Posted February 28, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments
The Literary Exploration reading challenge is going so well; almost 2000 books have been read from the group so far. I’m so happy with the response and pleased to see people still had time to read And The Mountains Echoed. Some interesting thoughts have come out of this book from the group and while there were people that didn’t like the book (me included), I’m so glad to see so much great constructive criticism in the threads; this is what we live for. For those who don’t know about the reading challenge, there is still time to join in the fun, so check out my post here.
I’m so happy to see that the book club continues to be entertaining and as we move into March, I’m looking forward to seeing what people will say about Middlesex for our literary fiction theme. I’ve not read this book yet but I’m a fan of Jeffery Eugenides’ other book, so I’m excited to try this one. Currently I’ve read eleven books towards the Literary Exploration Reading Challenge and you can find my own record of the challenge here.
I thought I had a quiet month reading but I’m still happy with my effort of seven books (plus a few comics). Highlights this month include My Life as a Fake by Peter Carey, a post-modern take on one of the biggest literary hoaxes in Australia and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy which I’ve been reading since October. One book I will most likely be talking about continuously for the rest of the year is The Dark Path by David Schlicker, a memoir about the battle between his desire to become a priest and his attraction to women. How was February for you and your reading life? Let me know in the comments below.
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Posted January 31, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments
Hard to believe that the first month of 2014 is over, it has been amazing to see how much excitement people are having towards The Literary Exploration Reading Challenge. For those who don’t know about the reading challenge, there is still time to join in the fun, so check out my introductory post here. Most people were busy enjoying the reading challenge, so our group read, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, didn’t get talked about much, but from what I’ve read it has all be very positive.
I’ve been off to a flying start this year, I’ve read seven books which is surprising since I have no reading goal and I want to take my time with reading. Most of those books go towards the Literary Exploration Reading Challenge and you can find my own record of the challenge here. I’m thinking about trying to read two books for each genre this year and I’m keeping a record of every book and which genre it best fits into on that page as well, just to see which genres need more attention in my exploring.
Highlights of the month for me include; Books by Charlie Hill, 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, All That Is by James Salter, The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Simon Rich and Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. Also a special mention to my current literary obsession Gary Shteyngart; I read his memoir Little Failure and bought all his books (with the exception to Super Sad True Love Story, which I already owned), I hope to read all his books this year but I’m sure other books will get in the way. So what have you been reading this month?
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Posted December 31, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 2 Comments
This is the end of 2013 and what a great year we have had. Let’s have a quick look back at the year for the book club on Goodreads and our books of the months. For me some of the highlights included; The Bell Jar, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Lolita, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The Fault in our Stars and The Shadow of the Wind. We seem to consistently get great books to read, including this month’s book And Then There Were None. I wasn’t sure what to expect, this was my first Agatha Christie and while I had some issues, I will read her again.
Next month we are reading an espionage novel, which will be Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré. I’ve read this novel and really enjoyed it, so I’m excited to see what others think; the movie is pretty great too. I hope everyone had a great holiday period and look forward to the great things to come in 2014. If you’re not aware, the book discussion and everything else will be happening over on the Goodreads forums, so feel free to join in there.
This has also been a great year for this blog too, which spawned last year from the Goodreads book club. I originally hoped this would be a source for all things book club related but turned into a book journal of my life as a literary explorer. I’m glad it did turn into what it is today; I’ve had so much fun book blogging and sharing my bookish thoughts. For my favourite books of 2013, check out the post but I wanted to share some of my favourite posts.
As always this month lead me to discover some great books including The Explorer and The Echo by James Smythe, Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood, Careless People by Sarah Churchwell and a reread of Frankenstein. I thought maybe James Smythe (he made my top books of 2013 list twice) or even Frankenstein would be the highlights of the month but it was actually a non-fiction book; 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. It’s only a collection of letters between a book lover and a second-hand book store but for any book lover, it reads like a love letter to books.
