# What are you reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Reviews & Recommendations\ **Created:** [March 12, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082 "2023-03-12T04:57:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/kewms/32/15720_2.png) [@kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/kewms)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/1 "2023-03-12T04:57:42Z")
There was a previous thread along these lines, but it hasn’t been active and is now a few years old, so I thought a new one might be fun. Feel free to link to your GoodReads/BookWyrm/other book-oriented social media, too. We get a wide range of visitors here. Books in languages other than English or with mature themes are fine, just let people know what to expect. I’ll start: Concerning Those Who Have Fallen Asleep; Ghost Stories, by Adam Soto. [https://bookshop.org/p/books/concerning-those-who-have-fallen-asleep-ghost-stories-adam-soto/18304577](https://bookshop.org/p/books/concerning-those-who-have-fallen-asleep-ghost-stories-adam-soto/18304577) Not really ghost stories in the traditional sense, but very much about how the present is haunted by the people and places of the past. Yurei: The Japanese Ghost, by Zack Davisson [https://bookshop.org/p/books/yurei-the-japanese-ghost-zack-davisson/9122372](https://bookshop.org/p/books/yurei-the-japanese-ghost-zack-davisson/9122372) Ghosts in Japanese folklore and popular culture. In English, based on the author’s research and translated by the author and others from Japanese sources. Chasing Homer, by Laszlo Krasznahorkai [https://bookshop.org/p/books/chasing-homer-laszlo-krasznahorkai/16081828](https://bookshop.org/p/books/chasing-homer-laszlo-krasznahorkai/16081828) This is a very strange book. The promotional copy describes it as “a chase narrative,” but it isn’t really clear (so far) whether the protagonist is in fact being hunted by anything but his own demons. ---
**Author:** ![Ascher](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Ascher](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Ascher)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/2 "2023-03-12T13:13:29Z")
_Witcraft_ by Jonathan Rée - best non-fiction I’ve read for a few years now. His best too. [https://bookshop.org/book/9780300255386](https://bookshop.org/book/9780300255386) _Meander, Spiral, Explode_ by Jane Alison - superb exploration of the possibilities of non-linear narratives. [https://bookshop.org/book/9781948226134](https://bookshop.org/book/9781948226134) ---
**Author:** ![rms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/rms)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 1:51pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/3 "2023-03-12T13:51:33Z")
> **[The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi…](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50853153-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich)** > > Hitler boasted that The Third Reich would last a thousa… and > **[Energy and the English Industrial Revolution](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25391553-energy-and-the-english-industrial-revolution)** > > The industrial revolution transformed the productive po… ---
**Author:** ![philwild](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@philwild](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/philwild)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/4 "2023-03-12T14:02:16Z")
[Revelation Space - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space) The first volume in the Revelation Space series by Alistair Reynolds [Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-François Champollion by Andrew Robinson | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13690401-cracking-the-egyptian-code?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=sFP9SMJqga&rank=1) ---
**Author:** ![JQ](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@JQ](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/JQ)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/5 "2023-03-12T14:56:43Z")
Some recent favourites. Thanks for starting this thread, @kewms! A beloved recent novel. Ishiguro is unparalleled. > **[Klara and the Sun](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54120408-klara-and-the-sun)** > > From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Frien… Will be a treasured re-read until I’m a doddering old man. > **[The Road](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6288.The_Road)** > > A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cor… Pro Tip: The Bear Came Over the Mountain but many others are also great. > **[Carried Away: A Personal Selection of Stories](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25192444-alice-munro-s-best)** > > Carried Away is a dazzling selection of stories–sevente… Read it when it was released and just re-read it, proving Irving’s writing is timeless, as that was a long damn time ago. > **[A Prayer for Owen Meany](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4473.A_Prayer_for_Owen_Meany)** > > Eleven-year-old Owen Meany, playing in a Little League … Should be required reading for every high school student… if they choose to read it. 😉 > **[On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33917107-on-tyranny)** > > A historian of fascism offers a guide for surviving and… A small, beautiful book about courage and character. > **[Small Things Like These](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58662236-small-things-like-these)** > > It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks lead… I was going to mention Sea of Tranquility but you must read this first. You will see why. > **[The Glass Hotel](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45754981-the-glass-hotel)** > > From the award-winning author of Station Eleven, an exh… > **[Sea of Tranquility](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58446227-sea-of-tranquility)** > > The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleve… Quite unexpectedly, perhaps my favourite book of the last year. > **[Shuggie Bain](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52741293-shuggie-bain)** > > Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "… ---
