What are you thinking of reading this year?

[touchingcloth]

Lots of systems and ecology is the plan. Open to suggestions!

[Misspent Boners]

I've always been put off classic sci fi just because I read some Philip K Dick books a while back, and although enjoyable enough I kind of assumed all of the fiction in that vein from that era would seem dated and a bit naff to read now...thankfully I got intrigued by the Ursula LeGuin thread on here and have just finished the Dispossessed, which I genuinely think is one of the most affecting and beautiful books I've ever written. So I now also intend to read Lathe of Heaven and Left Hand of Darkness, albeit with other books to break it up a bit, and then expand onto other sci fi masterworks...I've got the Hyperion Audible to look forward to

I've not read any fantasy in years either, linking it to my adolescence and seeing it as juvenile and pointless but I've just got this huge desire for big escapist tomes...so may give game of thrones a try or something similar; I've heard Jade City is supposed to be decent

[Ferris]

Lots of systems and ecology is the plan. Open to suggestions!

The Quark and the Jaguar by Murray Gell-Mann is supposed to be excellent and (I think) fits the bill.

It's on my reading list - if you get to it first, let me know how it is.

[Mobius]

I'll probably just read Blood Meridian a few more times

[wrec]

I mean, don't feel compelled. The first one is the best in my opinion. 2 is also very good in a "I can't believe he's actually writing this, I should look away" sort of way. Returns a bit diminished in 3 & 4, though 1 & 2 are so good this is not a big problem for me.

I loved it all and found them compulsive and quick reads but the first is certainly the best. Gets very meta by the final volume, in which the reaction to the first is part of it.

The Gormenghast trilogy is high on the list this year. Attempted years ago but didn't a consistent reading habit and didn't get far.

Reckon I'll give yer man Proust a go, the first volume at least.

Loved White Noise so more of DeLillo's best stuff is a priority.

Have read bits and pieces of Flann O'Brien but have been lugging around the complete novels for years. Overdue a reread of Beckett's trilogy too.

There will also be old SF and writers who are not old or dead white males hopefully.

[touchingcloth]

I'll probably just read Blood Meridian a few more times

I bailed on that last year. Boring judge, boring cunt with a broken arm licking some rocks, boring Comanches or whatever whooping and scalping.

[touchingcloth]

The Quark and the Jaguar by Murray Gell-Mann is supposed to be excellent and (I think) fits the bill.

It's on my reading list - if you get to it first, let me know how it is.

Ta, I've added that to the list. I've started with some classics - Donella Meadows and Marvin Harris, and figure I should give Small is Beautiful and Silent Spring a read relatively soon.

That Gell-Mann sounds interesting, though, so it's on the list. Race you to it - GO

[Johnboy]

Going to read some Kurt Vonnegut and Cormac McCarthy

Wendy Erskine's recent one

and a page a day of Finnegan's Wake for the laugh

[atavist]

Underworld.

Same as every year.

[buttgammon]

Anyone who hasn't read Underworld already should do so pronto (read White Noise first if you haven't already).

[Vodkafone]

I loved it all and found them compulsive and quick reads but the first is certainly the best. Gets very meta by the final volume, in which the reaction to the first is part of it.

They deserve their own thread really.

[Vodkafone]

His collected short stories are awesome.

Border Districts is the one I have lined up next.

The & Other Stories edition of his short fiction has just arrived. Looking forward to that, it'll be next up after I've finished Providence by Alan Moore (re-read)

[buttgammon]

Glad to hear it! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[touchingcloth]

Oh, I'm also going to read some stuff about the Bosnian war after I got some helpful recommendations in a thread I started a few weeks ago.

For lighter reading, my fiction plans this year are Gideon the Ninth, some Atwood (maybe Alias Grace), some Mantel (A Place of Greater Safety). For lighter reading still, I might dig out the James Herriot books.

[Mister Six]

Just like every other year, I swear this is the year I'll finally finish Gravity's Rainbow and/or Infinite Jest and/or the last half dozen Neal Stephenson novels.

And then give up and just read a bunch of comics instead (maybe this is the year I'll finally read those Love & Rockets collections).

I was like that last year, so this year I've kicked things off properly with The Brothers Karamazov. Although I absolutely intend to catch up with One Piece this year...

[Captain Crunch]

I found Steve Turner's 'Angelheaded Hipster' in the Amnesty shop and it got me back into beat generation stuff.  Michael McClure's essay collection has just arrived and I've got 'Screaming With Joy' on the way which I remember being good. 

[one_sharper]

After listening to a recent episode of Free Thinking about Anna Kavan, I want to read Ice soon. Not read any Kavan previously but sounds like something I'd enjoy.

Main projects for this year are finally getting round to reading the George Smiley novels, plus picking back up with reading Thomas Bernhard. I've read and absolutely loved Woodcutters, Old Masters, Concrete and The Loser, and enjoyed Walking a great deal too. Early last year I started reading Extinction and I just couldn't get into it the same way, but I intend to go back.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

After listening to a recent episode of Free Thinking about Anna Kavan, I want to read Ice soon. Not read any Kavan previously but sounds like something I'd enjoy.

