I'm reading an Arabic book by "Najeeb Mahfooz" called "Alharafeesh". He's an old school writer. Greet story teller and beloved in the Arabic world. I read Arabic and English books in tandem so I don't forget my language.
this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2024
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Nice. What does Alharafeesh mean (assuming it's not a made up word)? And what's the book about?
It refers to the class of the poor and marginalized in society. It is an Egyptian colloquial term used to denote the common people or residents of popular neighborhoods who suffer from poverty and social injustice. Basically proletariat/the poor working class as the term goes in the western world. He uses them to express humanity's struggles with life, power, justice, and fate. The term actually carries a deeper meaning, symbolizing the ordinary, simple individual striving for dignity and justice in the face of oppression and tyranny. It spans across multiple generations in this book. Pretty simple and meaningful book. I love his books.
Ah, interesting. Thanks for the info!
Would love to hear about other Arabic books you read.
I read many. Mostly older authors and very few new ones. Tried to read "Utopia" and it was terrible so I dropped it and went back to the good old novels. Taha Hussein, Najeeb Mahfooz and the likes. I have also read pretty much all of Ali Alwardi's books, that's nonfiction, rather sociology. I read for many others, too.
Someone told me that I should choose a hopeful and optimistic title to help me cope with the election. I'm reading "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy instead.
"There is no God and we are his prophets." I quite liked that book. I hope it's hopeful world helps you escape reality for a moment.
lol. Not much of a yesman.
i've been reading Brandon Sanderson books lately. And I enjoy them so much. it started with "tress of the emerald sea" and I was instantly hooked and i'm not trying to read the cosmere novels
Nice! Sanderson is pretty great. He is my favourite author, and many people here love his work, so don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
They're all wildly different, but "one of the best authors on the planet doing random experimentation in styles for his wife with unexpected free time" is a hell of a sales pitch, and I'd call 3/4 excellent.
Frugal Wizard would still be pretty damn good if it wasn't held up to the standard of his insane catalogue. If it was your personal masterpiece, you'd be a quality author. But everything in the Cosmere is just so good that it's noticeable that it's not quite as good.
Yeah, it's pretty cool that to take a break from writing, he wrote 4 novels! 😀
i loved frugal wizard. i had a blast reading it, no notes. i don't even know what you mean. i found it very entertaining. better than 6th of the dusk (but i'm not a big fan of the "short stories") and Steelheart seems a bit over the top for me, but i'm not through yet.
Like I said, it's good. But all 3 other secret projects are a lot better. And Stormlight, Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker. He just has so many masterpiece level works to compare it to.
Without any real intention, I rediscovered the Conan saga, of Robert E. Howard.
There are several, of very good quality, audio renditions of the works in Youtube and I intend to get the texts next.
I'm reading his "Kull", king of "Valusia" short-stories, finished today the third story he published alive, going to continue to the ones published after his death. I haven't read his Conan stuff, I believe these I've read so far are a sort of precursor, with Kull also being a barbarian. But will definitely read Conan and am looking forward to it... Enjoying his writing a lot!
Not very familiar with Kull but I'll have to check those as well.
Oh man, those books are so much better than the movies. Such an impressive character.
True. The rawness of the writting is, for me, unique.
I also love how he embodies a certain attitude toward life, which is not really captured in the movies. He's defined by abundant strength and ability and ambition, rather than revenge. Conan in the books loves life (in his own barbaric way).
In his own unique way, Conan makes no distinction between people. No one is judged as good or bad without action deserving of such and even then, in a dire moment, a known enemy is preferable over an unknown danger.
He also often criticizes civilization over traditions and laws that bar people from being truly free, when the so called civilized call him barbarian.
There is more depth in those works than many care to consider.
I totally agree. The books are a philosophical statement.
I have been meaning to read them for quite a while, haven't been able to find a proper collection.
Most of the original texts are already on public domain, if memory serves me well.
Edit: just found the complete works in epub format, on Z-Lib.
Here is the link
Oh nice, thanks for the link. I previously tried couple of public domain archives but couldn't find most of the Conan stories.
No problem. If I can help again, just give me a word.
I'm about 1/3 though Dark Matter by Blake Crouch after having it recommended to me a lot since it was released. I'm not a frequent reader, so just getting to it now. I'm really enjoying it.
I'm halfway through Snømannen (the snowman) by Jo Nesbø. It's been interesting so far but kinda slow. I'm doing a personal challenge and this is the last book so I'm really hoping to finish it by the end of December.
