Category: What are you Reading

Best Books of 2017

Posted December 15, 2017 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 4 Comments

As 2017 finally comes to an end, all I can think is ‘Thank God’. While this has not been a bad reading read (over a hundred books), I did not achieve some of my goals. Most importantly I was stuck in a real creative slump for most of the year and I had trouble climbing out. I decided to take a step back from BookTube because I did not feel like it was the right medium for me. I was hoping to focus more on blogging and writing essays but that never happened either.

My goals for 20017 included writing an essay a month and I failed miserably, but now I havae co-founded a literary journal so I have to make sure in 2018 I write more. For my reading goals, I planned to read 50% books in translation which I was able to achieve and I hope to continue with this in future years. I also had a list of about ten books I wanted to read in 2017 and ended up reading only three of them. I guess planning my reading is not for me and with that in mind, I decided to have no reading goals for 2018. I just want to read what I want, when I want. I want to be carefree and enjoy my reading journey. I hope this will help me get back into my creative groove and blog or write more frequently.

Having said that, 2017 was a pretty decent reading year for me and I thought I should cover off some of my favourite books. I probably should make sure I review all these books at some point but here is my list. First, I want to give an honourable mentions to The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark, Night Prayers by Santiago Gamboa (translated by Howard Curtis), The North Water by Ian McGuire, Belladonna by Daša Drndić (translated by Celia Hawkesworth) and The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño (translated by Natasha Wimmer).

Best Books of 2016 and 2017 Goals

Posted January 5, 2017 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 4 Comments

I love this time of year where we look back at our reading year and pick our favourites. Although there is a thrill in planning the next reading year, too. I have done a video talking about my reading goals for 2017 and my favourite books for 2016 but I thought it was appropriate to write about the topic as well. One of my goals for this coming year is to focus more on my writing, in particular my essay writing. I wrote two pieces at the end of last year that I was very proud (one on existentialism and the other on Westworld) and I want to improve my craft. My plan is to write at least one piece a month in the hopes to practise and eventually produce high quality essays.

Reading Goals

Starting off with my reading goals for the year, I had to look back at 2016 and see how I went. My major goal was to read at least 30% books in translation and I was very happy with ending the year with 49%. The more I read translations, the more I prefer it and for 2017 I planning to continue my journey and aim for 50%. I am not sure what percentage is my end goal is (maybe 75%), but if I continue to read more books in translation then I will be happy. My ultimate goal would be to read a book from most countries around the world and lower the amount of American literature I read (currently 49% of all books I have read were from American born authors).

Other than my focus on translations, I would like to read some more non-fiction and bigger books, as well as do more re-reading. These are not major goals but I would like to spend more time on this. I do however plan to read the complete Franz Kafka collection. I have a five book collection from Oxford World Classics that features all three novels and two short story collections. So I would like to focus on reading this and then maybe a biography on Kafka (I have been eyeing the Reiner Stach three volume biography on Kafka). I spend a lot of time reading from authors new to me, I thought it was time to start to focus on some of the authors I have loved. Starting with Kafka as my first choice, I hope to complete the works of many authors.

2016 Favourites

In 2016, I have read 87 books and I have been very happy with my progress for the year, even if I did not love everything I read. I have an infographic of my full reading stats if you are interested but I want to quickly cover my favourite books of the year. In these fifteen books, there are eight books in translation, six non-fiction books, two winners of the Nobel Prize for literature and surprisingly two authors that declined the Nobel Prize.

September’s Reading List of Doom

Posted September 1, 2015 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 10 Comments

It turns out I have way too many books on my reading list that I need to get read in the month of September. I do not know if I will be able to complete them and I know I will be distracted with other books but I thought I would share a whole list of different books waiting for me. A lot of these books are books from the library or just books I have agreed to read as part of a buddy read or a read-along. I am excited about many of the books I am going to be reading but this TBR is just beyond ridiculous. Let us see how many I do complete.

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (currently reading)
Satin Island by Tom McCarthy (library book & currently reading)
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (translated by Simon Pare) (in real-life book club book for September)
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (re-read and BookTube read-along)
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk (library book & BookTube read-along)

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (translated by Ken Liu) (potential buddyread with Riv)
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (library book)
Quiet by Susan Cain (audiobook)
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Literary Exploration Goodreads group)
The Devil’s Detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth (library book)

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (library book)
Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (translated by Heather Lloyd) (potential buddyread with Time to Read!)
Chess by Stefan Zweig (translated by Anthea Bell) (potential buddyread with Time to Read!)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein) (in real-life book club book for October)
The Parrots by Filippo Bologna (translated by Howard Curtis)

I know I am not going to complete all these books, but I will try. If you are interested in buddyreading any of these, please let me know and I shall see what I can do.

My Spring Reading List (for University)

Posted September 6, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 0 Comments

I’m back at university for another semester. This time I’m doing a course called Great Books part 1 (whatever that means). I’m actually very nervous and excited about this as I will be reading some very scary books. I’ve been doing an English Literature course part time and I feel like it will take me a very long time to finish this course. Studying online means I have a lot more flexible and that is hopeful for balancing my time between both work and study, however it also means it will take awhile. I thought I would share this list with you, not for sympathy but I’m hoping people might offer some advice (or encouragement) about getting through these books.

The Odyssey by Homer (translated by Walter Shewring)
Beowulf (translated by Michael Alexander)
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (translated by Nevill Coghill)
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

I think this is going to be hard, I don’t often read anything that was released before the 1800’s.