**Author:** ![kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/kewms/32/15720_2.png) [@kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/kewms)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/6 "2023-03-12T17:14:31Z")
> [@Ascher](#): > > _Meander, Spiral, Explode_ by Jane Alison - superb exploration of the possibilities of non-linear narratives. > [https://bookshop.org/book/9781948226134](https://bookshop.org/book/9781948226134) I’m exploring non-traditional narratives right now, so this is a timely suggestion. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![reepicheep](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@reepicheep](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/7 "2023-03-12T20:24:12Z")
Most of my current reading is cook books. A few new ones such as Home Comforts by Ukrainian Olia Hercules, the anthology Knead Peace: Bake for Ukraine compiled by Andrew Green, and three socio-historical recipe books by Regula Ysewijn Pride and Pudding, Oats in the North Wheat from the South: The History of British Baking, Savoury and Sweet (sadly mangled for the US edition into The British Baking Book : The History of British Baking, Savoury and Sweet), Dark Rye & Honeycake (her exploration of baking in her native Belgium), also her National Trust Book of Puddings. In between reading them I am cooking from them too. They are all examples of wonderful writing even if non-fiction rather than fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Orpheus](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/orpheus/32/19753_2.png) [@Orpheus](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Orpheus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/9 "2023-03-13T03:07:09Z")
> **[Srimad-Bhagavatam: Bhagavata Purana (18 Vol. Set)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1900133.Srimad_Bhagavatam?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=ZB6xjAApEA&rank=1)** > > Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) is a virtual encyc… > **[Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta: Volume One](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26849050-sri-brhad-bhagavatamrta?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=D61qFXcOtL&rank=1)** > > The hero’s quest for the extraordinary – an ever-recurr… > **[Sri Tattva Sandarbha of Jiva Goswami: Translation by Go…](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52351489-sri-tattva-sandarbha-of-jiva-goswami?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=4JenBSpct8&rank=3)** > > No serious devotee's journey into the depths of Srimad … > **[Jaiva-Dharma: The Essential Function of the Soul](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/761180.Jaiva_Dharma?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=uwNLd4lKmq&rank=2)** > > The Jaiva-Dharma of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is one o… > **[Bhagavad-Gita As It Is](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/991544.Bhagavad_Gita_As_It_Is?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=7Hr0Qz8C4p&rank=8)** > > A translation of the short Sanskrit text with EXTENSIVE… ---
**Author:** ![jcarman](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jcarman](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/jcarman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/10 "2023-03-13T16:47:17Z")
Just to throw my hat in: Kenneth Rexroth, New Poems. Lovely, and they express the time he was in well. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2801278-new-poems](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2801278-new-poems) ---
**Author:** ![Orpheus](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/orpheus/32/19753_2.png) [@Orpheus](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Orpheus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/11 "2023-03-14T03:56:16Z")
A few more from four different cultures: One of the first, if not first, historical novels. **“A material epic with an astonishing fidelity to [Chinese] history."—** _ **New York Times Book Review** _ The opening lines of the novel, “The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been” epitomise the tragic theme of the novel. **Forget about Game of Thrones, this actually happened.** It is full of intrigue and war strategies that are still used today. > **[Three Kingdoms (4-Volume Boxed Set)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50898529-three-kingdoms)** > > Complete and unabridged, Moss Roberts's translation pro… It was turned into TV series in 1994 and remade in 2010. Here is the link to the 2010 version. https://www.youtube.com/embed/tmxJCPxmL7k?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLCldpz_Pc1FrGQLsaxaV0kVPqmXN_nanN And the source for John Woo’s “Red Cliff” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pd0bqLQrtdE/maxresdefault.jpg "Red Cliff Official HD Trailer John Woo Film") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd0bqLQrtdE) “This volume [**African Divination Systems**] of finely crafted case studies is also the vehicle for an important general theory of divination… this is a book overflowing with ideas that will powerfully stimulate further research.” --Journal of Ritual Studies > **[African Divination Systems: Ways of Knowing (African Sy…](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8259372-african-divination-systems)** > > "This volume of finely crafted case studies is also the… _ **Arthashastra** _ – Classical political science and military strategy (of India) 2000 years before Machiavelli. > Roger Boesche describes the Arthaśāstra as “a book of political realism, a book analysing how the political world does work and not very often stating how it ought to work, a book that frequently discloses to a king what calculating and sometimes brutal measures he must carry out to preserve the state and the common good.” > **[THE ARTMASMASTRA](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7980133-kautilya-s-arthashastra-the-way-of-fianancial-management-and-economic-go)** > > The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on state… _Plutarch’s Lives_ was the source for several of Shakespeare’s plays, and was on the bookshelf of every educated man until recent times. > **[Parallel Lives](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12238990-lives-of-the-noble-grecians-and-romans)** > > Plutarch's Parallel Lives is a series of biographies, a… > Plutarch’s Lives is a brilliant collection of biographies by one of the greatest biographers and moralists of all time. By comparing a famous Roman with a famous Greek, Plutarch intended to provide model patterns of behaviour and to encourage mutual respect between Greeks and Romans. There are fifty biographies of famous soldiers, legislators, orators, and statesmen, and an additional eighteen comparisons. The form of Plutarch’s Lives was new; he outlined the birth, youth, achievements, and death of his characters, followed by a formal comparison. The Lives display formidable learning and research. Plutarch is essentially a moralist whose aim is to edify the reader; destiny follows from character, which he illustrates by anecdotes. ---