What is it about?
Good luck with finishing it this year!
Thank you!
(Very short description) it's a detective novel about a serial killer who builds snowmen in the yards of their victims. I don't usually read detective novels but Jo Nesbø is nice and this seemed interesting.
Ah, interesting. Would love to hear your opinion once you have finished it.
I'm currently reading Age of Assassins by RJ Barker. I'm only about a quarter of the way through and I'm really enjoying it so far! Interesting world building, an enjoyable protagonist, and a gripping plot. I'm excited to see where this story goes!
Would love a review when you have finished the book (and series).
I am on "Matter" by Iain M. Banks, getting towards the end of the "Culture" series. It is a phenomenal series that I heavily recommend. Next up is either the "Imperial Radch" series by Ann Leckie or I'm finally going to dive in to the Hain series by Ursula K. Le Guin, haven't decided.
I’m currently reading the third in the Nightvale series, The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home. It’s pretty good so far, pretty interesting! If you’re not familiar with the Welcome to Nightvale series (or podcast) it’s pretty bizarre, nothing makes any amount of sense, but it’s fun. This book is a bit removed from that (kind of), but it still fits right in.
I’m also listening to The Chemist, which is different from my normal, but it’s been interesting enough to enjoy. I knew nothing about it going in, and I appreciate the strong and interesting female lead, with her highly unusual job.
Just finished was The Clockwork Dynasty, which took a lot of liberties with all the hand-waving in order to bring the plot to life, as it were, but it was enjoyable enough to consider reading the next one
Next in the queue: Slaughterhouse Five. I’ve had this one on my list for ages, and am finally getting around to it. No idea what it’s about (and I refuse to look it up) but I’ve heard it’s really good, so am looking forward to it.
Guardians Angels & Other Monsters is the next in the Clockwork Dynasty series, fingers crossed it’s worth the read.
And lastly, Dreams Of Shreds And Tatters seems like a Monster Of The Week, but those can be fun, too.
Interesting list of books. I need to read Slaughterhouse Five one of these days too. Haven't looked up what's it about either, but I have heard a few things about it over the years, but fortunately I have forgotten all about those.
Currently 2/3 through The Spite House by Johnny Compton. Nothing revolutionary (so far) as far as haunted house stories go, but it's fine. Nice to see a protagonist that's determined to get to the bottom of things, rather than just try to survive.
Also reading Chalice by Robin McKinley. I was a big fan of her early stuff growing up, but her later books weren't really my thing. This is technically in that latter category, but we'll see. It's nice and cozy so far, albeit a bit all over the place in the timeline.
--
Finished The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen. Second in a series, but works just fine as a standalone. Historical LGBTQIA+-based mystery set during the Lavender Scare. Quick read, enjoyable if you don't mind bittersweet complexities.
Bingo squares: Water, Water Everywhere (hard); There Is Another...; LGBTQIA+ Lead (hard); It's About Time; Mashup; Minority Author
Interesting, may check out the Evander Mills series.
So I finished Wind and Truth last Thursday. As high as my expectations were, it went way above and beyond. It had me so jazzed up I started back into Way of Kings (physical this time) right after, to see it again from the perspective of knowing the story and characters. The extra perspective on all the players highlights how well he had it planned out from the start.
Audiobook-wise; I'm up to M is for Malice in Kinsey Milhone. I'm thinking Miss Fortune is next from my list.
Secret Projects finally showed up. They're not as nice as the full leatherbounds, but they're pretty. I'll probably reply to this with pictures if I get a chance with decent lighting.
edit: goodreads sent my stats for the year lol.
They have a graphic with all the covers but the "full web page" screenshot in Safari isn't big enough. Link instead
I thought you weren't going to start it right away!
Just looked up and LibraryThing has released their warpup today too. My count is 38 books with 9,928 pages total.
Up to book 45 of the Deathlands books. Now news here.
I started The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz but wasn't really getting into it after 3 hours then I saw the next BuyMort audio book was out and quickly jumped to that.
So currently listening to BuyMort: Closing Time: How I Crashed the Multiversal Market: Shopocalypse Saga, Book 6. It is a good time as always so far.
Now the question is, will you reach 50 books by the end of the year! 12 days, and 5 books to go, you can do it!
Haha I appreciate your enthusiasm but no it won't. My main listening time is when I'm working but I have next week off, so whilst I'll still listen to some I won't have 6-8 hours a day of listening to achieve that 50 :D
hehe, no issue. It's still much more than what I have read this year.