Well! I haven't posted here in a while, so here are the books I've read in the past three weeks:

• I finished Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace;
• I reread Coraline, by Neil Gaiman;
• I read The Crying of Lot 49, by Thomas Pynchon;
• I read What If? by Randall Munroe;
• I read Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut;
• and I just now finished Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy.

Whew. Hot damn. Now I'm onto Against the Day, by Thomas Pynchon and I'm not sure what else. I'm thinking about digging into 100 Years of Solitude or Ulysses (which I've been meaning to get to) or The Bell Jar, but I'm not committing to anything yet.

I'm something like 600 pages into Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, so that's taking up the brunt of my reading energy. It really picked up steam starting around 4-500, which feels ridiculous to say but is true, and now that a lot of the thematic/meta stuff is coming through much more clearly I'm enjoying it more than ever.

I took a break a couple days ago with The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H. G. Wells, one of my favorite books growing up and a very quick read (at least compared to DFW). It holds up... okay, if you ignore the bad science and bizarre implicit 19th-century racism. It's all about the ending for me. It's so creepy.

I also started in on The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, which is great so far, but it's hard to concentrate on two strong literary books at once so I'm putting it on the back burner for now.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Halfway through. Really, really, love it. Don Gately might be one of my favourite fictional characters ever when it's all through. I'd seen it said elsewhere on Reddit that DFW can't write a scene but in my opinion his fragmented descriptions really fit the text, at least for me.

Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

Enjoying Austen a lot more than I anticipated, mainly as I didn't expect the satire to be as deliberate and over-the-top as it is. But it works! Also, the story moves along at a great pace for a 'classic'.

A Month in the Country, by A.L. Carr

Yet to start this novella, but intending to read it one night after work this week.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

I'm about 40 pages from finishing. I've been at it for a little over three weeks. I've never had a reading experience quite like this book.

It's so strange to have a book that I've enjoyed as much as IJ, and has given me so much to think about, but that I also probably wouldn't recommend to others.

Edit: And now that I've finished it... I feel sad. To quote IJ, it "feels like when you’ve lost something important in a dream and you can’t even remember what it was but it’s important." (590) Oh DFW, dammit.

Finished The Divine Comedy, by Dante having only read The Inferno earlier in my life it was great to finally read the Commedia in its entirety. One of the most profound pieces of literature I’ve exposed myself to.

Started Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace and I am loving it. Shout out to endnotes 24. and 304. The list of films by James Incandenza has some funny plots amongst the absurd titles. It reminded me a little of Kilgore Trout’s (Kurt Vonnegut’s alter ego) random short story plots scattered throughout Vonnegut’s novels.

Finished The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson

Tomorrow I'm going to start reading Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner

My first taste of Faulkner. I've read Part One through a couple of times now, about to move on to Part Two. It's an incredibly disciplined style, and I would love to see the difference between the Vintage edition and Folio's, to see where my assumptions about some passages are different to his intentions.

I think it's so impressive that, given the style, there is still so much to take away regarding the characters. I've found myself going back and forth on what I think of some of them more in these first sixty pages than in any other book I've read recently. Very eager to get home tonight and read through Part Two.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

I'll have started this by the weekend, I hope. I've ordered a Library copy and my own (so I can annotate as I read). Consider the Lobster motivated me towards becoming a vegetarian, and I listened to his speech This Is Water, so I'm exciting to read something full length.

Ok, so over at r/infinitesummer we have just started reading Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, so come join us, and manageable at a leisurely pace of 10 pages per day.

And for easier digestive sensibility, newly released Fall, or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson, although you never really know with him..

Finished 1984, by George Orwell for the third time, this go in my book club. Also finished A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union from Stalin to Gorbachev, by Vladislov Zubok on audiobook and finally What Does it Mean to be Well-Educated, by Alfie Kohn.

I've started a rereads of The Road Less Travelled, by Dr. M. Scott Peck and Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, as well as picked up Hitch-22, by Christopher Hitchens on audiobook though its long winded sound is not really optimal for my audiobook needs. Finally, in continuing my reading of Kohn, I picked up Punished by Rewards, by Alfie Kohn.

Still in the works are:

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

A Storm of Swords, by George RR Martin

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

Finished:

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline - Wanted to read it before seeing the movie and after having all my friends get on my case for not having read it yet, I blasted through it. Really loved it and I'm looking forward to getting to the movie this week.

Started:

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace - Because having also recently re-read ASOIAF all the way through, I felt I needed a challenge. Only a few hours in and I'm really digging it.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace is the longest meme I've ever encountered. I won't deny that it's a work of literary genius, and is insanely ambitious, and a really enjoyable and fast-paced read. But it is kinda tinged with this aura of "victimized white boy." A friend of mine once called it "the self-stylized-intellectual-bro novel" and I can't get past that...

Halfway through Dust of Dreams, by Steven Erikson.

Halfway through Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace.

Halfway through The Stand, by Stephen King.

