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12k sats \ 38 comments \ @siggy47 19 Jan BooksAndArticles

I love to read. During my life I have read to educate myself in lots of different areas. But, I have also read some books just for sheer enjoyment. For me, some examples include all Richard Russo novels, High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby, and any of Hunter S Thompson's books.

I'm wondering what other people on SN read just for the sheer joy of it?

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427 sats \ 2 replies \ @Scoresby 19 Jan

Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts

Australian bank robber who escapes from prison and flees to India where he becomes a fixer for the mafia. Lots of very poetic passages about what's important in life interspersed with violence. Wild tale.

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

This sounds like a good one. I'm a sucker for a good mob story.

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs 20 Jan

Oh, looks like a solid pick.

175 sats \ 2 replies \ @OneOneSeven 19 Jan freebie

I enjoy short story collections. I have a few of Stephen Kings' and I really liked Neil Gaiman's 'Unnatural Creatures' a collection of stories that he gathered from various writers.

One of my all-time favorite short stories is 'Or All The Seas With Oysters' by Avram Davidson (1958) it's 8 pages long: https://www.leprecon.org/w62/OrAllTheSeasWithOysters.pdf

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

Thanks for the tips. I enjoy short stories too. For years I used to read the yearly best short stories collections, but I haven't found time for that lately.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @OneOneSeven 19 Jan

Link for people on PWA/mobile

For some reason on PWA and mobile browser this link just displays the first page of the PDF.

312 sats \ 1 reply \ @bataroot 19 Jan

The Count of Monte Cristo

It has so many layers, side stories and characters, while also being just an awesome description of what low time preference can be when it is at the service of personal revenge.

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @_stacktoshi 19 Jan

A relative got this for christmas in paperback and even with the tiny print, the girth of the book was impressive. I'll be reading it on my tablet.

276 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 19 Jan

That's Vonnegut for me.

Favorites

Cat's Cradle
Sirens of Titan
Deadeye Dick

301 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

Definitely enjoyable, but also high quality fiction, in my opinion. I'm a Slaughterhouse Five fan too.

153 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 19 Jan

For sure, I'd also add Galapagos to my favorites list.

280 sats \ 1 reply \ @OneOneSeven 19 Jan

Harrison Bergeron creeped me out when we read it in HS.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 19 Jan

According to Vonnegut, Diana Moon Glompers, the Handicapper General, is the protagonist of that story. I'm not sure if he was joking or making a technical literary point.

71 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei 19 Jan

To me, Kate DiCamillo writes with such inventive imagination and imbues her characters with such heart that I follow her FB page haha

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

She must be good if you go on Facebook to connect with her!

153 sats \ 2 replies \ @nout 19 Jan

If you want to try something different, pure fun, no class, no pretending... then I'd recommend David Thorne - The Internet is a Playground From some of the glowing reviews:

"However, it was repetitive and often needlessly cruel. There is a lot of fat shaming and use of the word "retarded" and the like. The handful of laughs I did get while reading were not worth slogging through 300 pages of the same bad jokes reworked again and again." ~ Annie
"the more I read the more I realised David Thorne is just a very self satisfied git, who thinks winding people up is funny. It isn't." ~ Gerda
"I know the whole point is that he’s a troll, but it’s just not particularly funny reading a whole book about a guy whose sole mission in life is to piss people off." ~ Felicity
"Wow. This guy is a DICK." ~ Christina

77 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

I just read some comments. This I must read right away!

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @nout 19 Jan

Good news is that the guy has more books! And I liked the second one even more.

153 sats \ 5 replies \ @carlosfandango 19 Jan

Fun? Joy? What’s that…

I do enjoy a quirky travelogue for escapism. Quite fun reading about other places, either inspiring your own trip or reassuring you that there is no place like home.

‘Vroom With A View: In Search Of Italy's Dolce Vita On A '61 Vespa’ by Peter Moore

43 sats \ 4 replies \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

Yes, I forgot the whole travelogue genre! Bill Bryson is always fun. I have read a bunch of Italian travelogues who's names I can't recall right now, but not that one. I will now.

51 sats \ 3 replies \ @carlosfandango 19 Jan freebie

Is Paul Theoroux one of them? I also enjoy older travel books like Wilfred Thesiger ‘Arabian Sands’, ‘Road to Oxiana’ by Robert Byron and all manner of mountaineering and exploring accounts.

I keep a list of books i have read and given away - stops me getting the same ones again.

42 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

Yes, I think Paul Theoroux was one of them. I just looked through my bookshelves but can't find them, of course, and my memory sucks. A few will be on my kindle.

102 sats \ 1 reply \ @carlosfandango 19 Jan

One advantage of my declining memory will be one day reading all those books again for the first time. Everything else about losing it is 5hit.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

I found one. An Italian Education by Tim Parks. It's more of an ex pat story about living in Verona than a travelogue, but it's entertaining.

102 sats \ 1 reply \ @freetx 19 Jan

Pure entertainment?

Sometimes I like to read food / wine travel books as escapism. It can be funner to read about travel than to deal with TSA Airport screeners!

2 recent were:

Pasta, Pane, Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy's Food Culture
Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France

2 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

Exactly. Those two sound perfect.

102 sats \ 2 replies \ @grayruby 19 Jan

I don't read fiction any more but when I did I used to like Elmore Leonard books.

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

I only read Get Shorty after I saw the movie. Very entertaining.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 19 Jan

My dad is a big fan of his and has an extensive book collection so when I used to read fiction I would typically just borrow from his collection. They get to be very similar after reading a bunch of them but always fun.

151 sats \ 2 replies \ @secretagentman 19 Jan

A bit dry for some but I always go back to my SOP manuals from my time at the Farm when I am feeling blue.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

I think I'd rather read Ulysses

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @secretagentman 20 Jan

Ulysses S.Grant did have some fine works but nothing compares to sweet tomes of my hero Harry S. Truman.

280 sats \ 1 reply \ @kytt 19 Jan

Anything by David Sideris

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 19 Jan

My wife and I have seen him live a couple of times. He's incredibly funny.

51 sats \ 2 replies \ @Malachi17 19 Jan

Depends on my mood. There are times where the classics like Edgar Allan Poe are enjoyable to me. Ulysses is not enjoyable at any moment to me. Detective genres like Sherlock Holmes are usually more 'fun'.

100 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 19 Jan

I have tried many times, but I have never gotten past page 3 of Ulysses. I feel like an idiot. On the other hand, I enjoyed every story in The Dubliners.

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @Malachi17 19 Jan

It isn't you. Ulysses is written to be analyzed by people forced to do so who have picked Literature as a method of self-torture.

51 sats \ 0 replies \ @Roll 20 Jan

last books for fun i read was: -Comic Books, they are comedy adventure comics (Asterix and Obelix, Lucky Luck, Gaston Lagaffe...)

And regarding the latest fun books: -any science fiction books from Bernard_Werber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Werber