List of currently reading and to-read books for September 22, 2017.
September was a tough month for reading. It has been slow and unfocused. Here are my current reads and my goals for the rest of the year.
Currently Reading
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Ahhhh, classics. If there is anything I need more in my life, it’s classic literature. This is not a book I have been looking to read… I don’t really read romance novels, but this one feels different (I have no idea how I know this).
When I read a book from an author that is new to me, I spend half the book examining the style rather than the story. This is not good!!! I got most of the plot but some of it was way over my head.
I imagine everyone in this book acting like this guy, Monocle Guy, and it’s hilarious! They also all speak like Frasier’s brother Niles. Imagination is great, right?
On a serious note, this book has been tough for me. I don’t see the major appeal everyone else seems to see and I found it difficult to follow. The characters are so damn pretentious and judgemental! The ones who are not are absolutely hated by the other characters… ARGH! The writing style is like nothing I’ve ever read and was difficult for me to adjust to it. Was it bad? No, but it was not easy for me. That’s probably my own fault; my lack of reading experience is taking its toll on this experience. I feel like this book is better than what I think it is and I will not be rating it until I re-read and focus on more on the plot.
It’s not a completely bad experience for me. After the midway point, I got used to the writing style and the story had more of a flow. I just think this book is not for me or it’s not the right time for me to read it.
Rise of Empire (The Riyria Revelations #3-4) by Michael J. Sullivan
I had a great deal of fun reading the first book (#1-2) of this series. I thought the writing and pacing were different and fresh. I am about halfway through book #3 now and I don’t feel the freshness anymore. It’s a fast-paced story and somehow it feels slow to me. Nothing is happening. I was amazed at the humor in #1-2 and now I don’t see that. I feel like there is something missing… WELL, THERE IS! All my favorite secondary characters are nowhere in sight! Book one had an amazingly clueless monk and book 2 had this 1000-year-old wizard… I just think there’s no reason to not have them around. I found the replacement for these characters in this book; a witty magic professor. It just feels the best characters are replaced as soon as we are getting to know them.
I have faith in this series and I think it will get better, most likely before the end of book #3.
The English and their History by Robert Tombs
What is there to say about a huge history book? Well, I’m interested! It’s discouraging to read 100 pages and you’re not even making a small dent in the overall progress, however, the information is great and it’s getting better as I’m reading!
This book started with lots of names and dates. King so-and-so ruled for X amount of years, died, this dude replaced him, then Queen B ruled for this many years, etc. This is difficult for me as I’m not really reading this to study the history; I just want to know what happened. I want to know what effect human nature had in the past as I believe this can help with the present. Don’t ask me when an event happened or who was in charge at that time because I probably forgot.
I just finished the reading about the civil war (1642-51) between the parliament and royalist forces. This was totally the best part of the book so far! It was amazing to read about the back-and-forth between these two forces and probably marked the beginning of how we see England, or the UK, as we see it now (I think…). As an outsider from Canada, I always wondered how the hell they ended up with Royalty AND parliament. I know it makes sense and probably couldn’t function with just a royal regime in these modern times but I was curious as to how they got there. This will obviously develop more as we’re only in the 1600s and I’m damn curious! Only about 900 pages left in this massive brick!
The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz (Audiobook)
This one is Psychology…to be more specific, psychoanalysis. For those of you who heard of Sigmund Freud, this is his stuff. This subject is very interesting to me. As for psychoanalysis, it’s the type of counseling that takes place with you lying down on a couch while the analysis examines your thoughts and tries to figure out what you’re thinking, without you even knowing you’re thinking it!
This is typically not the type of counseling you will get if you’re depressed, anxious or stressed out. When I went in for counseling years ago, the first thing the psychologist said was “There won’t be a bed like in all the movies and cartoons.”
I don’t know how the two types of counseling differ and it does not explain it in this book. I would say this is more like ‘The Adventures of a Psychoanalyst’ where every chapter is a different patient and a different problem.
I believe everyone has a story to tell, ESPECIALLY a professional psychoanalyst like Mr. Grosz who had about 50000 hours of practice in his field! He just HAS to have something good to say! Don’t go expecting him to solve all your problems, this is not a self-help book.
I don’t know about the title… I can see how everyone is losing themselves but there is not much ‘finding’ in the stories. Even so, very good stuff! I have about 2 hours to go and it was a short and easy listen, only 5 hours and 20 minutes long.
Upcoming ReadsI have two ongoing large series I would like to finish before the new year. One is the previously mentioned Riyria Revelations Series which has six books in total and I’m currently on book three. I have heard all sorts of praise for this series from my favorite reviewers but I am quickly losing interest in book three. I’m going to tough it out and keep reading. I expect it to get better.
The second ongoing series is The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb. This is a stretch. The books are large and take a long time to read, however, they are getting more and more interesting! I get hooked more easily the deeper I get in this series!
I am currently about to start book 8 of 16 and it seems it’s ongoing. It might be done after the 16th book but I’m afraid to search for it as I don’t want any spoilers. I will definitely not get to book 16 by the end of the year so I am setting my goal at reaching book 10 that will begin The Rain Wild Chronicles (The fourth installment from this realm).
I like to always have some kind of non-fiction/educational book while reading my fantasy/fiction novels. I will often leave audiobooks for non-fiction but I don’t know where to go next. If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!
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