I feel like an asshole reading Infinite Jest because it has a kind of pretentious reputation but I am still liking it. I am primarily reading MBoTF and will finish both The Stand and Infinite Jest when I finish the main series. The Stand has gotten very mundane at this point. The first 1/3 of the story was amazing

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Still making daily progress. What can be said about it that hasn't been done so already? It's one of the best experiences I've had reading.

The Recognitions, by William Gaddis

This has come in via InterLibrary Loan at work today- just pawed over the first few pages and it has a very captivating style that no doubt will benefit from repeated reading which I'm wont to do.

Salem's Lot, by Stepehen King

Something nice and light to break it all up. I know nothing about it but what he mentions in On Writing- so I'm excited. Loved Pet Sematery.

Finished: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and Elegant Complexity by Greg Carlisle

IJ was a difficult and ultimately rewarding book. Having the reading guide was good.

Currently Reading: How Long `Til Black Futures Month? by NK Jemesin a interesting collection of short stories.

Starting: Alic Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield the 2nd book in the series by a local (to me) author. interesting time travel Sci Fi.

Still working on Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. My dream is to have it done in the next two weeks, but... we'll see. Up next on my simultaneous reading list (the stuff I read when I can't read any more DFW) is The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, and I'm also digging into Dubliners, by James Joyce. I've got a very long-term goal of one day getting into Finnegans Wake, but that's way off and is going to have at least three Joyce books (Dubliners, Portrait, and Ulysses) and a bunch of other stuff in between. Someday.

I started Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace on June 14th, I am 215 pages in and I’m really enjoying it. I like how sporadic and random the narratives shift from one character to another. The halfway house addicts have some very interesting narratives along with the boys at the Enfield Tennis Academy. I really like how he uses tennis as like a metaphor for life and individuality. The narratives with the Saudi Prince Q— are wild once you realize what’s happened to him and his wife and everyone who has gone to check in on them.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Finally dipping my toe into DFW's magnum opus. Currently shy of 180 pages, having just been introduced to the Junkies, C and 'yrstruly' and a few others. It's really an interesting, slightly baffling, read so far. A few of the details around the timeline and technology have passed me by but I can absolutely feel that Wallace is laying the brickwork for a great setpiece, and this the most excited I've been to read something in a long while. Thoroughly entertaining, and it's a lot funnier than I anticipated. I only wish I had more time to get stuck in, I'm almost wanting to book some time off work for it.

Quick q: am I right in assuming that Wallace literally makes words up at times? I've had to use a dictionary, which is understandable given DFW's vocabulary being just ridiculous, but there are one or two words already I couldn't find anything for.

Ready player one, by Ernest Cline just finished

Loved it. Devoured the book in about 36 hours - lots of fun to read. Not a life changer, but enjoyable

Heartburn, by Nora Ephron halfway through

So far I love it. Very funny and laced with poignant lines like "The infidelity itself is small potatoes compared with the low-level brain damage that results when a whole chunk of your life turns out to have been completely different from what you thought it was."

Inifinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace up next

Any tips?! I'm mighty apprehensive.

Still reading Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. I finished Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov a few days ago (my estimate was correct!). I'm going to pick up something else this week, but I'm not sure what. Right now I'm chilling.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. Just started it on recommendation from a friend. Feel like I'm in for ride.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace because it's about fucking time.

I’m currently working on Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace as part of my new year’s resolution to focus on longer books. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while, so I’m glad to finally be tackling it. I was pretty apprehensive to start, because I’ve heard a lot of mixed things about it on the Internet, but I’m actually enjoying it a lot more than I was expecting to. I’m a sucker for weird and obscure vocabulary words, so that helps - he’s an author who’ll never use a one-syllable word when a four-syllable one will do.

Just finished The Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula K. LeGuin and picked up Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace so that’s next up. I’ve been crushing through books these past two months but I haven’t tackled anything this involved since for a few years so we’ll see how it goes.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

I'm a little over a third of the way through. Yes, it's tedious at times. Yes, it's a lot of words. Yes, it is a bit pretentious.

But holy cow, I'm really enjoying it and feel like I'm being drawn into a whole new world with its complexities and idiosyncrasies. DFW, you've got me, I'm in.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Yeah, I’m fucking doing it.

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

I just started reading yesterday. I've never read any other of this author's works, but I know the title if for no other reason than its mention numerous times in the "favorite books" threads that pop up in this sub periodically.

I come to this novel as someone who is still trying to re-learn how to read. By this I mean: I have been a chronic skimmer from early in my reading life, always trying to get to the next part of the plot rather than really consume the details of a text, to say nothing of the author's style. I have to force myself to go slowly.

First impressions: this is going to be a challenging book. As yet (not quite page 50 of the 2006 Back Bay paperback) there is no plot, only the experience of characters, and even they have little or no relation to one another. I like the distinct styles of writing voice for the different characters; I wonder how or if they will interact with one another. That is all for now.

