Finished:

My Life with Bob, by Pamela Paul

Currently Reading:

The Odyssey, by Homer (the Emily Wilson translation)

Genome: the Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, by Matt Ridley

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

The Secret History, by Donna Tart

I’m loving it so far.

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

Absolutely adored it. I minored in the classics, so it was fun to pick up the references. It made me miss my college days and old friends.

The Secret History, By Donna Tartt

It's really good so far, kind of eerie though. And I'm not sure which characters to like and which characters to hate.

Finished: The Secret History by Donna Tartt and Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

​

Started: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

​

I am pleased with my ability to pick up reading again rather effortlessly after an almost 7 year "mom break". I really missed it.

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

I don't know how I've not read this before, I really enjoyed it, a phenomenal read. I definitely felt like the second half was a little slower and less engaging than the first, but it still had me hooked until the end. Looking forward to reading some more of her writing, I think The Goldfinch might be next on my reading list.

Secret History by Donna Tartt It has been on my kindle for ages and other stuff kept getting read before it. I don't know what took me so long. Its great. I love reading books where you just don't like the characters. In this case they're all so full of their own self importance and it is a clever write from a first person pov to really amp up the feeling that them and all their conceited, poncy friends are doing important things. Reminded me of Girls (Emma Cline). That same sort of nostalgic/self-centred/dark narration.

I've had the worst month when it comes to reading, and I have started and DNF'd three separate books so far. BUT, this weekend I started The Secret History by Donna Tartt and The Fireman by Joe Hill, and so far they're both really good.

The other day I finished:

A Meaningful Life, by L.J. Davis

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

I was a bit disappointed in both books. I got "A Meaningful Life" for $4 at a local bookstore and I love NYRB books but it seemed a bit lackluster to me. Actually both books had the same dramatic plot twist element that I'm not really into so I suppose that's why I didn't like them very much. I've heard a lot about "The Secret History" and I love stories set in academia so I thought I'd give it a go, but it was a bit much for me plot-wise.

Now I'm halfway through The Crack-Up, by F. Scott Fitzgerald and I'm enjoying it immensely.

Finished:

War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy

The North Water, by Ian McGuire

Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher

The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, by Chris Whipple

Circe, by Madeline Miller

Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth's Most Awesome Creatures, by Nick Pyenson

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

Started:

The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Thunder Sunshine, by Alastair Humphreys

John Dies at the End, by David Wong

The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

Alone on the Wall, by Alex Honnold

Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trollope

I finished two books this past week: Wizard of the Crow, by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Bloodchild and Other Stories, by Octavia Butler. I really enjoyed both. I loved how dramatic Wizard was, and how the characters felt so real even as they were obvious caricatures. I really liked how Butler included little essays and thoughts about each of the stories and how much insight she gave to her thought process and writing process.

I’m now reading The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. It’s growing on me. The characters are all pretty unlikeable, but I’ve been drawn in by that classic trick authors use to keep you reading - I want to find out what happens next!

Just started:

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

Liking it so far! I struggle with Donna Tartt because her dialogue drives me crazy (everyone talks like a bougie old Englishman!) but the rest of her prose is gorgeous. It's definitely roped me in.

the french version of Six Four, by Hideo Yokoyama. It's huge.

Also rereading The Secret History, by Donna Tartt based on a thread here that made me want to go back to it.

Finished:

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt (second reading)

Still reading:

Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan
The Book of Essie, by Meghan Maclean Weir

I finished The Secret History, By Donna Tartt, which was absolutely amazing. One of my favorite books of all time. I couldn’t put it down.

I also finished my reread of Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson, and am starting to finally read Oathbringer this week.

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt I just started this today (on my lunch break) and I'm already obsessed! Tartt's prose is so fluid and crisp, it only takes her a few sentences to get me ingrossed into a scene, thought, moment. I read 'The Goldfinch' shortly after it came out and enjoyed it, so this one's been on my list for a while.

Just finished up The Secret History, by Donna Tartt, and started Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate this afternoon. I absolutely loved The Secret History, but not sure if the new read is going to be for me. It was recommended by a friend so I decided to go for it; at least it’s fairly short. shrug

Finished:

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt - I enjoyed aspects of this, but overall it wasn’t my favorite. Normally I love unreliable narrators, but I felt like all the characters (including the narrator) were thoroughly unlikeable, and none of them seemed to grow significantly either.

Zen in the Art of Archery, by Eugen Herrigel - this is the original “Zen and the art of ____” book, and it’s so good. Moving, philosophical, and inspirational. It’s also very short, so it makes a good entry-level book if you haven’t read any religion or philosophy texts before.

Started:

The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson - this one has been on my list for a while, and so far it’s living up to my expectations. I like how she weaves real people’s personal stories in with a broader historical view of Jim Crow and everything else that factored in to the Great Migration.

