dchaikin part 4 - Chaucer at last

from the Corpus Christi College Cambridge manuscript of Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer, created circa 1415-1425
(A high-quality digital version is available here: https://parker.stanford.edu/parker/catalog/dh967mz5785 )

books read this year


Audiobooks completed

Read in 2023, by date read

(these links go the review on my part 1 page)
1. **** Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet (read Dec 22, 2022 – Jan 11, 2023, theme: Booker 2022)
2. ***** Uncle Tom's Children by Richard Wright (read Jan 13-15, theme Richard Wright)
3. ** The Marne by Edith Wharton (read Jan 11-15, theme: Wharton)
4. **** A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark (read Jan 16-18, theme: TBR)
5. **** The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka, read by Shivantha Wijesinha (listened Jan 1-24, theme: Booker 2022)
6. n/a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Basic and Beyond, Third Edition by Judith S. Beck (Read Nov 17, 2022 – Jan 25, 2023)
7. **** The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson (read Jan 3-26, theme: Naturalitsy)

(these links go the review on my part 2 page)
8. **** The Life and Writings of Geoffrey Chaucer (The Great Courses) by Seth Lerer (listened Jan 25 – Feb 1, theme: Chaucer)
9. *** Chaucer: A European Life by Marion Turner (read Jan 16 – Feb 6, theme: Chaucer)
10 **** The Trees by Percival Everett (read Feb 6-8, theme: Booker 2022)
11. **** City Lights Pocket Poets Anthology edited by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (read Dec 4, 2022 – Feb 10, 2023)
12. *** Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses, From Myth to Reality by Helen Scales (Read Feb 1-16, theme: Naturalitsy)
13. ****½ The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride, read by JD Jackson & Susan Denaker (listened Feb 4-18, theme: random audio)
14. **** By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah (read Feb 11-20, theme: TBR)
15. **** Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess by Evan Drellich, read by Mike Chamberlain (listened Feb 20 – Mar 4, theme: random audio)
16. ***** The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (read Feb 13 – Mar 7, theme: Wharton)
17. ****½ Native Son by Richard Wright, (read Feb 20 – Mar 11, theme: Richard Wright)
18. **** Under the Sea Wind by Rachel Carson, read by C. M. Hébert (listened Mar 5-14, theme: random audio)
19. **** After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz (read Mar 15-25, theme: booker 2022)
20. **** Treacle Walker by Alan Garner (read Mar 26-27, theme: booker 2022)
21. **** Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (read Mar 27, theme booker 2022)
22. **** The Photograph by Penelope Lively (read Mar 28 – Apr 1, theme: TBR)
23. **** The Romance of the Rose (Oxford World's Classics) by Guillaume de Lorris & Jean de Meun, and translated from Middle French by Frances Horgan (read Mar 3 - Apr 7, theme: Chaucer)
24. ***** The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, read by Kaiulani Lee (listened Mar 14 – Apr 8, theme: random audio)
25. *** Collected Poems by Donald Justice (read Feb 11 – Apr 9, theme: TBR)
26. *** Geoffrey Chaucer: Love Visions (Penguin Classics), translated with introduction and notes by Brian Stone (read Apr 5-16, theme: Chaucer)
27. ***½ The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson, read by Kaiulani Lee (listened Apr 10-29, theme: random audio)
28. ***** Black Boy by Richard Wright (read Apr 16-30, theme: Richard Wright)
29. ****½ The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton (read Apr 11-30, theme: Wharton)
30. ****½ A Closed Eye by Anita Brookner (read May 1-7, theme: TBR)
31. ****½ Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin, read by the author (listened May 2-11, theme: random audio)
32. **** A Sense of Where You Are: A Profile of Bill Bradley at Princeton by John McPhee (read May 14-15, theme: none)
33. **** Stay True by Hua Hsu, read by the author (listened May 11-18, theme: random audio)
34. *** Florence: The Biography of a City by Christopher Hibbert (read May 22-29, theme: Italy)

