from my blog which I like to call Question Tuesday; each Tuesday I’ll be asking a question relating to reading and book blogging. I have a lot of questions already I want to cover but I want to leave it open for others to ask me questions as well via comments or via twitter. The first question I’m going to cover is my reading history.

While my parents go through phrases of reading a lot and not reading at all (depending on how busy they are), I was never much of a reader when I was young. I think I would read a book a year, and only because I was told I needed to read. It wasn’t till 3 years ago that I started reading (a lot). It all started with a radio segment (The Culture Club on Triple J) where they drew similarities from songs currently on high rotation with poets (mostly from the romantic era). This started my love for reading; the gateway books were Hey! Nietzsche! Leave Them Kids Alone! by Craig Schuftan (the author was responsible for The Culture Club) and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  Now I’m playing catch up; trying to read all the classics as well as newer book. I’ve set myself a goal of reading at least 100 books a year in the hope that sooner or later I might actually be caught up.

Monthly Review – April 2012

Posted April 30, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments

April has been a great month, not only with the amount of reading that I’ve been able to do but also with the celebration of, firstly, my wife’s birthday and then my sister-in-law’s. Also during the month I was able to take a mini vacation from work, a great chance to recharge and enjoy some reading. In terms of reading, I managed to read more books than I imagined, including some great recent releases, a chilling classic and unfortunately a high amount of below average novels.

Surprisingly, I read a few Magic Realism books with The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and the massive 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami; while this genre is weird and not really my style, it was good to experience some the genre first hand. I also read a few novels that have recently been adapted into movies in preparation for their releases; The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Overall this month has been a great month of reading for me, knocking out twelve different books.

Highlights for this month included the steampunkish action adventure novel Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway; imagine if Charles Dickens wrote a good James Bondish novel and that is what you’ll find in this book.  Also the dark disturbing story of a woman suffering the effects and after effects of a very unhealthy relationship in Elizabeth Haynes’ brilliant debut novel Into the Darkest Corner. As well as the Henry James classic, a gothic horror masterpiece; The Turn of the Screw.

April’s Books

My Literary Wall of Shame

Posted June 15, 2011 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Listology / 17 Comments

As most of you know, I’ve turned into a big reader; in 2009 I set myself a goal of reading 12 books and managed to read 14 books. In 2010, I thought I would try to read 24 books for the year, in which I completed 88; so this year my goal is 100 books. Seems like a big goal but I’ve become very addicted to reading and keep finding other books I want to read now. However I still have a pile of shame; a group of authors and books that I really should read but haven’t read yet. So for something different, I thought I’d talk about what I haven’t read.

Top 5 Unread Authors

 

5. Agatha Christie

The more I read, the more I discover my love of Crime and Mystery novels. I’ve been focusing mainly on the pulps as these books have been my favourites. I really should take some time to read some books from the master of mystery.

4. Charlotte Bronte

I’ve read a book by both Emily and Anne Bronte, but never Charlotte. I don’t know why; I think I focussed on the less known sisters as I heard they were darker stories but I will eventually have to read some Charlotte Bronte.

3. Jane Austen

Most people are expected to read one Jane Austen book in their lives and I need to read Pride and Prejudice soon. I haven’t been overly excited about reading Austen, though I’ve enjoyed the Gothic and Romantic books that came before her, I’ve never really dove into Victorian literature.

2. Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens has been put off for the same reason as Jane Austen. Victorian literature hasn’t excited me enough yet to want to read. I do try to read all the greats in English Literature but I’ve got a lot to read.

1. Shakespeare

I didn’t even read any Shakespeare while I was a school. The only book related subject at school I remember doing was Romeo & Juliet but even then we didn’t read the whole play, just some excerpts and then watched the movie. What was wrong with my high school?

Top 5 Unread Classics

 

5. War and Peace

I’ve been meaning to read this mammoth of a book; I read and enjoyed Anna Karenina and look forward to reading some more Tolstoy. I really think the size is the main thing that is holding me back.

4. Lord of the Flies

While I’ve read that this book is very disturbing, this only makes me want to read this more. I picked this book to put on this list, simply because it is one of the books people read in High School, so are surprised to know I haven’t read it.

3. Cloud Street

I had to pick some classic Australian literature to add to the list and I think Tim Winton is one Australian author I would like to read. I live in Australia and haven’t read much of its literature, but it’s on my to-read list.

2. Moby Dick

Not the number one book but this white whale does need to be read soon. If we look at the great novels of the 20th Century I think Moby Dick would be one of the books sitting on the top of the list.

1. Crime and Punishment

With my love of what little Russian literature I’ve read, Crime and Punishment has been a must read for me for a very long time. My wife hates Russian literature but I adore it and can’t wait to start this book (when I finish all the other books waiting to be read).

If you have any recommendations I’d love to hear them and if you are on Goodreads, I hope we are friends. I know there is heaps of books that need to be read, but this was just a glimpse in the major books that I need to read and a good excuse to try something different on this blog. What is on your reading wall of shame?

