Topic: Books You're Currently Reading?

Still reading Labyrinths by Borges, getting to the end of the 'Fictions' section of the work. Obviously, a lot of it has religious tonality, which you will know if you are at all familiar with Borges, but, as he was an agnostic it is more theosophical in tone than dogmatic, and preachy, so, yes, it is an excellent work, and it makes you think, so far at least.

Finished Labyrinths by Borges, a profound and enlightening read. I especially enjoyed his 'parables' at the end of the book. It was very theosophical, as I've posted before, and I got the impression that Borges was somewhat of a lofty intellectual type, whilst still alive. A reflective man, who liked to think about the world and universe around him. Highly recommend.

just started reading Hunters of Dune. Trying to enjoy it but i remember Heretics and Chapterhouse were just dull and too many new characters where i couldnt tell who were the good guys and who were the bad guys

Currently reading Italo Calvino's 'Why Read the Classics?' I've got another book that he recommended along with a short story by Borges on my to-read list next. But so far, he has analysed both Homer's 'The Odyssey' and Xenophon's 'Anabasis' to my great satisfaction so far. I am just going through his reading of Pliny's fantastical encyclopedic descriptions of beasts and men at an earlier stage of the world that he depicted, perhaps an alternative world history, you could call it, maybe. But, yes, I am looking forward to his analyses of more contemporary classical fiction as the work progresses.

@Kidfried Oh really? That's cool. It's not my favourite by him, prefer Invisible Cities & Collection of Sand, but hope you enjoy it.

@Kidfried If you have a good time with it, I would definitely recommend Invisible Cities. Collection of Sand is very good, but non-fiction, so I don't know if you would like that one unless you are into that genre.

I finished Calvino's 'Why Read the Classics?' it was a thoroughly enjoyable and edifying read, I really liked Calvino's interpretations of the "classics" referenced in the book, particularly the works of Gadda that he described, as I was unfamiliar with the author. I also read 'Into the War' by Calvino, which is a collection of three short stories on the Second World War. I thought that was good, but not nearly as good as 'Why Read the Classics?' and I am now reading 'The Maker' by Borges.

I finished the Green Bone Saga last night. Excellent series, Jade City and Jade War were both superb and Jade Legacy was a fantastic end to the series. It could have been more books but Lee went with a series of time jumps to get to her ending and wrapped it up in a satisfying way.

Next up I'm reading Before your memory fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

@MightyDemon82 Love to hear that the Green Bone Saga is good! It's been on my reading list for a while (how could it not be, when it has been described as " a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu"?)

And now I've added "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" to the list as well. Feels like it could be a fun read

@FuriousMachine I started Jade City at the end of January and finished Legacy last night. It was that good.

I enjoyed Before the coffee gets cold. A nice light read, hopefully Before your memory fades is just as good!

I just finished 'The Aleph' by Borges, it didn't take long, as, unfortunately, I overlooked the fact that most of the same stories are in 'Labyrinths' ,which I read earlier. Now onto 'The Baron in the Trees' by Calvino. Yes, another Calvino book, I know. This one is different to the others I've read so far, good but not spectacular, 'Invisible Cities' is still my favourite.

@MightyDemon82 Wow, that is pretty impressive. Those aren't short books! I may bump them up and put them in the next slot reserved for trilogies (that slot is currently occupied by The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, which I'm also very eager to read).
There a few books lined up before that, however, so I've got plenty of time to decide.

Finished James Clavell's Shogun (Goodreads page) and what a phenomenal novel that was! Wow, what a phenomenally good novel this was! Lengthy, but never, ever boring and never felt drawn out or padded. It took me a month and a half to read it and in that time the characters have taken up residence both in mind and heart. Finished it last night and already I miss them. I have no idea how authentic the historical details are, but it feels very authentic and it's immensely fascinating, regardless (I am given to understand the book is quite historically accurate, though).
This is one of those rare novels that upsets my scoring policy on Goodreads, because 5 stars seems nowhere near enough.
Looking forward to the adaptation coming to Disney+ in ten days

Next up: Wrapping up Geralt and Ciri's saga with The Lady of the Lake (Goodreads page), the penultimate book in the Witcher series (the last book is, as I understand it, a prequel).

@FuriousMachine I have added Shogun to the TBR been seeing that on YouTube channels a lot recently.

This is my current slate along with several manga and hardcover comic collections. Should keep me busy for a while!

@MightyDemon82 That slate looks very promising; plenty of titles there that I'm curious about, so looking forward to hear what you think of them. Sapiens was very interesting and only fueled my barely suppressed misanthropy

I am still reading 'The Baron in the Trees' by Calvino, it's a good read if a little preposterous at times. The whole concept of a baron who lives in the trees is somewhat silly, but Calvino often likes to be a little playful with the sense of reality he presents to the reader. He manages to keep things interesting, despite the majority of the action taking place, as you would expect, amidst the tree-tops.

@Jimmer-jammer How are you? I thought I'd mention you here, as, apart from Sweet Tooth (good memory I know, haha) I don't really know what you like to read? I'd recommend Invisible Cities by italo Calvino to you, I read it recently and some of the 'cities' described remind me of aspects of Lordran and Lothric for sure.

N.B Almost made it to 99 Vit now (95) then just gotta level up End & Str before Allant, (but not nearly to the same extent as Vit) it's costing 200,000 souls apiece now🤣 just in case you were wondering.

@Black_Swordsman Hey! Doing well, thanks. Hope you’re the same. As with most things, my reading tastes are pretty eclectic. I recently power read Dune again in preparation for Part 2 and have been thinking of continuing on through the series, as I’ve never read past the first one. I’ll look into Invisible Cities, thanks. Good luck with Allant!

I am getting ready to move house, so most of my books are packed away, right now.

But what I am reading, is Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. One of the few books that is not packed away. Because it has a permanent place beside my bed.

I know it is a cliche, but if any book can be said to have “changed my life” then this is the one.

Finished 'The Baron in the Trees' by Calvino. Excellent novel. The second 1/4 of the book dragged a bit but the remaining two quarters of the book more than made up for it. Excellent book, possibly my favourite by him, just behind 'Invisible Cities'.