(these links go the review on my part 3 page)
35. **** A Brief History of Venice: A New History of the City and Its People by Elizabeth Horodowich (read May 25 – June 3, theme: Italy)
36. **** The Nymph of Fiesole by Giovanni Boccaccio, translated by Daniel J. Donno (read May 29 – Jun 9, theme: Italy)
37. ***** Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (read May 7 – Jun 12, theme: Richard Wright)
38. ****½ The Hamlet by William Faulkner (read Jun 10-29, theme: group read & Faulkner)
39. **** A Son at the Front by Edith Wharton (read Jun 30 – Jul 15, theme: Wharton)
40. **** Sixty Years of American Poetry: Celebrating the Anniversary of the Academy of American Poets (read Apr 9 – Jul 21, theme: poetry)
41. ****½ G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage, read by Gabra Zackman (May 19 – Jul 24, theme: random audio)
42. **** The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us by Alice Roberts (read July 1-27, theme: Naturalitsy)
43. ****½ One Hundred Poems from the Japanese by Kenneth Rexroth (read Jul 22 – Aug 5, theme: poetry)
44. *** The Town : Volume Two, Snopes by William Faulkner (read Jul 8 – Aug 16, theme: group read & Faulkner)
45. ***** In Ascension by Martin MacInnes, read by Freya Miller (listened Aug 1-18, theme: Booker 2023)
46. ***** Fatelessness by Imre Kertész, translated by Tim Wilkinson (read Aug 13-22, theme: TBR)
47. **** A Spell of Good things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, read by Ore Apampa, Babajide Oyekunle (listened Aug 19 – Sep 1, theme: Booker 2023)
48. ***½ The Mansion by William Faulkner (read Aug 23 – Sep 7, theme: group read & Faulkner)
49. **** Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry, ready by Stephen Hogan (listened Sep 1-12, theme: Booker 2023)
50. ****½ The Polish Boxer by Eduardo Halfon (read Sep 20-22, theme: TBR)
51. **** Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake (read Sep 2-24, theme: naturalitsy)
52. ***½ If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, read by Torian Brackett (listened Sep 13-27, theme: Booker 2023)
53. ****½ Old New York by Edith Wharton (read Sep 3-28, theme: Wharton)

(links here go the review on this page)
54. ***½ Walden by Henry David Thoreau (read May 2 – Oct 3, theme: naturalitsy)
55. ****½ These Precious Days by Ann Patchett, read by the author (listened Sep 28 – Oct 10, theme: random audio)

Read in 2023, by year published (links are touchstones)

1275 The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris & Jean de Meun
~1345 The Nymph of Fiesole by Giovanni Boccaccio
~1387 Geoffrey Chaucer: Love Visions
1854 Walden by Henry David Thoreau
1918 The Marne by Edith Wharton
1920 The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
1922 The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
1923 A Son at the Front by Edith Wharton
1924 Old New York by Edith Wharton
1938 Uncle Tom's Children by Richard Wright (expanded 1940)
1940
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Hamlet by William Faulkner
1941 Under the Sea Wind by Rachel Carson
1945 Black Boy by Richard Wright
1951 The Sea Around by Rachel Carson
1952 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
1955
The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson
One Hundred Poems from the Japanese by Kenneth Rexroth
1957 The Town : Volume Two, Snopes by William Faulkner
1959 The Mansion by William Faulkner
1965 A Sense of Where You Are: A Profile of Bill Bradley by John McPhee
1975 Fatelessness by Imre Kertész
1988 A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark
1991 A Closed Eye by Anita Brookner
1993 Florence: The Biography of a City by Christopher Hibbert
1995 The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride
1996 Sixty Years of American Poetry: Celebrating the Anniversary of the Academy of American Poets
2001
City Lights Pocket Poets Anthology edited by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah
2003 The Photograph by Penelope Lively
2004 Collected Poems by Donald Justice
2008 The Polish Boxer by Eduardo Halfon
2009
Poseidon's Steed by Helen Scales
A Brief History of Venice: A New History of the City and Its People by Elizabeth Horodowich
2013? The Life and Writings of Geoffrey Chaucer (The Great Courses) by Seth Lerer
2014 The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us by Alice Roberts
2019
The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson
Chaucer: A European Life by Marion Turner
2020
Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond, Third Edition by Judith S. Beck
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our by Merlin Sheldrake
2021
Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
The Trees by Percival Everett
Treacle Walker by Alan Garner
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
2022
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz
Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin
Stay True by Hua Hsu
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
2023
Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess by Evan Drellich
In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
A Spell of Good things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

