Books! How do you read and what do you read?

I checked The Piano Tuner out of the library based on this thread's recommendations. Gave it a good try, but the pacing is beyond s-l-o-w. Intricate descriptions of everyone and everything the protagonist encountered, including but not limited to: the trains he took, the scenery, Burma's topography, its political history, and of course, the period in which the book was set - colonialism.

Good grief, Charlie Brown! Get the story already...

After resorting to skim-reading many pages (never a good sign) in hopes of getting to something more interesting, I looked ahead to see what was in front of me. Ugh... At least the first half this (lengthy) book was consumed by these exhaustive descriptions.

@CinnamonSugar, did you finish and/or enjoy this book? I found the writing so tedious that it became an unpleasant chore, and returned it to the library.

Note: I read at least a couple of books a week, fiction and non-fiction, and only cut bait on a few books a year, but gladly gave up on this one.
 
StarSong said:
I checked The Piano Tuner out of the library based on this thread's recommendations. Gave it a good try, but the pacing is beyond s-l-o-w. Intricate descriptions of everyone and everything the protagonist encountered, including but not limited to: the trains he took, the scenery, Burma's topography, its political history, and of course, the period in which the book was set - colonialism.

Good grief, Charlie Brown! Get the story already...

After resorting to skim-reading many pages (never a good sign) in hopes of getting to something more interesting, I looked ahead to see what was in front of me. Ugh... At least the first half this (lengthy) book was consumed by these exhaustive descriptions.

@CinnamonSugar, did you finish and/or enjoy this book? I found the writing so tedious that it became an unpleasant chore, and returned it to the library.

Note: I read at least a couple of books a week, fiction and non-fiction, and only cut bait on a few books a year, but gladly gave up on this one.
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Ah @StarSong, the gentleman that recommended the book warned it was an introspective book and that it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Yes I did enjoy it very much. I thought the writing/ descriptions evocative. But not everyone sees things through the same filter
 
StarSong said:
I checked The Piano Tuner out of the library based on this thread's recommendations. Gave it a good try, but the pacing is beyond s-l-o-w. Intricate descriptions of everyone and everything the protagonist encountered, including but not limited to: the trains he took, the scenery, Burma's topography, its political history, and of course, the period in which the book was set - colonialism.

Good grief, Charlie Brown! Get the story already...

After resorting to skim-reading many pages (never a good sign) in hopes of getting to something more interesting, I looked ahead to see what was in front of me. Ugh... At least the first half this (lengthy) book was consumed by these exhaustive descriptions.

@CinnamonSugar, did you finish and/or enjoy this book? I found the writing so tedious that it became an unpleasant chore, and returned it to the library.

Note: I read at least a couple of books a week, fiction and non-fiction, and only cut bait on a few books a year, but gladly gave up on this one.
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I can relate to your dislike for tediously long descriptions. I remember skim reading many passages in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, pages long descriptions of meals, gardens and furnishings but also armaments and odd forms of beasties. But I also dislike excessive action if it makes no room for the interiority of the characters. What insist on is characters I can care about and so far, so good with Piano Tuner.
 
Today I finished ‘The Women’ by Christian Hannah. It’s the story of a young woman who decides to become a nurse and serve in the Vietnam war.

Half way though the book I got overwhelmed by the graphic rawness of violent subject matter and had to stop reading it for a while.
For a while, I didn’t think I could finish it.
I started reading other books but couldn’t get into them.

Finally I went back to reading it and luckily it had changed direction and I couldn’t put it down. I was a great book. Highly recommended.
 
Think I'll add an excerpt from p 41, chapter 2 from the Piano Tuner:

"Edgar and Katherine walked along the shore. As they turned away from the river and began their return, Edgar’s fingers wrapped around those of his wife. A tuner makes a good husband, she had told her friends after they returned from their honeymoon. He knows how to listen, and his touch is more delicate than that of the pianist; only the tuner knows the inside of the piano. The young women had giggled at the scandalous implications of those words.

