Liam O'Leary > Recent Status Updates

Finished all of Wilde's stories. Now onto plays.

Slowly realizing why this is popular among the readers I know in real life. I thought it was mediocre at first but its strong focus and continuity on girlhood is, for lack of a better description, really cool?

Every author has a crap book. This is one by my favourite author. What I've noticed though, is that bad books normally have the potential to be good books if they were ~70% shorter. So my thinking is, maybe it never makes sense to make a long novel? Why put in more work when you increasing the risk your readers won't enjoy it? I've never been happy for a long read... Have you?!?

Thinking about Purity as groundwork for Crossroads has made it a more forgiving read, it is also developing into something more interesting (pacing is unlike his other novels).

Something off about this one by Franzen... he's broke realism and went to what seems to be seemingly uncomfortable areas.

Full of wisdom, slow to digest. A Kosa view of yoga is fascinating.

Easiest 100 pages I've read in memory. This will be my book of the year. Franzen continues to be my favourite living novelist.

This book feels like the opposite of the Bible in so many ways!!

Shinji Mimura's death is so lame. Subplot destroyed, basic story remains.

Psalm 98.

The Book of Job and The Psalms have been stumbling blocks for me in my first read of The Bible. Both have filled me with sadness and made me weak as they resonate with my faithless periods of life, but I have returned each time. I somehow did not expect this to be psychically challenging, with hindsight I am not surprised!

I started reading this to impress a girl I liked but now it seems like we are over so it is sad but I am too far into the story to DNF it so I am kinda just being dragged through a gory plot I want to get out of!! Bizarre reading situation for me.

The very last book by Carson McCullers. Finishing my second author.

In the Psalms. The book of Job put me in a massive slump and broke me somehow. Slowed my progress and paused my daily chapter routine. Back on the horse now.

This is my last Vonnegut novel ever :(

Interesting theme here being the marital partner we return to is the one who most knows, through experience or memory, our parents (or childhood).

Two reasons I am reading this. It is the only book I wanted to read from my exgirlfriend's shelf, and it has an overweight male character in it. Not sure if either of those are good reasons, but here I am.

One of my best reads this year. Drnaso has still got it.

This is absolutely fantastic so far! Potentially my best read of 2022.

Made it to the Book of Ezra, still slowly reading daily this year. It has taken a while but God moves me at his own pace and I recently doubled my reading rate (1 chapter to 2 chapters). If anything this is a practice in patience for my faith. Currently I'm reading Flannery O'Connor's Prayer Journal nightly alongside it. I can't wait to get deep into the Psalms.

Never heard of this author before but the titular story has been quite a nice read. Reading life is sporadic right now but am getting through my Penguin Moderns again!

I've been following the basic gist of the Bible quite well (I think) up until 2 Kings. All of a sudden Elijah appears, ascends into heaven, and Elisha is doing things and I barely know who they are or where they came from or what made this shift from the successors of King David. Very confused, guess I'll just trundle along.

Chapter 1 done, I have no idea what is happening.

Great foreword by Edward Bond. Note to self to read something by him. The translator clearly loves and deeply understands this play.

King David and his son King Solomon were pretty cool dudes. Seem like the first who stay faithful as leaders.

Also, 1 Kings 9:28 is the first mention of 420 in the Bible...

Don't think I'm getting the main points here but I'm getting through it and understanding the basic gist of it!

Ulysses is at an absolute standstill. I don't have the patience for it, this weekend I might have time to be in the mood for it.