[Comments] December Remember 2022

[lostcheerio]

December December for book-lovers is a time of reflecting on the past year of reading. And this crazy month full of holidays and celebrations can also be a time of urgent shopping. Maybe your thoughtful reflections can help me with my urgent shopping! This month rather than joining to read and discuss a particular book, let's talk about our year of reading, give each other some recommendations for books to buy for our friends and family, or for ourselves to read in 2023. Here are some questions to get us going: Reflecting: The NYT has selected its notable books for 2022. Do you agree with this list? Any glaring omissions? Have you read many of them? Any? What was your favorite read from 2022? What was a popular book that surprised you by being terrible, or an unpopular one that surprised you by being great? Shopping: What's your go-to gift book? The one you've purchased over and over? What's the best gift book you've ever received? Why was it such a great gift? Can we help you finish your shopping by suggesting books for difficult-to-buy-for family or friends? Describe the person and let's see if we can suggest something. If another question occurs to you, please raise it. And if you've got ideas for books you'd like to read and discuss here at the RPGX Book Club in 2023, we are open to suggestions.

[bothers]

It is the greatest of ironies that studying english lit means I have no time to read anything, heh. I do see an Ali Smith book (Companion Piece) in the NYT 100 list, though! I read one of Smith's books (Hotel World) for the first time for class and I thought she was brilliant - she writes so evocatively but without ever being flowery or sentimental. I'll be reading another of her books soon and am very inclined to get this most recent one too. I see from Goodreads that it's part of a four-book series! I don't normally read multiple books by the same author (my to-read list is too long for repeat offenders), but Smith I would make an exception for.


I've read loads of books this year, as usual (but I'm still behind schedule somehow, eyes emoji), and I've only had a couple of stinkers. 5-star reads included Lauren Groff's Matrix, wot we read for RPGX book club, and Treacle Walker by Alan Garner.

Another one I really enjoyed this year was Peter Danielsson's The Year Under The Machine, which is more of an artistic experience than a novel. Very sparse - he's put pictures of some of the pages up on his website, so you see these incredible full-page black-and-white smears and splatters, alongside very tiny "chapters" of a couple of sentences at a time. It's a beautiful object, and a compelling minimalist story. I originally came across it through a recommendation from Warren Ellis (the British comic books author, not the Australian musician) who's yet to recommend a book I didn't like.

[HashtagBryn]

Originally Posted by bothers

It is the greatest of ironies that studying english lit means I have no time to read anything, heh. I do see an Ali Smith book (Companion Piece) in the NYT 100 list, though! I read one of Smith's books (Hotel World) for the first time for class and I thought she was brilliant - she writes so evocatively but without ever being flowery or sentimental. I'll be reading another of her books soon and am very inclined to get this most recent one too. I see from Goodreads that it's part of a four-book series! I don't normally read multiple books by the same author (my to-read list is too long for repeat offenders), but Smith I would make an exception for.


I've read loads of books this year, as usual (but I'm still behind schedule somehow, eyes emoji), and I've only had a couple of stinkers. 5-star reads included Lauren Groff's Matrix, wot we read for RPGX book club, and Treacle Walker by Alan Garner.

Another one I really enjoyed this year was Peter Danielsson's The Year Under The Machine, which is more of an artistic experience than a novel. Very sparse - he's put pictures of some of the pages up on his website, so you see these incredible full-page black-and-white smears and splatters, alongside very tiny "chapters" of a couple of sentences at a time. It's a beautiful object, and a compelling minimalist story. I originally came across it through a recommendation from Warren Ellis (the British comic books author, not the Australian musician) who's yet to recommend a book I didn't like.

I may have to pick up that Peter Danielsson thing. I'm a big fan of books that do nonstandard things with the format. There's a copy of House of Leaves on my end table.

[bothers]

Ooh yes, House of Leaves is on my bookshelf right now waiting to be read! About 60% sure that was a Warren Ellis recommendation too, but this copy was sent to me by one of my Beloved Weird Friends who knows me well.

Do you have any other recommendations along those lines?

[HashtagBryn]

Originally Posted by bothers

Ooh yes, House of Leaves is on my bookshelf right now waiting to be read! About 60% sure that was a Warren Ellis recommendation too, but this copy was sent to me by one of my Beloved Weird Friends who knows me well.

