What are you reading right now?

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Haven't posted in here since January. Here's an update:

Bellairs, John. The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
Brackett, Leigh. Empire Strikes Back. (reread; Leigh-specific first draft)
Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quixote.
Chambers, Robert W. The King in Yellow.
Dick, Philip K. Ubik.
Dos Passos, John. The 42nd Parallel.
Elkin, Stanley. George Mills.
Fontane, Theodor. Effi Briest. (reread)
Ford, Ford Madox. The Good Soldier.
Gaiman, Neil. American Gods.
Gass, William. The Tunnel.
Golding, William. The Inheritors.
Hope, Anthony. The Prisoner of Zenda. (reread)
Hurwood, Bernhardt. Haunted Houses.
Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth.
Kelly, Joe. I Kill Giants.
Kipling, Rudyard. Captains Courageous. (reread)
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness.
Levin, Adam. The Instructions.
Levin, Ira. This Perfect Day.
Malory, Thomas. Le Morte d'Arthur. (reread)
Michelinie, David. Claw the Unconquered.
Moorcock, Michael. "Elric at the End of Time." (reread)
Norris, Frank. McTeague. (reread)
Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet.
Pollock, Donald Roy. The Devil All the Time.
Potter, Greg. Jemm, Son of Saturn. (reread)
Rabelais, François. Gargantua and Pantagruel.
Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead.
Smith, Clark Ashton. "The Abominations of Yondo."
---. "The Immeasurable Horror."
---. "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros."
---. "The Weaver in the Vault."
Smith, Jeff. Shazam! -- The Monster Society of Evil. (reread)
Starlin, Jim. Infinity Gauntlet. (reread)
Tarkington, Booth. The Magnificent Ambersons. (reread)
Tatham, Julie Campbell. Trixie Belden: The Secret of the Mansion. (reread)
Urasawa, Naoki. Monster: Volume 2.
White, T. H. The Sword in the Stone. (reread)

(Note: I'm still working on The Tunnel, Gargantua, and The Instructions.)

[Mal Shot First]

Did we ever watch any of the Monster anime together? I got Vespa to watch it with me a while back (it was a re-watch for me) and she was absolutely disappointed by the series finale. I mean, like, almost Adam54-levels of disappointed.

I liked it.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

We didn't. I don't think we did, anyway. If we did, I forgot. I'm not even entirely sure I knew there was an anime--though I guess I shoulda just sorta expected it to have one. Maybe I'll seek it out once I finish reading the manga, though I'm more likely to finish the manga than I am to start--or, especially, to finish--the anime.

It's getting tougher and tougher for me to watch even moderately lengthy narratives than it is for me to read lengthy narratives. Not sure why this is. Maybe it has something to do with just assuming Jubboiter will interrupt and not wanting to give her the chance. I started the Death Note anime after I finished the manga, and it took me something like five sittings to get through the first episode. Still haven't watched the second.

Maybe part of it, with Death Note, was that I just wasn't into the tone of the anime. The manga felt like a tense cat-and-mouse political thriller to me. The one episode I watched felt almost like an unwitting copy of a parody of something you'd expect a goth-inclined Hot Topic teen to like.

Maybe this was the intended tone of the manga, and my brain just decided to give it the tone it wanted to give it to keep me engaged. Maybe, also, I was having a hard time reconciling this perceived tonal shift and was distracted by it. I tend to be fine with a show and its source material differing, assuming the way in which it differs is interesting to me. I dunno. Time has passed. Maybe I'll go back.

(I should add that I don't necessarily have a problem with the idea of an unwitting copy of a parody of something you'd expect a goth-and/or-emo-inclined Hot Topic teen to like. I don't necessarily have a negative knee-jerk reaction to the goth aesthetic or to emo. There are a number of goth and emo bands whose sound I dislike--at least as far as I understand some generic, half-informed idea of their sound to be. Still, I can think of artists and bands I like who are often described as one or the other. The sounds of goth and the goth aesthetic aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, of course. I can like something visually and tonally goth whether or not I like goth bands. There's also probably no reason for my to have drawn "emo" into any of this, but I've been writing up a storm today [outside of Huffy Flounce, too], and I'm just letting things flow as they flow.)

[Jubbers]

I just got the anime boxsets for Rose of Versailles - I will attempt a second round, to follow your initial one, Mal, of having Goiter watch Lady Oscar.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I was digging it, even if Mal thinks I wasn't.

[Space Tycoon]

I've done a little reading over the past few months.