Finished:

• Casino Royale by Ian Flemming: it simply does not age well - the writing is mediocre, slow, and Bond appears to be arrogant, weak, racist and sexist.
• Borne by Jeff VanderMeer: interesting until the very end just destroyed it.
• The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E.B. Hudspeth: certainly interesting illustrations (minus the accompanying texts do not feel or read like legit scientific pieces by someone who pours his heart and soul into his study) but the biography part is seriously lacking.

Started:

• Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace: more like a restart since I pause like 2 weeks ago.
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: interesting and quite funny so far.

I am reading Infinite Jest, by David Wallace Foster.

I actually started late last week.

This is attempt number three. The first attempt was foiled by me not knowing the foot notes are Not Optional ^(TM).

The second attempt was foiled because I bought the Kindle version. The Kindle is bad at any sort of non-linear book. At the time, there was no sort of "go back" button, so every time I got to a foot note, I had to bookmark the page, tap the footnote link (which took 3 tries), read the footnote, and then go through a 15 second process of navigating back to my bookmark. It also confused the device synchronization because it just uses the furthest read point. If I opened the book on my phone it'd go to the footnotes.

This attempt is with a physical book. I made it far enough previously that it wasn't spoilers to bookmark page 223 with the Information That Helps You Orient Yourself In the Story's Timeline. That's helped immensely with the start. Also, I keep a pen and my cell phone handy. There's a lot of marginalia this time.

It seems to be taking this time. It's less a slog. The marginalia helps me feel less annoyed when a single page takes 10 minutes. I can see where I had to re-parse a massive paragraph long sentence or look up 10 words in the span of two normal-length sentences. It makes me feel accomplished.

It's been an embarrassment to have it sitting on my "Unfinished" shelf for so long.

I finally finished Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. Overall I enjoyed it more than I thought I would based on its reputation. I especially liked the many new vocabulary words I learned. I loved the way the story was pieced together, and I liked getting inside the heads of so many unique, flawed, and relatable characters. There weren’t enough female characters in my opinion, and some elements of the book came across a bit sexist and transphobic, which was disappointing, but it wasn’t bad enough to make me put the book down. I also don’t think it needed to be quite as long as it was. But overall I liked it a lot and I’m glad I put in the effort to read it.

I’m now reading The Women of Brewster Place, by Gloria Naylor. I love Naylor’s characters and how deep and flawed they are, but she still makes you love them and want to root for them.

Still working through Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. I'm benching the others I'd dabbled in last week to pick up Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov, which I remember enjoying as a teenager (when I was focused heavily on the prose) but now am having a lot of trouble stomaching. But I'm tearing through it and should be done in two more days.

Earlier this week I read White Nights, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which was beautiful and pretty painful. I love his ability to express these universal pains so relatably, without ever sacrificing depth or authenticity. I'm going to read Tales from the Underground next, and then dive into the big stuff. But the latter can wait until after IJ.

Reading is amazing.

Started Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace in earnest this week. Wish me luck.

I started reading If on a winter night a traveler, by Italo Calvino today. I read only a few chapters and I am not really into it yet, it felt boring.

I finished reading Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace a couple of weeks back and I still can't get that book out of my head. I don't think of that book every waking moment of my life but whenever I start reading another book, my mind just jumps back into that. I am worried if I will ever find another work like Infinite Jest.

But I felt that same way after I finished Worm, by Wilbow but I found Infinite Jest which made me engaged again. But it took a few months to find it and start reading it. I wonder what will be my next Worm or Infinite Jest.

Finished:

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, by George Saunders: consists of short stories and a novella about human struggles in various settings, a truly memorable read.

Started:

Hit Makers, by Derek Thompson: while it does not really have much science to it and does not give definite answers (but then which book can), the author does a good job at grasping reader's attention with examples and points of view.

Sexing the Cherry, Jeanette Winterson: I can't get it and feel disgusted at times especially when the princesses describe their (ex)husbands, seriously, even though so many people praise about its importance.

Also continuing on Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace: boy it's long.

FinishedInfinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Don't know what to do now, very strongly considering just reading it again because i've never enjoyed a book this much before.

Finished reading Infinite Jest, by David F. Wallace. I won't lie and say that I fully enjoyed the book, although there were some pretty well-written hilarious chapters most of the time I couldn't enjoy the book because the way it is written, and probably half of the subplot just flew over my head. Anycase, my reading buddy told me not to worry and that simply finishing it is an achievement. Haha, so take that!

Started reading Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid.

Finished Dune by Frank Herbert

Started Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

I am 32 pages into Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Last week I read Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

Well I just stopped at about 60% done reading Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami I wasn't invested at all and only mildly curious about the few questions I had. And I wanted to do Infinite Summer so I started Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, I've read it before and loved it so I wanted to read it again.

I finished Consider The Lobster, and Other Essays, by David Foster Wallace Started: Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace Wish me luck