Reading Books For Pleasure

[IrisAlthea]

True, that’s something I have zero personal experience with, so it’s always interesting to read about the topic or see it explored in movies. In Shergill Sisters it’s especially interesting to see how differently the sisters experience things, simply because of the different atmospheres they grew up in socially, despite being the same family.

Yes, I think that is something people tend to forget about siblings.
My brother and I both have had our issues with the ”inbetweenship” but in very different ways. He is six years younger, with way less family about his age in my fathers country and he has a harder time with the language.

 

[seela]

Yes, I think that is something people tend to forget about siblings.

In the book the sisters had quite a big age cap, and the oldest grew up in time when her heritage was mostly disparaged, whereas for the other two the situation was quite different. It naturally affected on how they felt about their heritage as well as about their mother.

My brother and I both have had our issues with the ”inbetweenship” but in very different ways. He is six years younger, with way less family about his age in my father’s country and he has a harder time with the language.

That’s an interesting point to me as well. It must really affect how you [general you] feel about your place in your family. This aspect wasn’t so obvious in the book.

 

[13Fantasies]

Currently rereading RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles so I can remember details before reading TABLE FOR TWO that continues the story of a character

 

[seela]

What were the best or most interesting books you read in 2024? Did anything stand out? Anything else worth mentioning about the reading year?

Do you have any special reading goals or plans for 2025?

 

[midwestyankee]

The two that come to mind immediately are Burn Book, by Kara Swisher and Lady Justice, by Dahlia Lithwick. Then, at the end of the year, I read both Culture Warriors and Wild Faith by Talia Lavin. The two books combine to comprehensively describe the rise of right-wing and evangelical culture in the United States and its constant corrosive nature.

 

[seela]

The two that come to mind immediately are Burn Book, by Kara Swisher and Lady Justice, by Dahlia Lithwick. Then, at the end of the year, I read both Culture Warriors and Wild Faith by Talia Lavin. The two books combine to comprehensively describe the rise of right-wing and evangelical culture in the United States and its constant corrosive nature.

Hey, good to see you swing by!

I googled the books and they seem interesting. Do you have a special interest in non-fiction or did it just happen so that your best books this year were non-fiction?

***
My best non-fictions this year were How far the light reaches: A life in ten sea creatures by Sabrina Imbler, Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories, and the Hunt for Putin's Spies by Gordon Corera, and Pequeño diccionario sentimental: 57 palabras para empezar a amar el euskera by Leticia Salcedo, Regina Salcedo and Líebana Goñi Yárnoz (a small sentimental dictionary: 57 words to start loving the basque language .

The sea creature book was a recommendation from @IrisAlthea and what she mentioned when I asked about the previous years’ best books in Jan 2024. Although it’s very unclear where the book should be categorized, it’s a good one, especially the couple of first sea creatures are excellent. Really glad I read it.

The spy book was interesting and entertaining and also made me think deep thoughts about international politics. It’s crazy to think about all that happens under the radar sometimes.

The pequeño diccionario was something I bought from Bilbao. The book itself is beautiful and consists of Basque speakers, mostly culture people like artists, singers or writers, telling about their favorite Basque words and why they like that word. Many words made me want to dig deeper and they showed interesting aspects about the culture and the language without specifically being about those things. It was also amazing for me to notice that I can read and enjoy greatly a book in Spanish. It had been over a decade since I last read a whole book in Spanish. Last year I read three!!!

I’ll have to think about what to pick for best fictions, so I’ll make a second post later.

 

[midwestyankee]

It's good to see you, too, Seela.

I don't read much fiction these days, though I received a few novels for Christmas so I'll be reading those sometime soon.

 

[IrisAlthea]

What were the best or most interesting books you read in 2024? Did anything stand out? Anything else worth mentioning about the reading year?

Do you have any special reading goals or plans for 2025?

I think The Three Body Problem stood out most.
On the non-fiction side it is my current read:
Determined -The Sience of Life Without Free Will.
Most surprisingly fun, was listening to A Journey to the Middle of the Earth in the car.
I dont usually do audio books but this worked.

I didn’t read as much as I would have liked. More because of a lack of energy, than lack of time.

I want to prioritize reading higher this year, if I can. It will mean picking more of the old friends and the easier reads

 

[twister947]

Accordion Crimes
Annie Proulx

 

[twister947]

The Quest
Nelson DeMille

 

[seela]

The God of Good Looks by Breanne McIvor. It was the first book I ever read by a Trinidadian writer and that took place in Trinidad. As a book it wasn’t the greatest I’ve ever read, but it was so interesting to read about a corner of the world I know so very little about. I ended up having to google a lot of the everyday things mentioned in the book. Loved it, learned so much!

It was also a perfectly okay book with pluses and minuses, just not a shining masterpiece.

The Last Wolf (and Herman) by Krasznahorkai László was wow. A novel made of a single sentence that spans a lot of Europe and regret. Just wow!!!

I also read a book (available in Swedish only) about the history of Czechia and Slovakia that showed the very different paths the countries have always taken, despite the short common state they shared. Very interesting. I didn’t learn that many new things in the grand scheme of things, but one of the standouts was how the Great Moravia, which is a source of a lot of national pride for Slovakia, actually didn’t last much longer than Czechoslovakia. I had never thought of it that way, and it is an interesting comparison to think about.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

Pranksters vs. Autocrats: Why Dilemma Actions Advance Nonviolent Activism​

by Srdja Popovic

Surprisingly enjoyable.
Sadly far too relevant in my country right now.

Popovic deserves a biography movie.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

Rereading Anderle’s "Kutherian Gambit" series. Fluffy-science technovampires, guns, & plenty of bad - guys, options, decisions, take yer pick

 

[seela]

I read a wonderful book about words. The author took one word and expanded it into an essay that touched the etymology, politics, sexuality, history, culture, the entire human experience really.

I picked it up because I like words, etymology and such, and I like the writer. I thought it’s be a funny little snack book, I wasn’t expecting to get so much food for thought. Some funny bits about sex and BDSM too.

Only in Finnish.

 

[seela]

I finished another good one. About a woman between cultures, her relationship with her dad, how past experiences mold future experiences and such. It was a good book, beautiful writing, interesting story. Nice to run into Slavic mythology in a Finnish book.

I picked it up in the library solely because of the name (Tatko, meaning dad in many Slavic languages, in this case it was Bulgarian) and the cover. It was much better than I expected. I’ve been on a good book run recently!

Only available in Finnish.