Do you have any other recommendations along those lines?

Some people feel similarly about Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. Honestly though, Eco is on a list of authors that I've always felt I should enjoy reading, but simply don't. It is likely that having to read him in translation doesn't help. I've also heard mixed opinions about The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, but haven't ever gotten around to picking up a copy.

Really, though, I don't think there's anything that's quite like House of Leaves.

[DeletedUser79558]

An ex of mine sent me a copy of one of Nick Bantock's trilogies in a special set, which is awesome. I think the Griffin and Sabine one is the starter one. Epistolary, by which I mean the "book" is an actual collection of physical letters, art pieces etc.

Eco is my favourite author, Foucault's Pendulum my favourite novel. Nothing g like House of Leaves, which is another Lemming recommendation though.

[Ildrahil]

My wife shared a book with me by Charmaine Wilkerson called Black Cake. I was leery at first because it didn't seem like my thing, but it was an wonderful read. I enjoyed it from front to back and had a difficult time putting it down. Another great read is T. Kingfisher's (penname for Ursula Vernon) Nettle and Bone. If you want a book that will make you contemplate our world as well as this fictional world this is it...with the added benefit of it being a relatively short read.

Lastly, I'd like to give a shout out to a series I rarely hear about any more but is a truly gritty series of books that fairly accurately portrays military life and how those in the military interact with one another, as well as it having a romantic undertone of sorts. That series is Glen Cook's The Black Company. If you are into dark fantasy in a gritty world where the good guys don't always win, where they are sometimes on the wrong side, and where heroes often die, this is it. It's a great gift idea for a young adult with a macabre sense of humor.

[lostcheerio]

Historical fiction gift books for people who may not like historical fiction:

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova: Weird tale blurring fact and mythology around the Dracula story. For some reason lots of different people seem to like this one.
Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye: New York City in 1845. Strange and smart -- very compelling characters. Murders and a mystery to solve.
The Third Son by Julie Wu. Beautiful family drama backgrounded by some 20th century history of Taiwan that I knew nothing about. A love story.

All three of these I've successfully gifted multiple times.

[lostcheerio]

Here's a question: What's the WORST book you've ever received as a gift? One you will absolutely not be reading, or just really missed the mark.

Mine would either be Gift from the Sea (which would probably hit better now than it did when I was a new mom) or Trotsky's two-volume history of the Russian Revolution (which to be fair would also hit better now.)

[Ildrahil]

Cheerio,

So here is something strange. I'm old enough to remember a time before there was a game called D&D and in all that time no one has ever gifted me a book.

[DeletedUser79558]

I can't think of any books that haven't been welcome gifts, unless you count some of the ones I've received as an external reader for mrs Lemming's publishing company. Some of those have been bad. The one set in a (slightly) pre-apocalyptic libertarian haven that used to be a missile silo was one of the worst. I think we were supposed to cheer for the author - I mean main character - and his rather repellent views, but it was hard to get around the er, novel approach to grammar and writing that he conveyed. I suppose you could see it as an homage to Joyce, but it was certainly different to see that extended to the accompanying letter too.

[DeletedUser79558]

I might pick up this book, as I enjoyed The Wasteland, and it sounds like a really good close textual analysis of the poem and author both.

[Fillyjonk]

Originally Posted by lostcheerio

Here's a question: What's the WORST book you've ever received as a gift? One you will absolutely not be reading, or just really missed the mark.

11 years pregnant with a February baby who would be 11 pounds and 13 ounces large, I went to Alabama for Christmas, and my Grandmother gave me the Weight Watchers cookbook.

Reader, I killed her, then I ate her.

[ptwiddle]

Bad year for reading for me, and haven't checked the lists, but did just read and adore [I]Small things like these[\i].

Most successful gifted books were to my parents: Elena Ferrante and Mick Herron.

Yes. They're my parents.

[HashtagBryn]

Originally Posted by lostcheerio

Here's a question: What's the WORST book you've ever received as a gift?

Firefly by Piers Anthony. The gift-giver and I are no longer friends.

...not just because of that, mind you, but it sure didn't help.