Just bought kindle version starting now
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Iâm sad that I finished it!
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If youâre looking for your next choice, hereâs a thought-provoking list, what first-year students read in 2024. Book club favorite Remarkably Bright Creatures is on there, among heavier hitters like Homerâs Odyssey and a new Colson Whitehead book.
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Another interesting list and reviews is the New York Times âThe best books of the 21 st century.â Iâve only read 14 of them - not much sci-fi or fantasy on the list! Sorry I donât have a link. I canât get my phone to believe I am a subscriber.
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Gift link
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Well, Iâve read one of them. lol
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Heh. Iâve read 7, and have another 4 as yet unread on my bookshelf, some since years ago. Oops. There are some by authors who Iâve read other books by (life after life is probably the only Atkinson I havenât read). The two (out of 7 haha) that I most agree with for the list are Never Let Me Go and Demon Copperhead. I think a number of Ian McEwanâs other books are better than Atonement, but thatâs sure the one that captured everyone.
I think 28, but sadly have trouble remembering much about a few Iâm sure I read.
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I have read 24 of them. Several are books I really hated. I think overall it is a poor list. I really like Zadie Smith, but does she deserve multiple places on this list - I think not. (same for Ellen Ferrante - except I wasnât a fan of any of hers).
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Didnât mind about Smith, but totally agree on Ferrante!
George Saunders had three spots and I thought that was totally warranted.
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Iâve actually read 19. But Iâve taken out of the library and returned without reading another 15 or so!!
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I did love Atonement and hated whatever Book of his I tried next
Loved Remains of the Day but didnât like Never Let me Go.
I have read 21 books on the list. I wanted to like Elena Ferranteâs, My Brillant Friend, but I didnât. Itâs rare that I donât finish a book, and I didnât finish that one. The other book on the list that also received the Pulitzer Prize for Best Memoir (2023) was Stay True. I thought it was OK but donât get why it won a Pulitzer.
HaâI havenât read any! I read a lot, but not new stuff, and little fiction except for mystery series I have been reading for 30+ years.
English classes turned me off to âgreat literatureââbeing forced to read something like Shakespeare or Milton or worse is not a way to create life long readers. When the HS where I taught selected summer reading, we always had a battle between the English dept and the rest of the faculty, over what was âworthwhileâ reading. We (science staff) got some sciency books on the list which certain kids really enjoyed, like the book about Henrietta Lacks, and a fun book on the chemical elements (The Disappearing Spoon-try it!).
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100% agree about school, particularly HS, reading lists. My daughterâs HS had them read one Shakespeare a year (great right), except they only read tragedies. One of her HS English teachers had to get special approval from the department head to teach A Midsummerâs Night Dream that year.
Each spring I would look over the summer reading list in horror as it contained one depressing book after another. I feel like this NY Times list is highlighting what they feel you should be reading, and not the best books to read.
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The âbest booksâ you read should be the ones that are interesting to you and make you want to pick up a book! I sometimes feel people think that reading âgoodâ or âclassicâ books are a status symbol. Totally great if thatâs what you like! But unless reading is your job, I feel that what is most important is reading words and exploring all the types of stories there are out there!
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One year our summer reading theme was basically âread somethingâanything!!â We suggested books, blogs sports websitesâŠanything!!! Kids had to simply report on the kinds of things they read. A surprisingly sad number of them still reported having read nothing at all over the summer.
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I read everything from what I guess is considered highbrow literature that would be in the list of best books, to total airport novels (jack reacher, Lucas Davenport, Gabriel allon series, Karin slaughter, my new discovery is Charlie donlea)⊠but I wonât spend money on the latter ones haha, those all come out the library. I just read what I enjoy - I love and appreciate good writing and deep themes, but Iâm also happy to lose myself in an exciting escapist thriller.
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Iâve read 13 and have a few of them in my Kindle for âsomedayâ. Honestly, Iâve never heard of most of them I donât think. How can they be on this list and not have been on my âbook radarâ?
Iâve read seven of them and was kind of surprised because my tastes are shallow - escapism and entertainment. Two of them were the first two Wolf Hall books but I couldnât make it through the third. One was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow which was one of my favorite books in years, partly because of sonâs love of video games.
I will say many of the less shallow books I read are rejects (or at least not chosen) in the book club here on CC.
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