Some stats:

2023
Books read: 55
Pages: 11,612 ( 416 hrs )
Audio time: 171 hrs
Formats: ebooks 18; Paperback 17; Audio 15; hardcover 5;
Subjects in brief: Novels 26; Nonfiction 21; Classic 18; Science 8; Nature 7; Poetry 6; History 5; Memoirs 5; Journalism 4; Biography 4; On Literature and Books 2; Anthology 2; Essays 3; Speculative Fiction 2; Religion/Mythology/Philosophy 2; Short Story Collections 2; Crime 1
Nationalities: United States 30; England 9; Scotland 3; Nigeria 2; Ireland 2; Sri Lanka 1; Sweden 1; mixed 1; Tanzania 1; France 1; Italy 1; Japan 1; Hungary 1; Guatemala 1;
Books in translation: 8
Genders, m/f: 31/21 (mixed 3)
Owner: books I own 52; amazon-unlimited 3;
Re-reads: 0
Year Published: 2020’s 17; 2010’s 4; 2000’s 7; 1990’s 4; 1980’s 1; 1970’s 1; 1960’s 1; 1950’s 6; 1940’s 4; 1930’s 1; 1920’s 4; 1910’s 1; 1800’s 1; 1300’s 2; 1200’s 1;
TBR numbers: -1 (acquired 52, read from tbr 51, abandoned 2)

All stats - since I started keeping track in December of 1990
Books read: 1301
Formats: Paperback 675; Hardcover 261; Audio 211; ebooks 116; Lit magazines 38
Subjects in brief: Non-fiction 509; Novels 419; Biographies/Memoirs 223; Classics 206; History 195; Religion/Mythology/Philosophy 138; Poetry 100; Journalism 98; Science 96; Ancient 76; On Literature and Books 69; Speculative Fiction 68; Nature 68; Essay Collections 51; Short Story Collections 49; Drama 48; Anthologies 47; Graphic 46; Juvenile/YA 34; Visual Arts 27; Interviews 15; Mystery/Thriller 15
Nationalities: US 729; Other English-language countries: 282; Other: 284
Books in translation: 220
Genders, m/f: 812/390
Owner: Books I owned 936; Library books 285; Books I borrowed 70; Online 10;
Re-reads: 27
Year Published: 2020’s 58; 2010's 275; 2000's 288; 1990's 181; 1980's 122; 1970's 62; 1960's 54; 1950's 35; 1900-1949 81; 19th century 21; 16th-18th centuries 38; 13th-15th centuries 12; 0-1199 21; BCE 55
TBR: 666

side notes:
- milestones this year: 200th audiobook, 100th ebook, 500th non-fiction book, 400th novel, 200th classic, 100th book of poetry, and 800th book by a male author.

links to all my old threads:

2009 Part 1, 2009 Part 2, 2010 Part 1, 2010 Part 2, 2011 Part 1, 2011 Part 2, 2012 Part 1, 2012 Part 2, 2013 Part 1, 2013 Part 2, 2013 Part 3, 2014 Part 1, 2014 Part 2, 2014 Part 3, 2015 Part 1, 2015 Part 2, 2015 Part 3, 2016 Part 1, 2016 Part 2, 2016 Part 3, 2017 Part 1, 2017 Part 2, 2018 part 1, 2018 part 2, 2019 part 1, 2019 part 2, 2019 part 3, 2020 part 1, 2020 part 2, 2020 part 3, 2021 part 1, 2021 part 2, 2021 part 3, 2022 part 1, 2022 part 2, 2022 part 3, 2022 part 4, 2023 part 1, 2023 part 2, 2023 part 3

I'm deep in Chaucer, well, at least for 20 or 30 minutes each morning I am. I'm enjoying it. But I'm not enjoying all my reading lately. Joe's thread left me pondering my emotional connection to books, and my lack of emotional connection to some books I think are very good. I mean, sure, we like or don't like books for random personal reasons, but that's a very iffy way to actually evaluate a book. You can't pin it down. It has no qualitive association. These emotional connections are arbitrary and thinking about them or through them undermines any sense of objectivity. It's almost as if it's not fair. They are not only unique to each person, but random and ephemeral within the person. But what's more important about a book to us than our emotional connection to it?

