30 Days of Book Talk discussion

Of course, there are quite a lot of these books I feel I should really give a try, but for some mysterious reasons (te time's just not right or I'm not in the mood, etc...) I have not gotten around reading even though they are/would be available.

One of these author is Ursula K. Le Guin. I have heard much about her, and I know I should really read something by her, but... but ... but...

Anyway, if you are familiar with her and her books, I would gladly receive some recommendations.

Depends a bit if you like fantasy or science fiction. For fantasy I'd recommend The Tombs of Atuan while from the science fiction angle I really enjoyed The Word for World Is Forest (which is also quite short).

In the same genre I never read something by Octavia E. Butler. I also feel I have a lot to catch up on in terms of classics, especially French, with for instance Madame Bovary

Thank you for the recommendation, Henk.

Finnegan’s wake, is a book that I really wish I could bring myself to attempt. It just seems to daunting to read by myself.
Ursula le Guin is also, incidentally someone who’s been repeatedly recommended to me and I too feel I should read something by her as well.

I recommend The Left Hand of Darkness. I think it's accessible to those who don't generally read SF, and it's wildly original.

There are so many authors I have yet to read! For example, I read a lot of novels from Japan, yet I have a list of 99 Japanese authors I haven't read yet, all of whom are available in English translation. Then there are all the classic authors who have stood the test of time that I still haven't read. I feel so swamped that I never get around to reading anything when it comes out.

Bill wrote: "I recommend The Left Hand of Darkness. I think it's accessible to those who don't generally read SF, and it's wildly original.

There are so many authors I have yet to read! For exam..."

I’m intrigued about the Japanese writers on your list. I only tried murakami once but never could get engaged with the writing.

I'm not sure how to respond to that one. There are a lot of different Japanese authors that I've read, and a bunch more that I intend to read.

Murakami Haruki is hit-or-miss in my opinion. Maybe you read one that wasn't very good or that didn't appeal to you. It's a perennial topic as to why he's a household name these days. It's not that he's head-and-shoulders above everyone one else working today (some would claim the opposite), and he's definitely not as good as some older authors. But he got the hype, and it held on.

If you're interested, you could look at the Japanese literature group's introductory reading list:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...