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Posted November 30, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 5 Comments
Now that November is coming to an end, I feel like I need to breathe a sigh of relief. I feel like I’ve been in a major reading slump during this month, but on reflecting it wasn’t as bad as I originally thought, there was a period of a few weeks where I struggled to finish anything but in the end I was able to manage nine books; not too bad.
Let’s have a quick look back at the month for the book club on Goodreads and our book of the month, The Bone People. I went into this book not knowing anything about it, I never heard of it and glad I was able to read it. This was a controversial and confronting book and as readers of this blog know, I do enjoy a confronting read. If you missed the conversation about this book, head over on to Goodreads, there is still time to join in.
Next month we are in for a mystery, when we look at And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I’ve not read any Christie so this will be a new experience for me. I hope it is a nice quick and enjoyable book to read over the holiday period. If you’re not aware, the book discussion and everything else will be happening over on the Goodreads forums, so feel free to join in there.
As I said before, this was a difficult reading month for me; not that I didn’t like the books, just an annoying slump. Check out my thoughts about reading slumps in this post if you are interested. I had a great month in October; I did enjoy some interesting non-fiction books this month. Highlights include The Know-It-All and Perv. As for fiction, I think I did better with the lighter books, like Moon Over Soho and The Martian. How did you go this month?
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Posted October 31, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 7 Comments
As October comes to a close, we have a quick look back at the month of the book club on Goodreads and our book of the month, The Bell Jar. I don’t know why I put this book off for so long because it was almost perfect. It was nice to experience a novel as good as The Bell Jar for the first time but I’m looking forward to reading it again. There were some interesting conversations about this book over on Goodreads if you’ve missed them.
Next month we will are looking at dysfunctional families by reading The Bone People by Keri Hulme. Followed by a mystery novel to wrap up the year with And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. If you’re not aware, the book discussion and everything else will be happening over on the Goodreads forums, so feel free to join in there.
For my reading this month I’ve had so much fun reading some great novels and talking books with everyone that listens. I was lucky enough to have a week and a half off work to travel and read so I hope I will feel refreshed soon (still getting over the holidays). Highlights include Barracuda, High Fidelity, Paddle Your Own Canoe, The Year of the Flood and of course The Bell Jar. But I’ve been obsessed with, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. I’ve spent more time re-reading or reading aloud sections and writing quotes on Tumblr. If this wasn’t a library book I would have highlighted the entire book. It has just been a wonderful experience reading this book for the first time.
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Posted September 30, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments
Now that September comes to a close, I would like to hear what people thought of The Pillars of the Earth. Did you read it? Did you find it long winded? Or any other comments you want to make of this novel. Personally I had some difficulty reading this, and while I wouldn’t say I really enjoyed this book, I did find the approach a little childish at times.
Next month’s book we will be reading the psychological classic, The Bell Jar but Sylvia Plath. I’m sure this book will spark some interesting conversations but it may also cause fights. I hope everyone reading and discussing the novel manages this book without struggling. Also as a reminder that November we will be reading The Bone People by Keri Hulme as part of the Dysfunctional Families theme and we will be looking for a book to fit the Mystery theme to wrap up the year. If you’re not aware, the book discussion and everything else will be happening over on the Goodreads forums, so feel free to join in there.
During the month I’ve read some great books; some of the highlights from the month’s reading included Dexter’s Final Cut, London Falling, Player One and Skinner. But my favourite of the month is a book I’ve only just started but already obsessed with, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. I’ve spent more time re-reading or reading aloud sections and writing quotes on Tumblr. If this wasn’t a library book I would have highlighted the entire book. It has just been a wonderful experience reading this book for the first time.
Monthly Reading
Posted August 31, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments
As we come to the end of August, it is time once again to have a look at the month’s reading. This month the book club read the non-fiction sports/travel book Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway. While I am against bullfighting, this was an interesting dip into a sport I had no idea what was happening. Next month we are reading one of my wife’s favourite books; The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.