**Author:** ![paulcoholic](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/paulcoholic/32/41205_2.png) [@paulcoholic](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/paulcoholic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/12 "2023-03-14T20:13:05Z")
In what may become an annual Lenten tradition for me, I just completed a reread of: > **[A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/164154.A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz)** > > In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the l… ---
**Author:** ![RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/ruths/32/17147_2.png) [@RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/RuthS)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 2:08pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/13 "2023-03-16T14:08:09Z")
I just finished _Babel: An Arcane History_ by R.F. Kuang. And, I’m about to start reading _Educated: A Memoir_ by Tara Westover. I’m also reading through _The Daily Stoic_ by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. And, I might add something else to the mix. ---
**Author:** ![RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/ruths/32/17147_2.png) [@RuthS](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/RuthS)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/14 "2023-03-16T14:16:36Z")
Are you a fantasy reader at all? If so, have you read Ken Liu’s _The Grace of Kings_ yet? It’s a 4-act structure rather than the more familiar, Western 3-act structure. ---
**Author:** ![Trask](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/trask/32/27235_2.png) [@Trask](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Trask)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/15 "2023-03-29T19:23:11Z")
I just finished “The Paris Apartment” by Lisa Foley, for my book club at the local library. It is a good “beach book” for the ability to get to a good stopping point easily. She has a ton of very short chapters each is titled based on the character who is sharing their viewpoint at that time. It is a murder mystery with good character development and a fun plot line. Recommended for those who read during breaks, coffee shops, or at the beach with kids even! [The Paris Apartment](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Sp3foQVIL.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Orpheus](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/orpheus/32/19753_2.png) [@Orpheus](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Orpheus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/16 "2023-03-30T12:55:27Z")
Today I am reading the [Ramayana](https://www.amazon.ca/Valmiki-Ramayana-Sanskrit-English-Translation/dp/812930029X/ref=sr_1_48?adgrpid=1353499047153877&hvadid=84594210231375&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=118498&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-84593861995106%3Aloc-32&hydadcr=20847_13395648&keywords=ramayana&qid=1680180604&sr=8-48) as it the appearance day of Lord Rama. ---
**Author:** ![Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/vincent_vincent/32/19680_2.png) [@Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Vincent_Vincent)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/17 "2023-04-08T04:10:17Z")
I just finished Klara and the sun (in French, Klara et le soleil) Pretty good. Thanks for recommending it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/kewms/32/15720_2.png) [@kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/kewms)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 4:23am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/18 "2023-04-08T04:23:56Z")
Flash fiction: The Ghost Variations, by Kevin Brockmeier [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-ghost-variations-one-hundred-stories/18915300](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-ghost-variations-one-hundred-stories/18915300) Craft: Meander, Spiral, Explode, by Jane Alison, with a hat tip to @Ascher for the recommendation. [https://bookshop.org/p/books/meander-spiral-explode-design-and-pattern-in-narrative-jane-alison/17272520](https://bookshop.org/p/books/meander-spiral-explode-design-and-pattern-in-narrative-jane-alison/17272520) ---
**Author:** ![Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/vincent_vincent/32/19680_2.png) [@Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Vincent_Vincent)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/19 "2023-04-08T12:27:24Z")
There is a book I wanted to suggest in this here list. A novel that I read a good couple of years ago, and that made quite a strong impression on me. Problem: despite having really liked it, I just can’t for the life of me remember the title nor the author’s name. lol Perhaps someone also read it and can help? Here is what I remember from this novel, and that I can post without ruining it for anyone. The story is about a divorced and disillusioned scriptwriter. The paperback version was quite thick. I’d say +/- 500 pages. Gold cover. Protagonist name: Saul (or something like that). I think that it is the only novel from this author. RIP Rings a bell? ---
**Author:** ![Ascher](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Ascher](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Ascher)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/20 "2023-04-08T17:11:38Z")
Are you thinking of Karoo? Steve Tesich? Wonderful book. ---
**Author:** ![Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/vincent_vincent/32/19680_2.png) [@Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Vincent_Vincent)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082/21 "2023-04-08T17:13:03Z")
Yeah! . . . . . . . . . Thanks. 😊 I’ve been wanting to read it again for quite some time. > **[Karoo](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/991550.Karoo)** > > Saul Karoo is a memorable creation. He is a successful … [Next page](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/what-are-you-reading/133082.md?page=2)