I read an old post-apocalyptic classic, Earth Abides,
by George R. Stewart. Now-familiar story concerns the few survivors of a planet-wide epidemic. Written just after WW2, it kind of set the tone for similar stories to come. You can definitely see it's DNA in The Walking Dead, The Stand, The Road. Less emphasis on violence, more on ecology, philosophy, ethics, survival etc.

I'm currently reading Sapiens, by Noah Harari. I listened to the audiobook last year, and decided to give the written work a go. Heady stuff. Ties together the evils of animal agriculture, industrial capitalism, religion, nationalism in a way I'd not heard before.

Also finishing Fear and Loathing: 1972, Hunter S. Thompson's trippy account of the McGovern-Nixon campaign. Interesting parallels to our times: impact of new communication technology; old journalism versus the new; populism both racial and economic; feminism; the Democrat's attempted railroading of a popular left-wing candidate; as well as a truly frightening Republican President. And yeah, lots of booze and drugs.

[Scotia]

China Mieville. What a fantastic writer.

Read the stand alone "King Rat", and now on to "The Scar" which takes place in the Bas Lag universe. I cannot put it down. Mieville himself calls his writing weird fiction and I am not going to argue. I am hooked.

[neglet]

Haven’t read those Mieville books yet, but loved Kraken and The City and the City. And his children’s book Un Lun Dun is a linguistic marvel. Reminds me of The Phantom Tollbooth.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Haven't updated since September. Here's what I've read since then:

Alexander, Lloyd. The Black Cauldron. (reread)
---. The Book of Three.
---. The Castle of Llyr.
---. The High King.
---. Taran Wanderer.
Attaway, William. Blood on the Forge.
Auster, Paul. New York Trilogy.
Baron, Mike. The Badger. (reread various issues)
Beck, C. C. "Vanishing Point."
Beckett, Samuel. Molloy. (reread)
Brodkey, Harold. "Religion."
Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl.
Duffy, Mary Jo. The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior. (reread)
Dunn, Katherine. Geek Love.
Gardner, John. Grendel. (reread)
Goulart, Ron and Gil Kane. Star Hawks: Volume 1.
Gruenwald, Mark. Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions. (reread)
Hawkes, John. The Lime Twig.
Hughes, Langston. Best of Simple. (reread)
Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House. (reread)
Lowndes, Marie Belloc. "The Lodger." (reread)
Moshfegh, Ottessa. McGlue.
Onions, Oliver. "The Beckoning Fair One."
Osborne, Will. 13 Ghosts: Strange but True Stories.
Peake, Mervyn. Titus Groan.
Pratchett, Terry. The Colour of Magic.
---. The Light Fantastic.
Roupenian, Kristen. "Cat Person."
Sobol, Donald J. Two-Minute Mysteries. (reread)
Sturgeon, Theodore. More Than Human.
West, Nathanael. Miss Lonelyhearts.
Williams, Joy. The Changeling.
Zahn, Timothy. Dark Force Rising.
---. Heir to the Empire. (reread)
---. Last Command.

[Jubbers]

I am 2 stories away from finishing Nightmares and Geezenstacks by Frederic Brown.

[Mal Shot First]

I've mostly been reading The Suicidists.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I've mostly been reading The Suicidists.

2/10. Would not bang.

[Mal Shot First]

Zero thumbs up. But hey, on the other hand, zero thumbs down, so that's something.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I'm still a little surprised you went through with those thumb amputations. Your company insurance policy covers cosmetic surgery, though, so why not take advantage of it?

Jubbers would kill for a company insurance policy that covered cosmetic surgery.

[Mal Shot First]

Is she that dissatisfied with her thumbs?

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

She doesn't need them the way I need them. You know, for whackin' it. (This is not to say that she doesn't engage in whackin' it. It is just to say that she doesn't need thumbs to do it.) Which I do often, and ample evidence of which is to be seen all over The Suicidists.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

(What has two thumbs and no body issues? Not Maggie Merry.)

[Space Tycoon]

I've mostly been reading The Suicidists.

I too have recently begun that work by the promising young author, whatsisname, Bob Watson or somesuch?

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

You may want a fresher copy. He's done a lot of tweaking.

[Space Tycoon]

Normally I don't mess with tweakers, but alright.

[elephanter0]

The last book I read was a book from the series The Accursed Kings of Maurice Druon. Now I'm looking through all sorts of boring articles about co-working office spaces trend like this one. I have to write a report by Friday. Shit, they all look the same

[Mal Shot First]

Cribsheet by Emily Oster. Yes, it's parenting lit. When we were expecting our first child, I read her book Expecting Better, which debunks many of the myths surrounding pregnancy by taking a data-driven approach that evaluates scientific evidence on a number of pregnancy-related issues. Oster is an economist, but she is skilled in interpreting studies and determining whether the methods are sound. In the case of some studies on pregnancy, the most recent available literature goes back to the nineteenth or early twentieth century, and that forms the basis for contemporary guidelines for drinking alcohol or even coffee during pregnancy, for example. Oster calls out guidelines that are based on questionable evidence and tries to provide more solid guidance whenever it's available.

