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Pit Book/Discussion Thread

Finished Spy that Came In by Le Carre and holy shit that dude can write a spy novel
 
I didn't read much in 2021 - started "Life" by Keith Richards and about halfway through realized I wasn't enjoying it, but I also didn't want to quit on it. I slogged through it most of the year before quitting with 50 pages left and decided to try some new books which I greatly enjoyed last month. My December reading list was:

Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So
Collection of brilliant short stories about the children of immigrants growing up in Central California. The stories were dark, hilarious, and thought provoking. This book/author are getting a lot of praise and it's well deserved in my opinion. Too bad the author passed away.

The Trees by Percival Everett
Thriller about the legacy of lynching and police brutality; couldn't put this one down.

The Long Walk by Stephen King
Much discussed on the CT already, but I loved it. Would definitely gravitate to more King stories like this.

Widespread Panic: A Novel by James Ellroy
My first Ellroy; highly stylized prose about the seedy side of LA in the late 40s/50s. Gritty characters, lots of intersecting story lines. Really liked this one as well.

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
Loved this one; so much better than the movie which I watched right after reading. The story does such a great job of building the tension and breaking the characters down. Definitely interested in reading more of her work this year.
 
Bumping this to the top to get people's thoughts on Cloud Cuckoo Land because I thought it was fantastic.
 
iodeac said:
Bumping this to the top to get people's thoughts on Cloud Cuckoo Land because I thought it was fantastic.
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Townie recommended it to me and I thought it was superb. I'm still thinking about it weeks later.

Professional note: it was super obvious the dude was really into The Swerve bullshit, and he didn't really understand some basic stuff about physical books and textual transmission. It's a work of fiction, obviously, but always bugs me when a show or film or book purports to be realistic but gets it wrong
 
I really enjoyed Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. Funny dude.
 
Here is a list of what I’ve read so far this year; enjoyed them all for different reasons. I’ll probably focus a little more on non-fiction for my next few books so I can keep a bit of balance in my reading.

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TownieDeac said:
how did you like harlem shuffle?
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I really enjoyed it! Great crime novel that paints a vivid picture of the setting and the struggle of the central character balancing the two halves of his life. I haven't read anything else by Whitehead at this point, so this is my initial point of entry into his work. I picked this book because of the praise it got on several 'best books of 2021' lists that I've looked at.
 
Awesome, I'll add to my list. The reason I ask is I've read Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys and, while both are excellent, they're each tough reads. I believe it was wakephan09 who mentioned that Harlem Shuffle was Whitehead's attempt at something lighter since it was hard on him to write such difficult novels back to back.

I've been on a tear this year, already up over 50 books read, over half of which have been audiobooks.

Five favs of the year: Cloud Cuckoo Land (Anthony Doerr), Red Rising (Pierce Brown), Normal People (Sally Rooney), Klara and the Sun (Kazuo Ishiguro), and Magpie Murders (Anthony Horowitz).

Always on the lookout for more recs!
 
Haha, Harlem Shuffle was the book I was alluding to in my post above from December 24th of last year.
 
TownieDeac said:
Awesome, I'll add to my list. The reason I ask is I've read Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys and, while both are excellent, they're each tough reads. I believe it was wakephan09 who mentioned that Harlem Shuffle was Whitehead's attempt at something lighter since it was hard on him to write such difficult novels back to back.
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Funny you mention that because the book did feel light at times, given that it's a crime novel. Having read the cover of UR and NB, I would agree 100% that Harlem Shuffle is dealing with lighter subject matter (relatively speaking). Thanks for listing your top 5 so far; will check out 4 I don't know and put them on my list as potentials.
 
juice, I feel like you would enjoy Jesse Ball or Will Self. Maybe. Don't hate me if you don't.
 
I think I read a Jesse Ball years ago on a rec you posted here, maybe The Curfew

I dug it -- he's based in Chicago, I should read more

I remember re-stumbling upon Ball recently via his at-the-time partner, and now that I'm on her (very fun) website, I have no memory of what she wrote that sent me chasing her biography but I'd like to read more: https://www.catherinelacey.com/
 
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JuiceCrewAllStar said:
I think I read a Jesse Ball years ago on a rec you posted here, maybe The Curfew

I dug it -- he's based in Chicago, I should read more
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his stuff has a real voice

Samedi the Deafness hit me like a sack of bricks

I also read Census this year, which has a very interesting personal element to it
 
leftcoastdeac said:
I really enjoyed it! Great crime novel that paints a vivid picture of the setting and the struggle of the central character balancing the two halves of his life. I haven't read anything else by Whitehead at this point, so this is my initial point of entry into his work. I picked this book because of the praise it got on several 'best books of 2021' lists that I've looked at.
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I read the Underground Railroad and dug it. I’ll have to pick this up.
 
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