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ltgmars
Current to-read list for the summer: contemporary Japanese lit for a class I'm sitting in on, Karl Marx's Capital for a summer reading group, more thorough read-throughs of Tsubaki Ayana's and Haruna Ai's memoirs.
Many of you know the drill. Every summer I ask for book recs from my f-list, and every summer I get through exactly 0 of the recommended books. But! I love getting book recs, and I have them all in a giant list, waiting for the day (which will never come~) when I can finally sit down and dig my way through them all. The fact that the recommendations came from my friends makes it doubly nice, because I love being reminded of all of the great people in my life.
</hokey>
So please join in again this year:
If you had to recommend ONE BOOK for me to read this summer, what would it be (and why)? Just one. I will accept series if they're directly related, but otherwise, just one.
Is there something you've read recently that really made an impression on you? Something that you read every single year and still grow from? Something fun and simple that you think I'd enjoy? Let me hear it.
Please please please~
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Date: 2011-06-30 23:42 (UTC)(And since you never read the books recced to you, I'll pass on reccing and just root for the two above!)
P.S. What are those two contemporary japanese novels? *curious*
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Date: 2011-06-30 23:50 (UTC)Hahaha how mean! But understandable, I suppose. Buuuut I really love getting book recs and having people to associate with them, so if you do have something you'd like to rec, I'll get to it some years from now and tell you if I liked it~! And really, you have no excuse, because I looked through my list and this would be my first rec from you. Next year if I haven't read your rec, you're allowed to pass, but this year, gimme something.
The ones at the top? They're the memoirs by Tsubaki Ayana and Haruna Ai (New Half celebs) I mentioned. It's partially for my research, but I figured I should read them and annotate more thoroughly than when I rushed through them to find things to write about for my term paper. :D.b
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Date: 2011-07-01 01:01 (UTC)(What is a New Half celeb? *ignorant*)
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Date: 2011-07-02 00:41 (UTC)Basically, transsexuals in Japan. Most New Half celebs are male-to-female, some having undergone sex reassignment surgery.
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Date: 2011-07-02 21:04 (UTC)Alright then, read As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann. Historical fiction set in Civil War England that happens to have gay characters. Most excellent book. And a pleasant change from the ridiculous glut of questionable "Tudor historical fiction" written by female authors of questionable skill.
(Oooooh, I didn't realize that these New Half celebs had books out! I'd heard of a few of them in the general sense before, but not in terms of novel!)
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Date: 2011-07-01 00:02 (UTC)Good luck getting through all those books! I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say you never get through any of the books recommended to you. I love getting book recs but actually acquiring those books and reading them is a different matter entirely.
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Date: 2011-07-01 00:12 (UTC)I love the concept of book recs, you know? Because then I get to think about the people who recced them to me and feel closer to them and get a more tangible sense of what they like and have one more thing in common with them. But yeah, I just need to get into the habit of making time to read, because I've been dreadful about it for so many years now.
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Date: 2011-07-01 00:40 (UTC)I'm currently trying to finish the world of Sophie (or Sophie's world whatever the correct English translation) and finished a lot of young adult fantasy novel in the spirit of learning how to write one, but nothing in that genre could impress me after Harry Potter. Perhaps you could also recommend some books to me? I'm planning to buy Norwegian wood when I have the money!
Well, my favorite novel of all time is Gone with the Wind. Have you ever read it before? Somehow it kinda fits the summer spirit xD
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Date: 2011-07-02 00:45 (UTC)Aaaaand, I don't read enough! Which is why I'm asking for recs. XD Though for class last quarter, we read Murakami Haruki's Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which I thought was fantastic!
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Date: 2011-07-01 01:05 (UTC)- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
- From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne
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Date: 2011-07-02 00:46 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-01 01:24 (UTC)OR. The Moribito series. The 1st book is just... wow. An adult woman as the protagonist! She's a bodyguard! She uses a spear and she's awesome and she's an amazing fighter who really excels at her job!
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Date: 2011-07-02 00:47 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-01 01:56 (UTC)For a random historical fiction, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's long, but it's worth it. (Also seconding Tokyo Vice that someone else suggested. I devoured it in a day. So good!)
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Date: 2011-07-02 00:50 (UTC)Ahh, historical fiction. I should probably go to you for historical fiction recs, huh? :3 Thanks!
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Date: 2011-07-01 02:01 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 00:50 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-01 02:11 (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-07-01 05:24 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 00:54 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-01 10:27 (UTC)Happy reading! :]
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Date: 2011-07-02 01:00 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-01 13:39 (UTC)Okay, and actual rec now. I think the hardest part about this right now is the fact that I haven't been reading as much as I used to, so I'm just going to say the book I'm currently reading, which is Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland. Maybe I'm just a biased reader, but I'm quite enjoying it right now (it's my current bath time book, which is when I do most of my reading).
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Date: 2011-07-02 01:16 (UTC)Whee, going on the list. Thank you~ :3
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Date: 2011-07-01 14:36 (UTC)Also, Haruki Murakami is an obviously excellent choice ♥
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Date: 2011-07-02 01:19 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 01:32 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 01:40 (UTC)I will certainly let you know about Popular Hits. I should be finishing it next week...
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Date: 2011-07-02 04:22 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 05:17 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-02 05:23 (UTC)I recently posted about Elizabeth Wein's, 'The Winter Prince', which is a YA book, very short, and quite good, IMHO. 200 pages of fairly easy reading, if you're looking for a toss-away.
Something more difficult -- Mary Renault's 'The Last of the Wine'. Greek historical fiction. I'm in the middle of it, but it's excellent.
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Date: 2011-07-02 05:31 (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-07-04 12:41 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-05 16:40 (UTC)