I seldom get creeped out by things but there was something about House of Leaves that legitimately got under my skin.
I do understand how some people feel like it’s Foster Wallace levels of self indulgence, but I like that he did something a little weird. Like Maerman mentioned, the full color is great.
I’ve been slowly going through the Familiar, but I worry that it’s too ambitious a project.
I’m from America so of course our literary classics are pretty widely known in the western world, so I’m going to recommend something a bit more niche: There There by Tommy Orange. It shines light on many different aspects of the Native American experience, specifically in Oakland, California. It covers addiction, poverty, culture, and heritage in a way that I (not Native myself) found moving.
From the original “pulp” era: Sax Rohmer. Love that 1920s pulp fiction. He’s horribly racist, but it’s enjoyable if you just swap the “heroes” and “villians” in your head as you read. (Fu Manchu is the most evil man in the world because… he wants to free China from British colonial rule? Right. Go Fu Manchu!)
Also, Doc Savage. I like Doc in the same way I like the 60s Batman TV show: I don’t particularly like the “heroes”, I just enjoy the environment. (In one Doc Savage story I read recently, Doc’s plane is described as being so INCREDIBLY high-tech and bleeding edge, that the WHEELS RETRACT WHEN IN FLIGHT. Amazing. WHAT ELSE WILL THE FUTURE BRING!?!?)
I grew up on Lovecraft, but have discovered that what I like most in his work was done better, previously, by Lord Dunsany. (Particularly the Dream Quest stuff.)
I own a few magazines from the end of that era. These are issues #2 & #3 of Fantastic Magazine, 1952:
Finished the sequel to Becky Chamber’s A Psalm For The Wild-Built. Can’t recommend this series more highly for a glimpse into a calming and peaceful alternative future.
I'm what I call a seasonal reader - I almost exclusively read during the warmer months on my cute little balcony. I don't know what it is, but that's just my perfect setting for reading. I just can't get myself to read more than a few pages when I'm indoors. A cold glass of water, the warm summer sun and a great book are what I need!
I’ve been using it mainly as a way of keeping track of what I read. I guess I could use a text file, but it’s nice to be able to see it from my phone or share it.
I really liked the premise of each character telling their own story. It was a lot of variety and very interesting ideas were explored in different ways in each of them.
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