>8 dchaikin: This is an interesting question. In my mind, like you say, the quality of a book is sometimes completely independent of my emotional connection, and the dissonance can make it hard to objectively rate a book. On the one hand, I want to acknowledge my appreciation of the book as literature, but on the other hand, if it doesn't resonate with me, I have a hard time rating it an excellent book. And vice versa. I might love a book, but know that it's borderline garbage. For me it boils down to this: I am reviewing and rating books mainly for myself (with an eye toward my fellow CRers), so my personal feelings and thoughts trump. I try and acknowledge my biases in my review, but ultimately all book reviews are subjective, are they not? While historians and journalists must strive to be as objective as possible, and I rate the quality of their writing partly based on this objectivity, when I read a book review, I am looking for impressions, the emotional residue a book leaves behind. I like Joe's criteria of "I have to tell people about this book", because it gives a sense of the reviewer's urgency in translating a book's power to others through a review.

Happy new thread, and happy Chaucer reading!

I love all your lists. I like to slice my reading up in lots of ways as well. Cheers, and best wishes for a happy reading Q4.

>9 labfs39: Great response to an interesting question!

"I am reviewing and rating books mainly for myself (with an eye toward my fellow CRers), so my personal feelings and thoughts trump."

Yes, this, although, as Lisa also acknowledges, we know that some books "as literature" are important within the evolution of the art form. An author who used point of view in ways never tried before, or who expanded the narrative form in other ways. These writers may be considered classics but still not resonate with us personally at all. For me the prime example of this is Henry James. I fully recognize his importance to European/American literature but cannot stand reading his books. C'est la vie.

But, >8 dchaikin: "These emotional connections are arbitrary and thinking about them or through them undermines any sense of objectivity. It's almost as if it's not fair. They are not only unique to each person, but random and ephemeral within the person. But what's more important about a book to us than our emotional connection to it?"

I don't feel that our emotional responses are "random and ephemeral." They are, rather, important markers reflecting the lives we've led and the experiences and perceptions that have become important to us. To my mind, there's very little that's random about them. If it's hard to deal with art purely objectively, well, I see that as a feature rather than as a flaw. The whole purpose of art, for me, is to create an emotional reaction.

To me, for us here on LT (as opposed to professional reviewers publishing for a wider range of public consideration) there's nothing more important than our emotional reaction to the books we read. But most of us here on CR are experienced, relatively mature readers. The "objective" quality of writing in any book we read, in terms of language, storytelling and even cultural relevance, or at least how each of us perceives such factors, will be baked into our emotional experience of most books, anyway. A book poorly written on a sentence level, or portraying characters in an unrealistic or objectionable way, are much less likely to evoke the sort of emotional experience that makes a book memorable or particularly enjoyable.

If a book makes you uneasy or even angry because its protagonist is misogynist in a way that the author doesn't seem to be even aware of, or maybe doesn't seem to care about, well, there's nothing un-objective to me about that uneasiness and/or anger, even though both anger and uneasiness are emotions. (Sometimes books make me angry because they are poorly written but got published anyway. Sometimes lots of my LT neighbors like those books. Waddaya gonna do?)

"my lack of emotional connection to some books I think are very good."

If in your review you provide for us the reasons that you think a book is very good, but also tell us that the author and/or the subject matter of the book failed to engage you emotionally and tell us why, that's a darn good review as far as I'm concerned. I know that your comments had to do with your own reactions to your reading and not to your reviews, per se, but I do find that I often can work through my reactions to the books I read, both emotionally and "objectively," during the review writing process itself. I start writing a review not really knowing, or being able to articlulate, why I've reacted to the book in the way I have, but come to a realization about it all during the writing process itself. Reviews as therapy! :)

>8 dchaikin: But what's more important about a book to us than our emotional connection to it?

yes, indeed. I think thats what was troubling me on the book I just reviews bread givers is that everything about this book: Jewish immigrants in early century lower east side, the traditional family, yearning to becojme more american, succeding but still yearning for tradtion in a different was, should have made this book perfect for me. And she succeeded in hitting each of those parts; but it left me rather emotionless. Too melodramatic, characters being unlikable and over the top..just left me a bit cold. But this as really the authors memoir, and reading the section about her and how her book was rediscovered and released, made me really care about it and thankful that I read it, as if I was acting as a witness to the authors experience. so is there an emotional connection? Its complicated

This is an interesting question and I'll have to think about it.

