r/books • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago
WeeklyThread What Books did You Start or Finish Reading this Week?: September 28, 2026
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u/Icy-Respond-4425 7d ago
Finished:
The Odyssey by Homer - The bad stuff first... uhh I have no idea honestly. I think it was a better reading experience than the Iliad, tho I prefer the Iliad's story. Might be because of the translation and most of the chapters being 10 minutes than 20-30. I really liked the parts where Telemachus was the main focus or when Odyssey is talking with the spirits in that Hades place, very bittersweet. 4/5 the same to Illiad.
The emperor of nihon-ja (The ranger's apprentice #10) by John Flanagan - I didn't care much about what was happening to the empire. I think the highlight was Cassandra and Alyss, really liked their interactions with each other, I wish we had to see more. Not much else to say about it. 4/5
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - This book was terrific, in a good way. I really love how Humbert Humbert try to excuse a lot of his actions with his prose. Every time he mentioned nymphets, my skin would crawl. I'm still trying to establish in my head how it really happened if Quinty was Humbert all the time or if he was not. Or if Humbert words are true and is just crazy, but he probably wants to sound innocent to reduce his punishment. In fact, I think in the end he tries to do that.
Humbert realizes after seeing Dolores for the last time that he was the one that destroyed her childhood, I felt pity when he cried after talking to Dolores, but that is probably his intention. The chapter where he finds Quinty is so beautiful. He is putting blame in another person (imaginary maybe), while at the same time admitting his own actions (Clare Quinty - Clear Guilty).
"a little downy girl still wearing poppies
still eating popcorn in the colored gloam
where tawny Indians took paid croppers
because you stole her
from her wax-browed and dignified protector"
Not the full poem, but it can be referred to both Quinty and Humbert. Ugh this book has so many interpretations, It's definitely a masterpiece. My only gripe is the start of part 2 that almost made me sleep, it felt so boring. 4.5/5
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - I don't know what to say about this child book. It felt like a fever dream. 3.5/5
I will start this week:
The prude and the prodigal by Barbara Cartland
Farewell Summer (Green town #3) by Ray Bradbury
The ranger's apprentice book #11 by John Flanagan