Finished All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Liked it well enough, but it got a little slow in the middle.

Started All's Quiet On The Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque. About halfway through and it's pretty good. Thought it would be a decent follow-up to "All the Light..." Still in the middle of War Trash, by Ha Jin too so I'll likely finish that next. Then I have The Secret History, by Donna Tartt to read after those.

Finished A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. I’ve heard good things about the movie, but instead of watching the movie and not finding enough motivation to read the book, I’m doing the opposite. Still haven’t watched the movie but I will soon. And plus book readers get the controversial last chapter, a great area of debate. I loved reading the book with no knowledge about nadsat slang and getting a hang of it just by context and the main character’s description. It was fun to do it that way, for me. (Although I didn’t pick up on horrorshow = good/great until later on in the book.)

Then I started A Secret History, by Donna Tartt. I took a Latin class a few semesters ago and it was incredibly interesting, learning a language that would have easily vanished and been forgotten. When I started reading and found out the main character/narrator was a whiz at Greek and is going to take Latin, it’ll be very cool to see how it goes. I might learn a few things I forgot as well. There is a professor in the book that lectures in a very flowery and decorated way, and it’s absolutely magical, like I’m part of the lecture as well, yet it’s the first class I would gladly put everything down and listen to the professor lecture. These are my impressions from only the first 50 pages, and seemingly, the prologue (only two pages long) outright spoils the death of a character? Is there a good reason for this? I’ll probably just have to find out. Still, it’s a very enthralling read.

The Secret Society, by Donna Tartt. I've just started after having a huge dry spell when it comes to reading (almost a year!) and I'm really enjoying it. I adored the Goldfinch, and I think that how much I adored it in a way turned me off from reading because I couldn't help but compare everything to it even in cases where it was irrational to do so. I've also started Grendel by John Gardner, both out of personal interest and for school. Enjoying it as well, really want to read further. The nihilistic view of the world really drew me in.

Just finished The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. Didn't have any expectations when I started it, so the slow start bored me enough to consider dropping it. In the end I did like it (still not sure how to feel about the narrator though), so s/o to my housemate for convincing me to keep reading it.

Just started Tequila Sunset, by Sam Hawken and will probably pick up a book from my non-fiction pile some time midweek.

I completed The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde and started and am almost completed with One Day in December, by Josie Silver.

I am also trying to finish The Secret History, by Donna Tartt; am a little over halfway done.

Finished Sapiens, by Yuvai Noah Harari. Liked it a lot. Very thought-provoking. There were a few parts that seemed a bit speculative, but overall highly recommend as a pop evolutionary biology/anthropology read.

Started The Secret History, by Donna Tartt and Don Quixote, by Miguel De Cervantes. Read and enjoyed The Goldfinch a couple months ago so thought I'd try out Tartt's earlier novel. Only a chapter or so in.

Got a little bogged down with The Secret History so thought I'd try out Don Quixote and am quite happy with it so far. It's always incredible to me to read humorous stories from so long ago. One doesn't often associate humor with most accounts from history.

The secret history, by Donna Tartt

First book that I have finished in years. So I decided to begin reading another book written by her:

The goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

Currently reading The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. Have wanted to read this ever since I read The Goldfinch (which blew me away) a while back. Can definitely say Donna Tartt is one of my favourite modern fiction writers now.

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

My first time reading anything by Donna, I'm about 100 pages in and enjoying it a lot. Great writing, it's deep but not difficult. Feels like something crazy is about to happen, looking forward to it

I started reading The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. I’m about 150 pages into the book, and I’m still not sure if I like the book. First of all, the book is written very well. However, I don’t find any of the characters likable or relatable. They all come off as snooty or pretentious, although I guess that’s kind of the point. And I’m having a hard time feeling much sympathy for the main character. Also, sometimes I feel like I’m just not smart enough to truly appreciate the book. A lot of the references to Greek literature, history, the Latin language etc., just go way over my head. I think I’ll keep reading the book, because I heard it gets much better, especially the second half. And the mystery surrounding the other students has me slightly intrigued, but right now, I’m finding it difficult to be fully invested in this book.

Finished The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

Found the first half very intriguing. The characters are very unique and the plot was unpredictable. There was great suspense as Richard wondered what his friends were up to behind his back.

The second half was slow though. I started to get sick of the characters, just as they became sick of each other. The plot was still unpredictable, but it hardly seemed to be going anywhere.

It took me a long time to figure out when the story took place. The book was published in 1992 and narrated by Richard retrospectively so I assumed it must have been the 60's or 70's, but the 70's are referred to as the past in the narration. This "timelessness" is perhaps a positive attribute of the novel, as it illustrates the extent to which the characters live in their own little world. One takeaway that I perceived is a warning about the dangers of living like this, and how your sense of reality and your conscience become distorted.