October 2024 Reads

Books I read in October 2024.

One of the best reading months of the year with new authors and some truly first-rate novels.

1. James

— Percival Everett
A reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which I’ve not read!). A great novel and my book of the month, against some pretty stiff competition.

Book cover: I Who Have never Known Men

2. The Vegetarian

— Han Kang
Winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. A great novel with a remarkable emotional punch. I’ve just ordered Greek Lessons, Human Acts, and The White Book.

3. Silas Marner

— George Eliot
Not at all what I expected. Just loved this! Read most of it in one sitting. Should I read Middlemarch or The Mill on the Floss next?

4. Intermezzo

— Sally Rooney
My first Rooney. I enjoyed this very much. Plan to read Normal People and Conversations with Friends next. Also, I like the fact that the intermezzo of the title (an obvious reference to a kind of chess move) is never explicitly mentioned in the book.

5. Orbital

— Samantha Harvey
Some profoundly beautiful writing, but I found the whole plotless tale a tad monotonous.

6. The Emperor’s Tomb

— Joseph Roth
Another excellent Roth. Next up is The Radetzky March. Thus far, my favorite is Job, my September book of the month.

7. He Died with His Eyes Open

— Derek Raymond
An excellent, gritty, violent and visceral detective noir, set in ’80s London. I believe it’s the first part in a loosely themed series. Will read more.

8. Gypsy

— Carter Scholz
Dated title, and a little too short, but otherwise a great hard sci-fi read.

9. Babylon’s Ashes

— James S.A. Corey
The last 150 pages are very blockbuster, very cinematic, very entertaining. This is the sixth installment (of nine) in the Expanse series. Next up is Persepolis Rising.

10. The House of the Dead

— Fyodor Dostoevsky
By no means my favorite Dostoevsky (The Idiot & Crime and Punishment), but pretty good. Would surely have benefited from some kind of plot.

11. McGlue

— Ottessa Moshfegh
My first by this author. Not for the squeamish. Visceral, violent, debauched — adjectives that spring to mind. Not quite sure what to think of this one. Perhaps I’ll try Lapvona next.

12. The Nakano Thrift Shop

— Hiromi Kawakami
A sweet, slow-burn tale. Perhaps my second favorite by this author, after Strange Weather in Tokyo.

13. Porphyry’s Against the Christians

— R. Joseph Hoffmann
Over the years I’ve often seen Porphyry quoted. It was time to read what is extant of his writings (very little). Some of his arguments are still valid today. Although I still think the best argument against Christianity is its trinitarian god: Jesus the failed messiah; Yahweh the lunatic.

14. Too Loud a Solitude

— Bohumil Hrabal
First time reading this Czech author. ‘A tender and funny story of Hanta — a man who has lived in a Czech police state — for 35 years, working as compactor of wastepaper and books.’

15. Beneath the Wheel

— Hermann Hesse
Another journey-to-find-oneself novel from Hesse. A good read but it doesn’t compare to Siddhartha, Demian, and Steppenwolf (three of my favorite novels).

16. Lord of the Flies

— William Golding
The last 100 pages were fantastic — frightening and fast paced. This edition has a great cover too.

17. The Third Reich

— Roberto Bolaño
First time reading Bolaño. Not sure it was the best place to start. It felt like a very easy read. Enjoyed the simple style. Should I read the 900-page 2666, or the 700-page Savage Detectives next?

DNF: Misunderstanding in Moscow

— Simone de Beauvoir
Only 100 pages, but this one bored me to tears and I gave up just over half-way through. As an older reader I have much less patience with books I’m not enjoying. If you’re new to Simone de Beauvoir, then I recommend the brilliant The Woman Destroyed and All Men Are Mortal instead.

October 2024 reading stats

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