Main projects for this year are finally getting round to reading the George Smiley novels, plus picking back up with reading Thomas Bernhard. I've read and absolutely loved Woodcutters, Old Masters, Concrete and The Loser, and enjoyed Walking a great deal too. Early last year I started reading Extinction and I just couldn't get into it the same way, but I intend to go back.

I absolutely love Ice. An incredible piece of work. Highest possible recommendation.

[buttgammon]

Yeah, Ice is a brilliant book.

I've never read a Bernhard I didn't like. Gathering Evidence, a compilation of his memoirs, is worth a read; it's amazing how little the style changes from his novels.

[wrec]

After listening to a recent episode of Free Thinking about Anna Kavan, I want to read Ice soon. Not read any Kavan previously but sounds like something I'd enjoy.

Listened to that too. Read the book about a year and a half ago but might give it another go soon, as it's so slippery and elusive.

I've never read a Bernhard I didn't like. Gathering Evidence, a compilation of his memoirs, is worth a read; it's amazing how little the style changes from his novels.

First book I read this year as it happens, and what a high bar it sets. Laughed out loud at the eight-year-old Bernhardt's reaction to his failed epic bike ride to his aunt's house: "As always, I thought, I've fallen victim to a temptation that can only end in utter disaster". And also when he describes people calling to the grocer's just to hang out because he's such a laugh. Exhausting but felt completely immersed in it.

[one_sharper]

Yeah, Ice is a brilliant book.

I've never read a Bernhard I didn't like. Gathering Evidence, a compilation of his memoirs, is worth a read; it's amazing how little the style changes from his novels.

Picked up Wittgenstein's Nephew and connected with it instantly. Will definitely come back to Extinction at some point - got plenty more Bernhard to crack on with first, and also bought a few Murnane books after your (and others') recommendation in that thread.

(It's been a slow start to the year for me, in reading terms, so I still haven't read Ice yet either. Oops.)

[buttgammon]

Really glad you enjoyed Wittgenstein's Nephew! Murnane is incredible.

[Pink Gregory]

Wondering if I'll crack Suttree, which I've had on the shelf for about ten years, this year.  Have a feeling that the Cormac McCarthy period of my life is over and that the prose style just might be a bit tiring, but willing to try.

Definitely going to take a break after Titus Groan, much as I'm finding Peake's prose incredibly engaging I'm feeling the need for something more breezy.

I've got A Nation of Shopkeepers, a book about the rise of the 'new petty bourgeouise' which is quite good as pop politics books goes but again it's one of those self-hating 'harsh truths' left wing books that can sway a bit reactionary at times largely for effect and I find that annoying.  Plus I think the author can be a bit of a dickhead but then I don't need to read his twitter, do I.

Would like to read Carl Neville's other fiction book Revolutionary Road, as it connects up with Eminent Domain, the book it took me about a year and a half to read.  Also picked up Tariq Ali's High John the Conqueror after reading a lot of praise but it's in a box at the minute.

Got given Jack London's the Iron Heel to read as well, hoping to get on that before I see the lender next.

But Titus Groan has been a bit of a roadblock so far, I don't really manage more than five pages at a time, but a lot can happen.

[Neville Chamberlain]

But Titus Groan has been a bit of a roadblock so far, I don't really manage more than five pages at a time, but a lot can happen.

Funny you should mention this, because this is the year I read Gormenghast.

I'm currently coming to the end of my China Miéville spree having read, since last October, most of his novels now and it's been an absolute blast. I've also got a couple of Ballard novels outstanding that I need to polish off, so there's that. And I also want to start City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer...

[Pink Gregory]

*Tariq Goddard, fucksake, getting me Tariqs mixed up as usual.

[buttgammon]

Dalkey are hoping to reprint Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young over the summer and I'm planning on going in, which is going to take a lot of time.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

Ooh I'm in. I'll probably never finish it, but I'll give it a go

[Neville Chamberlain]

Oh, yeah, it's about time I started reading Ursula K. Le Guin, too, motivated as I have been by some really interesting posts on her books on this very CaB over the years...so, that's another project for this year.

[Scarlett Tangible]

Found seven books in a charity shop that I liked the look of (two of which I've read before and the rest I haven't):

Tales from Russian Folklore - collected by Alexander Afanasyev
Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida - Edited by Robert Chandler
The Little Demon - Fyodor Sologub
Black Snow - Mikhail Bulgakov
The Blue Flower - Penelope Fitzgerald
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk (read)
The Colossus - Sylvia Plath (read)


After not reading for a long time due to poor concentration and depression etc I'm starting to get back into it. Just finished The Hitchhiker's Guide for the first time, which was the perfect thing to ease me back into reading - light, funny and entertaining. Will have to get hold of The Restaurant... at some point.