I feel very proud of my reading this month; I read some great books and hope this trend continues. Fifteen books read and some of my highlights include Fadeout, Oryx and Crake, The Third Man, The Unknown, Kiss Me First and We Need New Names. There was just so many great books and I feel like I didn’t have any wasted reading time (with the exception of The Suite Life) but the biggest thrill for this month was The Machine by James Smythe a wonderfully dark and complex novel that really deserves more attention.
My Reading Month
Posted July 31, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments
This month we looked at the satirical novel and read Kurt Vonnegut’s modern classic Cat’s Cradle. This was a lot of fun for me; even though I’ve read the novel, I’m becoming a big fan of Juvenalian satire. While it might have been a little difficult for others, it is always great to go out of our comfort zones and read something great. Next month we are dipping into some non-fiction when we read Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway, considered one of the best books ever written about bullfighting.
My wife has been away for almost three weeks and in that time I thought I might have gotten a lot of reading done, but sadly this was not the case. I’ve done pretty well for myself but nothing amazing, it seems like a regular month for me; reading wise. The biggest highlight for the month would have to be A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra but I did hit rock bottom as well and read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I would love to know what your highlights or lowlights of the month were and even what you read this month.
My Monthly Reading
Posted June 30, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments
As we close out the first half of 2013, I thought I might give a quick update on what’s been happening with the Literary Exploration Reading Challenge. I’m really impressed with the book club’s efforts so far, with over thousand books being read by 144 participants with a 31% completion rate so far. This means we have a lot to catch up on; personally I’ve managed to complete 32 of my 36 books and almost tempted to go for another round. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m pleased to see how many people have enjoyed reading out of there comfort zone.
This month’s book club book The Dud Avocado had some really interesting reactions, not everyone liked it but it is one of the first books we read that many of us were reading for the first time. I don’t want to say too much about the book but it was fun being out of my comfort zone with the rest of the club members. It was an experience we don’t get often and I would like to experience more. Next month we return to an easier book when we read Kurt Vonnegut’s modern classic Cat’s Cradle.
I had a very quiet reading month and I’m not sure why, between everything else going on I just didn’t have the time. This has freed me out a little to try and write non review posts and I hope to have more of them in the not to distant future. I really enjoy the non review posts a lot more, I think they are more interesting and that I’ve been too review focused.
Monthly Reading
Posted May 31, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments
As May comes to a close, like all months, I want to have a quick look at what happened. First of all I managed to get fully up to date with my reviews; a few months ago I was about 20 reviews behind, waiting to be posted. Now when I finish a book the review will go up within a few days (sometimes more) and this frees me up to do other bookish posts. This is so exciting because I really like to write my thoughts about the world of literature without being confined to reviews. Also as you can see we are smack in the middle of being green with envy of everyone attending the Book Expo of America (BEA). I’m participating in Armchair BEA again and this will hopefully mean new blogs and new people to talk to. I’m also currently overseas so I’ve scheduled all these posts, I still have access to internet but I wanted to be free to comment and read instead of writing blog posts.
As for this month, the book club theme was Supernatural and we got to read the classic Victorian Gothic novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. My review went up yesterday and there have been some interesting discussions about the book and its influences in modern pop culture over at Goodreads if you’ve missed it. Next month’s book is going to be a little obscure, something I’ve not heard of; I’m really looking forward to diving into The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy.
Last month I was in the middle of a reading slump so I was worried that May would be a terrible month for me but I’m pleased to say the slump didn’t last long. I was able to read heaps of great books including Invitation to a Beheading, Main Street and The People of Forever Are Not Afraid. Interesting enough the highlight of the month was none of those books, but a reread of The Great Gatsby; I just enjoyed returning to that novel and then picking it apart trying to understand it. I would love to know what your highlights of the month were or even what you read this month.
My Monthly Reading