>11 cindydavid4: I obviously am missing something that you and Dan are getting at, so apologies in advance for being a blockhead. In the case of your reaction to Bread Givers, the over melodramatic writing and character portrayal, though largely typical of the era in which Yezierska was writing, is very hard for a modern reader to really click with, and it didn't click with you (I'm in the same boat about a lot of her writing). But the subject matter, the importance of the writing within its own historical era and context and the back story about the book's rediscovery and rerelease resonated with you historically and culturally. All that "made {you} really care about it and thankful that {you} read it, as if {you were} acting as a witness to the authors experience." That sounds really understandable and quite clear to me. Can you help me to understand better what about that is troubling you?

It seems to me that you're struggling to understand whether your reaction to the book is emotional or is intellectual. (I don't want to put words in your mouth, though. Apologies if I'm misreading your comments.) But assuming I'm in the ballpark, my own take is that it doesn't really matter whether we label a reaction "emotional" or "intellectual" or anything else. The label to me is less important than having clarity about what does or doesn't move us and/or entertain us about a book. You seem to have quite a lot of clarity about Bread Givers. But, as I said up top, I have a bad feeling that I'm missing an important element of all this.

>13 rocketjk: first I edited my post above to this, hopefully its clearer " think thats what was troubling me on the book I just reviews bread givers is that everything about this book: Jewish immigrants in early century lower east side, the traditional family, yearning to becojme more american, succeding but still yearning for tradtion in a different was, should have made this book perfect for me. And she succeeded in hitting each of those parts; but it left me rather emotionless. "

i dont care for the whole intellectual vs emotional conversation, and I dont think thats what were talking about (apologies to Dan, not speaking for him) there is usually shade of each of those in what we read, as well a whole lot of different reactions to books. But I do think when I am reviewing and rating a book, I usually listen to what my gut is telling me, the emotional reaction. if I cant find that I am liable to rate th book lower. you see my confusion over my * rating , Im justifying why Im rating it three different ways. The more I thought about it, th more I realized I was feeling guilty. Thats what is troubling me.

Im feeling guilty for not liking this book more. As I said, it pushes all of those positive buttons but the styling is off (and yes Im sure i has to do with the time period and how things were written then. IIRC from theatre class, the melodramas started out in the late 1800s, so I can see someone growing up in that era writing that way as an adult.) so why and to whom I feel guilty? is silly, its my own reaction to the book. But your comments about my review show that I was able to explain myself, why I chose what I did, that makes me feel much less guilty, Thank You (yes reviewing is therapy!)

>9 labfs39: >10 rocketjk: >11 cindydavid4: >13 rocketjk: >14 cindydavid4: wow. Such great and interesting responses.

>12 RidgewayGirl: i’d love to see your take

>9 labfs39: sometimes I think about reviews in terms of personal vs useful. These overlap, but i can force a division where i imagine myself as reading the review. (Personally, i want reviews quick and to the point. I don’t want anything off topic or incomprehensible in meaning or purpose up front. If the review has more to say, i want it to win me over to reading more. 🙂 But, alas, my own reviews don’t manage to accomplish these things. This parenthetical comment breaks those rules.) Anyway, the part about how I enjoyed a book, or not, is the personal part. The part my imagined reader takes away, if anything, is the useful part. That could be my enjoyment (and therefore their implied potential enjoyment), or factual info, or some evocation. (If it’s good and the right reader is motivated, that’s super useful.) (Was this readable?)

>10 rocketjk: “To me, for us here on LT … there's nothing more important than our emotional reaction to the books we read.” - I really agreed with you when I was posting. Now I’m rethinking. Sigh. How valuable is the raw info, and the raw exposure? What if, for example, a dull or negative reading experience helped later lead to an enjoyable experience in a different book? (Or movie, or relationship, or nature walk or whatever) Then, which is more important? Please don’t feel I’m criticizing your perspective. I enjoy your perspective regardless. But also I’m kinda debating myself here.