Cribsheet is the follow-up to her first book and deals with the early years after the delivery.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

It has been a year since I've updated this. Here's April of last year to the end of March this year:

Adams, Angeline and Remco van Straten. The Red Man and Others.
Anderson, Poul. Tau Zero.
Apuleius. The Golden Ass.
Asprin, Robert. Another Fine Myth.
Avery, Ellis. The Last Nude.
Baldwin, James. Another Country. (reread)
Banks, Iain M. Use of Weapons.
Barnes, Djuna. Nightwood. (reread)
Barthelme, Donald. The Dead Father. 
---. "Chablis."
---. "The School."
Baum, L. Frank. The Marvelous Land of Oz. (reread)
---. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. (reread)
Benjamin, Chloe. The Immortalists.
Benjamin, Walter. The Storyteller Essays. (reread)
Bester, Alfred. The Demolished Man.
Brodkey, Harold. "Verona: A Young Woman Speaks."
Broome, John, Carmine Infantino, et al. Showcase Presents: The Elongated Man, Vol. 1.
Bukowski, Charles. Ham on Rye.
Calvino, Italo. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. (reread)
Cather, Willa. The Professor's House.
Catling, Brian. The Vorrh.
Chandler, Raymond. The Big Sleep. (reread)
Chaykin, Howard. American Flagg: Definitive Collection: Vol. 1.
Cheever, John. "The Swimmer."
Davies, Robertson. Fifth Business.
Dinesen, Isak. "Night Walk."
Döblin, Alfred. Berlin Alexanderplatz. (reread)
Dodge, Jim. Fup.
Elliott, Alicia. "Unearth."
Ferber, Edna. So Big.
Finney, Jack. From Time to Time.
Fowles, John. The Magus.
Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction.
Garner, Alan. The Owl Service.
Gass, William. "Introduction" to R. M. Rilke's The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge.
Gibson, William. Neuromancer.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." (reread)
Hammett, Dashiell. The Thin Man. (reread)
Hamsun, Knut. Hunger.
Hofmann, Deborah. "Hair Mettle."
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. (reread)
Joyce, James. "Giacomo Joyce." (reread)
Kafka, Franz. Amerika.
Le Guin, Ursula K. A Wizard of Earthsea.
Leroux, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. (reread)
Lewis, Matthew. The Monk.
Lind, Peter. Models & Madness.
Machen, Arthur. The Great God Pan.
Mackesy, Charlie. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.
Mann, Thomas. Buddenbrooks.
Matheson, Richard. Bid Time Return. (reread)
Maxwell, William. Time Will Darken It.
Meyrink, Gustav. The Golem.
Miller, Henry. Tropic of Cancer.
Mishima, Yukio. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion.
Morgenstern, Erin. The Night Circus.
Morrison, Grant. Animal Man: Book One. (reread)
Murdoch, Iris. The Bell.
O'Connor, Flannery. Wise Blood. (reread)
Peacock, Thomas Love. Nightmare Abbey.
Porter, Katherine Anne. "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall." (reread)
Reed, Ishmael. Mumbo Jumbo.
Rohmer, Sax. The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu.
Salvatore, R. A. Homeland.
Shea, Robert and Robert Anton Wilson. The Golden Apple.
Shooter, Jim and John Romita. Star Brand: New Universe Vol. 1. (reread)
Starlin, Jim. Warlock: The Complete Collection. (reread)
Theroux, Alexander. Darconville's Cat.
Toomer, Jean. Cane.
Trotsky, Leon. Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It.
Various. Lustiges Taschenbuch #41.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. (reread)
Welty, Eudora. The Optimist's Daughter. 
---. "Lily Daw and the Three Ladies."
---. "A Piece of News."
West, Nathanael. Day of the Locust. (reread)
Williams, John. Butcher's Crossing.
Williams, Joy. The Changeling. (reread)

[Mal Shot First]

You fiction-reading motherfucker! Most of the reading I do these days ends up being the news.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I probably read more news than is healthy for me. Now that I'm in the process of editing and am not keeping myself so strictly bound to fiction, I keep meaning to read things other than fiction. I have some Edith Stein and Fichte and Fechner and some other things set aside.

I'm not getting much reading done at the moment, truth be told. Teaching the kid is wearing me out. Maybe I can find a groove in the near future and can get back to it.