What is a Cult Book

Posted April 1, 2011 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Listology / 0 Comments

Recently I watched a show about Cult books, yet I still don’t really understand the concept of Cult followings. So I thought I would do some research and this blog post on the topic.

A broad strokes definition would be: “A cult following is a term used to refer to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture.” But it is much deeper than this and it’s a fine line between Cult and Mainstream. Normally a cult follower is passionate and devoted to their subject, but not always for positive reasons. Film Director Ed Wood has a cult following, not because they enjoy his movies, but because they consider them so bad that they become funny and curiously fascinating. Generally, Cult followings normally involve books, movies, etc that originally are not very successful but grow in popularity at a later date (eg. Firefly).

It seems that everyone has a different definition of what would make a cult book, while some may include best sellers like The Lord of the Rings, others would consider these as mainstream. But one thing that seems to be consistent is the fact that a cult book is a book that we share a special bond with, it grips our imagination and you never want to let go of it. I would love to know how you would define a cult book and what your top five cult books would be.

My Top Five

1. Frankenstein
2. Slaughterhouse-Five
3. Catch-22
4. Brave New World
5. Foucault’s Pendulum

Please Ban My Book, I Want it to Become Popular (Banned Book Week)

Posted October 2, 2010 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Listology / 0 Comments

This week is Banned Book Week, where we celebrate our freedom to read whatever we want. Though books still get banned and censored by the government, I think now is the time to look at some of the best and worst books that have been banned or censored.

  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was banned in the province of Hunan, China, beginning in 1931 for its portrayal of anthropomorphized animals acting on the same level of complexity as human beings
  • American Psycho has a sale and purchase restriction in the Australian State of Queensland. Sale is restricted to persons 18 years old or older in the other Australian states
  • Animal Farm banned in the former USSR and the author’s preface suppressed in nearly all of its editions during 1940 – 45
  • Brave New World was banned in Ireland in 1932 due to alleged references of sexual promiscuity
  • The Da Vinci Code was banned in Lebanon after Catholic leaders deemed it offensive to Christianity
  • The Diary of a Young Girl was also banned in Lebanon for “portraying Jews, Israel or Zionism favourably”
  • The Grapes of Wrath temporarily banned in many places in the US because it made the residents of this region look bad.
  • Lady Chatterley’s Lover banned in the United States and the United Kingdom for violation of obscenity laws
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four was banned by the Soviet Union in 1950, as Stalin understood that it was a satire based on his leadership, and it was nearly banned by U.S.A and U.K in the early 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
  • Ulysses was banned in U.K during the 1930s and in Australia during the 1930s to the 1940s and challenged and temporarily banned in the U.S.A for its sexual content
  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin was banned in the Southern United States during the Civil War due to its anti-slavery content.

Nowadays books are still getting challenged and banned. One book that is currently under fire is Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak which tells the story of a teenage girl who deals with depression after become a victim of rape. The author has said the following about censorship;

But censoring books that deal with difficult, adolescent issues does not protect anybody. Quite the opposite. It leaves kids in the darkness and makes them vulnerable. Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Our children cannot afford to have the truth of the world withheld from them.

Censorship and book banning seems to fling books into popularity more than some books deserve. For example Lady Chatterley’s Lover; if this book was never banned it would of just faded away into oblivion. Also there are many great books that have come under fire that really are spectacular books.

Also check out IO9’s 10 great science fiction novels that have been banned.

IO9’s 20 Science Fiction Novels That Will Change Your Life

Posted April 15, 2010 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Listology / 0 Comments

I just stumbled across a list of 20 Science Fiction Novels that Will Change Your Life on the io9 blog. While I haven’t read all the books there are some great choices there and I thought I should share it with my readers as well. Whether you agree or not, this is an interesting list;

  1. Frankenstein (1818), by Mary Shelley
  2. The Time Machine (1895), by H.G. Wells
  3. At the Mountains of Madness (1931), by H.P. Lovecraft
  4. I, Robot (1955), by Isaac Asimov
  5. The Dispossessed (1974), by Ursula LeGuin
  6. Kindred (1979), by Octavia Butler
  7. Wizard (1979), by John Varley
  8. Consider Phlebas (1987), by Iain M. Banks
  9. He, She, and It (1991), by Marge Piercy
  10. Sarah Canary (1991), by Karen Joy Fowler
  11. A Fire Upon the Deep (1992), by Vernor Vinge
  12. The Bohr Maker (1995), by Linda Nagata
  13. The Sparrow (1996), by Mary Doria Russell
  14. Cryptonomicon (2000), by Neal Stephenson
  15. The Mount (2002), by Carol Emschwiller
  16. Perdido Street Station (2002), by China Mieville
  17. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (2003), by Cory Doctorow
  18. Pattern Recognition (2003), by William Gibson
  19. Newton’s Wake (2004), by Ken MacLeod
  20. Glasshouse (2006), by Charles Stross

For those of you not familiar with io9, it’s a blog part of the gawker network that focuses on the subjects of science fiction, futurism and advancements in the fields of science and technology.