>11 cindydavid4: >14 cindydavid4: I think you might be bringing up a nuance - a book we appreciate and value, but maybe didn’t enjoy (in this case, maybe it was poorly written). At least this is an experience I have had a lot, and never love those mixed feelings.

Another element that I might bring to this discussion I would categorize by the general question, "Why am I reading this book at all?"

I am finding very frequently in my reading answering the question by dropping the book. When I get to that stage in a book, which has all the literary qualities I like, and possibly even a favorite author, it is my emotional response to the story. Thoughts like 'do I care about these people, or the outcome?' often lead to dropping the book.

I believe that my answer today would be far different from what it would have been in earlier reading years. I realize that my current age has me thinking more along the lines of 'would this book be one that illuminates my thinking about life?'

When I look at my reading during 2023, I find the most memorable books for me pertain to aging in some way, or another. My current TBR has about 15 books which touch on aging in some way. I don't have all of those books on my current short list for the end of 2023, but any book that isn't there will come in as I finish reading, or dropping books on my short list.

I need to clarify that these books are all fiction. I have zero interest in non-fiction books about how to deal with end-of-life issues.

I prefer learning about how fictional, but realistic individuals dealt with their own issues.

I regret breaking into this terrific discussion about emotional and other reactions to a book, but I have a digression. NYT Book Review has a piece about ghost stories and the authors #1 choice is Ghosts by Edit Wharton. You are the only member I know that has the book and I am wondering what your thoughts are.

>17 JoeB1934: your welcome to break in any conversation here. 🙂 I’m reading Ghosts now. They are mostly her early stories, written before her major novels. Wharton had an elegant readable prose that soothes any anxious reader quickly. I find myself quickly taking to her writing regardless of what I might otherwise be preoccupied with in my head. That aspect is in the stories I’ve read here so far.

>16 JoeB1934: Enjoyed your post. It had me thinking how i find for myself the most important drive for reading is curiosity. I mean, I like being in a state of reading. But I have a sort of curiosity/impatience balance. The drive for reading comes from that curiosity, when it’s larger than my impatience. The best books aren’t necessarily the ones that capture my curiosity of the moment, but I’m a better of them than of any other book.*

(*eek, please don’t grammatically analyze this sentence. Hopefully my meaning is clear.)

>18 dchaikin: I'm reading Ghosts on and off as well. A friend sent it to me a couple of Halloweens ago, and I've been picking it up and reading a few stories every October since. They're fun, absorbing.

>19 dchaikin: Thank you for that very special word 'curiosity'.

For my whole reading life, I have been classified as a 'mystery' reader. Unfortunately, most readers jump to the conclusion that a mystery always means crime, which of course it doesn't. When I look back on my reading the ingredient of curiosity comes far closer to defining a book of interest to me.

The book I am reading today is In the Distance by Hernan Diaz. I am engrossed by the incredible plot and my curiosity with the book as the author goes along toward a destination that I can't foresee.

>16 JoeB1934: >14 cindydavid4: >8 dchaikin:
Why am I reading this book at all?
Interesting topic JoeB1934
I’ve recently been discarding books more frequently than I used to. This is partly because it’s so easy as I only read audio (of necessity) and I get most free so it’s easy to discard if I don’t get gripped by chapter three-ish.

When I was young I used to browse bookstores and would check out books I’d been recommended. I’d do the “opening line test”. I also avoided books written in the present tense or in the first person.

At the end of middle age I avoided books with end-of-life or coming-of-age themes. I still avoid coming-of-age books but quite like books about very old people.

I used to love sci-fi by have not read of it much since Asimov and Philip K Dick when they were current.

This year I am finding it hard to take to any Booker prize long or shortlist except Old Gods Time.

I usually will find a book I like and binge read any book that the author has written, but have been disappointed. Especially with writers whose best years peaked in the late 20th century. Doris Lessing really dropped off and at one time she was my all-time favorite.

I would put good writing above emotional appeal, though usually a good writer will achieve both.

