Hello from the U.K, (Glad to hear I can get the Matt Cain books easily, sounds like a fun author/books) I have recently discovered your channel and am really enjoying your video's, thank you! I finished my library copy of Demon Copperhead last night, and felt so bereft to let Demon go..what an incredible book. I have just had an email through that The Love Songs of W.E.B Dubois is ready for me to collect from my library, which has cheered me up no end! I'm also listening to How we Fight for our Lives, A Memoir, by Saeed Jones, which is wonderful, and reading The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk, which is fascinating, I'm so worried I won't get through it before the library want it back tho, its such a huge book! interested to read Mean Spirit along side this one too.
I returned (massively) overdue library books today, without having read them (Lessons in Chemistry and Let Us Descend). I hate doing that, but I was struggling to get into either. I have a period in the summer where I try to second-chance or mop up DNFs or things I was just too busy for in the winter. I picked up the new Fourteen Days--COVID/apartment building version of the Decameron by multiple contributing authors.
LOL I wasn't expecting to be reminded of the International Male catalog today! Back when I was a grad student it used to come to my apartment all the time...I was definitely not the target audience!😃 Glad you are continuing to get your energy back.
Happy 2024 my friend! I enjoy the buddy videos you do with Joel! 😊 I'm currently reading the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by McBride, I wanted to see what all the fuss is about.
On a whim I was looking through my junk email when I found a message from my library saying my copy of Lydia Davis's "Our Strangers" was available. Blazed through the first 25 pages then put it down for dinner and haven't picked it up again. Meanwhile, I've bought...too many books. Hoping to make lots of progress on "Our Strangers" today, but my watch says I'm working on a couple hours of sleep. And if I have to take a decongestant, I could be useless.
Best books read ( with my ears) so far this month Greta & Valdin Hello Beautiful The Bandit Queens Time Shelter Currently listening to Ordinary Human Failings The Caretaker ☘️👋🍀🇮🇪📕📖📚☕️
I’m glad that Sheryl Lee Ralph was there for you when you needed her. Like you, I read LGBTQ2S+ all year ‘round but by the time I get the audiobook version of Curtis Chin’s memoir from my library waiting list, it will be Pride month. I’ve just finished a wonderful novel called “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” by John Boyne that was written in 2017. It follows the story of a character from his birth in 1945 to an unwed mother, to his adoption, and all the way through to the end of his life. Fabulous. It really gives you a feel for what it was like to be gay growing up in Ireland and for the repressive forces of the church and society in general.
I really liked The Heart’s Invisible Furies but I’ve had mixed results on anything else I’ve tried to read by that author. I hope you like the Curtis Chin when you get it!
Thanks for the heads-up about John Boyne's other books. He really knocked it out of the park with "The Heart's Invisible Furies." Maybe he'll hit another home run in the future.@@SupposedlyFun
What do you do when you listen to audio books? I can't just sit and listen to a book like I do when I'm reading a print book. I usually do jigsaw puzzles, but I'd like to know what other people do.
When I listen to an audiobook, I sit somewhere comfy where I can look out through the window at trees🌲🌳 and greenery and wildlife 🐦or at the moment, a blanket of sparkling snow.🌨 If it’s a book that doesn’t require too much concentration, I’ll cook while I’m listening or I’ll do some light housework such as dusting.
Often, I play a game that doesn’t require a lot of thought or concentration on my phone. So no crossword puzzles, but maybe solitaire. Sometimes (depending on the book and my level of awareness) I might even listen while doing mindless busywork for my job. And if Joel isn’t around, I will listen while taking Teddy for a walk or driving in my car.
The cover of One Love is such a beautiful thing! I’ve got about 2 hours of Albert Entwhistle left and will be finishing that today. It’s such a great listen. This week I finished The Reformatory (which I annoyingly keep trying to call The Infirmary). I was thinking it was probably a 4 star book all the way through, but it ended up being 5 stars. Yes, I wanted more horror (didn’t go even 3/4 Stephen King), but the horror came mostly from the history it was reliving. Could it have been a bit shorter? Yes, but I made it through! It is a really fantastic book that I highly recommend. The characters are brilliant and the writing is gorgeous. Very glad it leapt out of your ALA video into my lap! Then I picked up my second Black History Month book, Another Brooklyn, by Jacqueline Woodson, author of my very beloved Red At The Bone. This book was super short and fast, vignette style, lots of white space, an easy read in a day. The lyricism of her writing was amazing. Cannot recommend it more highly. I think I may go back to one of the books I picked up in London, Orbital, by Samantha Harvey after I finish with Albert. I read the first chapter a couple of weeks ago and was bowled over by the beauty of the prose. It’s dunk it in your “tea” size, so it should be pretty quick. After that, I want to read something else for Black History Month, so it might be The Bluest Eye or Underground Railroad. We’ll see where whim takes me. Happy weekend to you all! It’s a 3 day weekend, but I’ve got work I have to finish, so I don’t get to read the whole way through. I keep thinking if we get an extra day every four years, shouldn’t it be a day off??? 🤷♀️
Glad you're feeling better! Unpopular opinion here...I cringe over a woman's prize in writing. Throw vegetables at me, but I just do. Maybe because I'm an old military veteran who's held her own with "the boys" in the military as well as in civilian employment. But contests generate sales so yes, I understand the cash and prizes aspect. But I still cringe. 😂
I think there’s still an overall inequity when it comes to recognizing women for doing the same work as men, which means that there’s still a lot of merit in something like the Women’s Prize. But not everyone has to like it or agree.
