Reading Books For Pleasure

[seela]

Two stand out for me. First, the Sci-fi series by Dan Simmons, Hyperion Cantos. Second, the fantasy novel, The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie.

Thanks for answering! I was slightly worried that this year I would be the only one answering my own question.

I’ve read Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. Is Endymion also part of the same series? I have it too on the book shelf but I’ve never read it.

My best or most memorable books this year were The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and The Naked Civil Servant by Quentin Crisp.

I loved the premise of The Memory Police. People living on an island all forget things at once. One day they might forget roses, another day they might forget birds. As they forget the things, they also destroy the objects and forget all the memories and feelings associated with them. Some people don’t forget, and the memory police is on the hunt for them.

It was a very quiet, gut punching novel for me, made me think about humanity, personality, what makes me me, adapting etc.

I wrote briefly about the Civil Servant earlier in this thread.

The Last Wolf by Krasznahorkai László should also be mentioned. It was an amazing adventure in a single sentence. A demanding book, but really good. I was happy to see him finally win the Nobel price, too.

 

[seela]

All of the Witcher series and the first four books of Dunnett's Lymond books ... all excellent.

Sorry, didn’t mean to skip your post! Lit jumped straight to Phil when I opened the thread. Thanks for answering my question!

I’ve read the first Witcher book when I lived in Poland. I hadn’t even heard of the series before that, but a Polish friend recommended the book, so I read it.

It was excellent language training material, but the story didn’t quite grab me. I’m not a big fantasy person, so that was a big obstacle for my enjoyment of the book. I’m super happy you enjoyed the book, and Polish literature getting acknowledged will always make my heart sing.

I’ll have to google Dunnett, I don’t think I’ve heard the name before. I’d love to find a new book series to delve into.

 

[phil97405]

Thanks for answering! I was slightly worried that this year I would be the only one answering my own question.

I’ve read Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. Is Endymion also part of the same series? I have it too on the book shelf but I’ve never read it.

My best or most memorable books this year were The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and The Naked Civil Servant by Quentin Crisp.

I loved the premise of The Memory Police. People living on an island all forget things at once. One day they might forget roses, another day they might forget birds. As they forget the things, they also destroy the objects and forget all the memories and feelings associated with them. Some people don’t forget, and the memory police is on the hunt for them.

It was a very quiet, gut punching novel for me, made me think about humanity, personality, what makes me me, adapting etc.

I wrote briefly about the Civil Servant earlier in this thread.

The Last Wolf by Krasznahorkai László should also be mentioned. It was an amazing adventure in a single sentence. A demanding book, but really good. I was happy to see him finally win the Nobel price, too.

Yes, Endymion is the final book of the series. I definitely recommend it as well. I've also read The Memory Police. I thought it was awesome!

 

[Kitschshaman]

Sorry, didn’t mean to skip your post! Lit jumped straight to Phil when I opened the thread. Thanks for answering my question!

I’ve read the first Witcher book when I lived in Poland. I hadn’t even heard of the series before that, but a Polish friend recommended the book, so I read it.

It was excellent language training material, but the story didn’t quite grab me. I’m not a big fantasy person, so that was a big obstacle for my enjoyment of the book. I’m super happy you enjoyed the book, and Polish literature getting acknowledged will always make my heart sing.

I’ll have to google Dunnett, I don’t think I’ve heard the name before. I’d love to find a new book series to delve into.

It's Dorothy Dunnett, should have specified. Enjoy ... <s>