>20 lisapeet: I'm so happy you're reading from Ghosts too. And that's a great way to read these stories. How far along you? We read The Lady's Maid's Bell last. And the general favorite so far is Afterward, although I did take to All Souls'.

>21 JoeB1934: I stumbled upon that sort of realization a couple years ago, trying to understand my inconsistent reading drive. I do some reading specifically to create curiosity in other books I haven't read but want to. I sort of try to set the mood in my head. :) It works. Also, I don't know anything about In the Distance. Noting.

>22 kjuliff: interesting! When I using library audiobooks, I was checking all sort of stuff and ruthlessly discarding them. It was actually nice, but I came across so much junk. A nutrition book turned out to be all conspiracy theory stuff, and an American history book turned out to be doctored for right-wing homeschoolers. But I also found so many pleasant surprises, and that was quite special. I've lost that with audible, but I ran out of options at the library. My problem with audible is that I don't want to waste my credits. So there are few surprises, and too many high expectations. Part of why I use the Booker longlist is to have "forgivable" misses (you know, like, ok, it wasn't good, but at least I learned something about the Booker longlist)...and therefore some surprises too. Disappointment and surprise go together sometimes.

>23 dchaikin: I only use Audible for books that aren’t available in my local library or in BARD (as audio) and never go straight to Audible for a book. I am fortunate as I am a member of BARDMobile - talking book for the blind, so there are far more book titles available there, plus they are free for me.

There are the old CD books moved to the internet, plus the early “Talking Books” where volunteers would dictate books to tape, and many have been digitalized.

Interestingly I vas a “Talking Books” volunteer and recorded books in my thirties, completely unaware I’d ever become unable to read and would need them.

Re Booker long-list, I like your idea of “forgivable misses”. I somehow feel morally obliged try to read every book available to me on the Booker lists. I still feel guilty for not even trying Shuggie Bain which is available on audio but I just can seem to want to read it.

>24 kjuliff: I liked Shuggie Bain, but it’s a lot long and a bit slow.

>25 dchaikin: I was walling to stick with the length because the story revealed dimensions to my Scottich ancestr which came from a village near Glasgow with relatives still living there. Talk about an emotional response to a book

>26 JoeB1934: I’ve been similarly drawn to books set during the Great Irish famine because that’s where my maternal ancestry starts. Some of the uniquely Irish sayings though spoken in English are still used in my mother’s side of the family. I’m reading The Secret Scripture now and I’m so drawn to the people. I can see my grandmother in the main character. I was looking for the post where you and I discussed this book earlier this year, but I can’t find it.

>27 kjuliff: I’ve been reading Grace by Paul Lynch which takes place during the Irish potato famine. Grace is a 14 year old girl. The book is brutal - not sure I’ll finish it. He also wrote Prophet Song which is on this year’s Booker short list.

>28 dianeham: Let me know if you finish Grace - I thought it looked a bit to bleak from some reviews. I enjoyed Paul Lynch’s The Black Snow.
Prophet Song isn’t available in audio yet so I can’t read it.

Did you print read Shuggie Bain or listen? I had trouble with the Scottish accent when I sampled it. But I couldn’t understand anything they said when I visited Scotland, so that’s not surprising.

>29 kjuliff: I got a hardback copy of Prophet Song from England. Haven’t started it yet.

>25 dchaikin: Who was the reader for Shuggie Bain? I really liked it, but you would really have to have someone more than proficient in Glaswegian to do justice to it in audio format. I read it, and could hear those accents in my mind throughout.

>26 JoeB1934: Shuggie Bain is a great look at 1980’s Glasgow.

>29 kjuliff: >31 SassyLassy: I wouldn’t know a Scottish accent beyond cartoon level. But I didn’t have any issues with the audio reader.

>32 dchaikin: >31 SassyLassy:
I went back to Audible and listened to a sample of Shuggie Bain and I didn’t find it so hard to understand after all. I may have found the problem after listening to so many Irish novels. Or remembering my time in Edinburgh.

But here are the narrators’ details -
“Angus King is a Scottish actor based in London & Glasgow. He trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and works regularly on television, Motion Capture and the West End and his voice can be heard in audiobooks, political campaigns, radio drama, corporate videos, computer games, ADR and much more.”
https://angusking.net