Now, eighteen years later, she knew where the calluses on his hands lay and what they were from. Once he had explained them to her like a tattooed man explaining the stories of his illustrations, This one that runs along the inside of my thumb is from a screwdriver, the scratches on my wrist are from the body itself, I often rest my arm like this when I am sounding, .."

The description of the callouses does go on, but I'll exercise more discretion than our author but then his job was to convey how this guy can be both a pedant and yet surprisingly insightful
 
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MarkD said:
Think I'll add an excerpt from p 41, chapter 2 from the Piano Tuner:

"Edgar and Katherine walked along the shore. As they turned away from the river and began their return, Edgar’s fingers wrapped around those of his wife. A tuner makes a good husband, she had told her friends after they returned from their honeymoon. He knows how to listen, and his touch is more delicate than that of the pianist; only the tuner knows the inside of the piano. The young women had giggled at the scandalous implications of those words.

Now, eighteen years later, she knew where the calluses on his hands lay and what they were from. Once he had explained them to her like a tattooed man explaining the stories of his illustrations, This one that runs along the inside of my thumb is from a screwdriver, the scratches on my wrist are from the body itself, I often rest my arm like this when I am sounding, .."

The description of the callouses does go on, but I'll exercise more discretion than our author but then his job was to convert how this guy can be both a pedant and yet surprisingly insightful
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He started to lose me with the dry geography/history lesson and I jumped off (as it were) while he was on the train...
 
StarSong said:
I understand you're saying, @MarkD and @CinnamonSugar. One of my all time favorite books is A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. Some find it plodding and tedious.

Everyone's taste is a little different. Guess that's why Baskin & Robbins offers 31 flavors of ice cream.
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Just made it through the history chapter. I see what you mean. Sure glad there won't be a quiz. I finally decided just to take it in to form an impression of the country's political climate and if any character mentioned shows up again later who seems important enough, I may come back and have another look. Otherwise, moving on.
 
AnneTeak said:
couldn't put down this author's books; there are just three by Glendy Vanderah

Where the Forest Meets the Stars
The Light Through the Leaves
The Oceanography of the Moon
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Wow! Just read "Where the Forest Meets the Stars" and my experience mirrors yours - I couldn't put it down.
Thanks so much for the recommendations - I just requested "The Light Through the Leaves" from my local library branch!
 
StarSong said:
I decided to read some classics that I missed along life's way. Just read Treasure Island for the first time and quite enjoyed it, though I admit to having the (free) Cliffs notes version open on my tablet to help me understand some of the archaic language and context of the times.

I'm so glad I read this!
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By coincidence, I read it just a few weeks ago. Surprised me when I realized I hadn't read it when I was young. :)
 
Tommy said:
By coincidence, I read it just a few weeks ago. Surprised me when I realized I hadn't read it when I was young. :)
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As a result of my enjoyment over reading this, I approached my book club members about adding a classic book to our list of options. We have about 10 books per two month period on our list and are all all avid readers. Turns out that not only was the idea met with enthusiasm, another member had been toying with making the same suggestion.

Next up for us is "Huck Finn" (conveniently in anticipation of reading "James"). Most of us read HF during school days, but that was long ago, far away, through young eyes, and knowing we'd be tested on the material. This go-round will be for pleasure.
 
I'm trying John Dies At The End by Jason Pargin.

Jason Pargin (born January 10, 1975) is an American humor writer who formerly wrote under the name David Wong. He is the former executive editor of humor website Cracked.com, a recurring guest on The Cracked Podcast, and has written seven novels.

The book can be found under the Horror section of the bookstore. So far it is like a cross between Ghostbusters and the Evil Dead trilogy.

It's really off the wall which so far I like.
 
CinnamonSugar said:
I appreciate y’all trying my recommendation. I’ll remember your preferences for the future. 💝
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No biggie... Not everything appeals to everyone.

Am enjoying the latest offering by one of my favorite authors, Amor Towles. "Table for Two" is a collection of short stories. I'm not generally a fan of short stories but I quite like this collection.
 

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