My Upcoming Reading List

Posted November 22, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 12 Comments

Next week I start a university course called Literature and Politics. I’m actually nervous and excited about starting this. I’ve been doing an English Literature course part time but work has been pretty full on so I’ve moved to online university. This will mean things will be a lot more flexible and should hopefully give me the time to manage both work and study without them interfering. What I wanted to share with you; the entire point of this post was my awesome reading list for the summer thanks to this course.

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

How awesome it this list? So many great books that I’ve read or excited to read. A reading list like this really does wonders to your nerves.

My Spring Reading List

Posted September 5, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 0 Comments

In July, I wrote a blog post talking about my reading list for the Winter; I might not have read all those books but I did enjoy writing about the books I was looking forward to reading. So I thought I might do it again now that Spring is here (or Autumn/Fall for the people on the other side of the world). Out of the five books I mentioned the only book I didn’t get to was Constance by Patrick McGrath but I read on a whim and while I enjoy this, it means it is impossible to plan in advance. However, I like to join in on the conversation and talk about the books I’m excited to read.

Dexter’s Final Cut by Jeff Lindsey

I’m a fan of the Dexter series; I’ve read all the books so far and am a supporter of the TV adaptation as well. Dexter is back and now Hollywood has got him involved in helping them shoot a TV pilot. When the star, Robert Chase loses himself in his character his obsessions soon turn to Dexter. This will put a real damper on Dexter’s night-time hobbies.

The Last Winter of Dani Lancing by P.D. Viner

A new psychological thriller in the tradition of Before I Go to Sleep and Memento, P.D. Viner’s debut is looking like it might be an interesting read. Twenty years ago, college student Dani Lancing was kidnapped and brutally murdered, the killer was never found and the case is now cold. Her parents’ marriage fell apart as a result of it, but now a new lead has been found and rekindles an obsession for revenge.

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

Nathaniel Piven is a rising star in the Brooklyn literary scene, after several years of learning he now has his pick of assignments and women. Debut novelist Adelle Waldman plunges into the psyche of the modern man and offers up a literary romance that is both intelligent and witty. I hope this book is a novel of struggles, discovery and anxiety that comes with romance and the literary scene.

Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams

Bobby Dollar is back, ready to advocate for the souls of humanity. When his demon girlfriend is taken by a great evil, this angel will go to hell to save her. The Bobby Dollar series is shaping up to be a great Noir/Urban Fantasy series; while I’ve not read this book yet I think it is very promising. Can an angel survive hell and can Tad Williams pull off another great Bobby Dollar novel; I hope to find out this season.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Sixteen-year-old Nao decides she wants to escape the loneliness and bullying of her classmates. But before she ends it all she decides to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun. Across the pacific Ruth finds some artifacts washed ashore from the 2011 tsunami that pulls her into Nao’s drama. Ozeki explores relationships, the past and present, fact and fiction in this contemporary novel.

There are many other new novels I want to get to and there are so many older ones I want to read as well but these five I hope get read sometime soon. I know planning isn’t really my strong suit but I do try. I would love to know if you have any books planned, I’m sure most people have a TBR full of books waiting for them but let me know if you are going to be organised and what you will read this Spring/Fall.

My Winter Reading List

Posted July 14, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 0 Comments

There seems to be a lot of talk about summer reading lists lately, but its winter! I know, I know, it is summer over where the majority of book bloggers live so I thought I will join the discussion. This is the time of year where all the big blockbuster books are released and everyone is picking out what they plan to read while they have time off or go on vacation. This is the wrong time of year for this over in Australia but we sometimes plan to read books as well (I try not to but there are so many books I want to read). So I thought I might post some books that are waiting for me on my nightstand.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Everyone is buzzing about this novel but I’ll admit I’ve never read The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns. This book is the book chosen for my local book club so there is an excuse to read this. I’m not sure what to expect but judging by the hype I’m worried I’ll be hugely disappointed, I hope not.

Tampa by Alissa Nutting
Arguably one of the most talked about books at the moment; this is disturbing and uncomfortable and I can’t wait to read it. I know it will make me sick and the idea of sexual psychopath with a fetish for 14 year old boys is too disturbing to talk about, but these subjects often need addressing more than ever. The bonus is the cover of this book, it’s highly suggestive but turn the book over and you see the button.

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
What can I say about this book? It’s set in Russia, so I’m sold. I’ve been hearing great things about this book and then the wonderful Anne at The Reading Room recommended and sent me a copy of this book, so I know it will be on the top of my reading list. There are other people out there raving about the book as well and for the most part they are people whose opinions I trust.

Constance by Patrick McGrath
From the acclaimed author of Asylum and Martha Peake, a masterful new novel of psychological suspense, the story of a marriage haunted by trauma and descending into crisis. This book has peaked my interest and I’m really looking forward to it, I’ve never read Patrick McGrath so I’m not sure what to expect, but it sounds intriguing.

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
A time-traveling serial killer is impossible to trace – until one of his victims survives. I’m not sure if I need to say more to sell this book. This book has enough buzz to speak for itself, mainly because Appian Way, Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company brought the television rights to this book before it was released in America.

I’m sure everyone has some books they are planning to read over the Winter/Summer so I’d love to hear what is currently on your list. I’m sure there are millions of books on your TBR’s, I know mine is growing faster than I can read and who knows if I’ll get to all these books in time for Spring, but I’ll have fun trying.