Comments on: Books read in July 2018

By: liz

liz — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 22:26:38 +0000

I took on Middlemarch over winter vacation (finishing it in April). I loved it– so much humor and warmth. Coincidentally, I’m currently taking on Infinite Jest in a partially online reading group with some colleagues. Ugh! I love many of the sentences but won’t ever think DFW is a great novelist, for several reasons. Still, it’s kind of fascinating to discuss–even or especially the things I dislike about it– so I don’t think I will regret reading it. Our pace is much slower than yours. We have an “infinite summer” calendar that takes us well into September, and I’m currently 200 pages behind schedule.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 17:04:52 +0000

In reply to Kathleen.

@Kathleen – it’s something so far! About 14% in (reading it on Kindle). Some strange stuff, some funny stuff. It is definitely good to be reading a long book in August – I feel like I don’t need to find something else for a while!

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 12:34:46 +0000

Can’t wait to hear what you think of Infinite Jest! It was my first DFW and took a while to get into, but once I got over the hump I plowed through all of his published works I could find. His narrative voice, his insights, his HUMOR (good lord is the man funny!) are so delightful. I’m excited for you that you’re embarking on such a literary adventure!

By: Caroline at Costa Rica Fire

Caroline at Costa Rica Fire — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 13:24:14 +0000

I recently read The Fun Formula by Joel Comm – Joel Comm is a serial entrepreneur and an Internet marketing expert. Essentially the book is about using fun as a key metric in making decisions. The book encourages experimentation, and Comm shares many personal stories of the many things he’s tried over his 50+ years.

By: KW

KW — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 13:11:35 +0000

Ooh. If you want books about memory then read Ishiguro! Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day are two of my all time favorites. Beautiful writing and compelling stories!

By: Sanne

Sanne — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 10:12:02 +0000

I will be in the UK next week (I live in Belgium) and will definitely be looking out for your book! I was talking about it to my husband when it came out in the US and he has been asking when I am finally going to buy it. So I hope to find a copy in a bookstore next week.

I read Middlemarch for my English degree and it was a struggle but you’re making me curious about it again.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 20:51:14 +0000

In reply to Meghan.

@Meghan – thanks for the recommendation! It would be quite a writing process to write something that long. And I hadn’t heard of Aphra Behn but am curious to see what she’s written.

By: Meghan

Meghan — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 17:20:06 +0000

One of my favorite podcasts, In Our Time from BBC4, had a super episode about Middlemarch back in April. It’s here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09z1dd7 Lots of great discussion of George Eliot and her writing process, and what it was like at the time to be one of only a handful of women writing (another one to add to your list would be Aphra Behn, considered to be the first working woman writer in English, and the subject of another great IOT episode).

I’ve been reading How to Be Idle, by Tom Hodgkinson, and loving it. It strangely fits quite well with Off the Clock, despite appearing completely opposite on the surface! I think I’ll follow it up with a reread of PG Wodehouse and Jerome K. Jerome (Hodgkinson definitely fancies himself a follower of those two).