this month i read (and listened to):
metamorphosis, by franz kafka (i listened to the [free] audiobook of this one - i had to read it in high school and clearly appreciated it more as an adult than i did when i was a teenager and struggling through required reading, though i missed having an english teacher to explain to me the deeper meaning behind everything that was happening.)
milk and honey, by rupi kaur (GO BUY THIS BOOK. poetry plus drawings by the author who is incredibly talented - this really spoke to me and i tore through it. there's a reason everyone has been talking about this book. read it!)
incendiary, by chris cleave (this is a book that had been sitting on my shelf - and i'm trying to read things (when i have time) that are already in my house (free! sense of accomplishment!). i loved little bee and this was not quite little bee for me. it's told as a letter to osama bin laden, after the narrator's husband and son were killed in a terrorist attack. i'm glad i read it and it was really different in tone and scope than anything else i'd read, but there's a reason you've heard of cleave's other books and not this one. it's skipable.)
things we lost in the fire, by mariana enriquez (this is a book of short stories - apparently this author is very popular in her native argentina but this is the first of her books to be translated into english. if you're into latin american/south american literature, you definitely need to read this. it was the perfect book to read on a vacation (costa rica!!) because it was very easy to pick up and put down.)
a little history of the world, by e.h. gombrich (Q gave me this book a long time ago and i've read it off and on and FINALLY finished it after (seriously) several years of reading it occasionally. this is the translation of a book written in german in the 1930s, where the author tells the history of the world to an elementary school-aged audience. i was totally charmed by it and would recommend it to anyone with a kid this age - it would be a perfect read-aloud before bed. glad i read it and have it on my shelf!)
dolores claiborne, by stephen king (i listened to the audiobook of this one, on veronica's recommendation - non-scary, kind-of-creepy story told entirely by a woman who is being questioned in the murder of her employer, set in the police station questioning room. the plot is slow-moving - as she recounts parts of her life to explain that she didn't kill this woman - but that made it perfect for an audiobook where you don't have to worry about missing something because you get distracted. (i get distracted during audiobooks because i'm always doing other things (driving) - does this happen to other people?) i really like stephen king's books...when they aren't scary. a few years ago i read and loved 11/22/63, and after this one i'm definitely planning to read more.)
Monday, November 6, 2017
Saturday, November 4, 2017
september: 40, 41 and 42
more than a month behind on posting this. gotta get my shit together!
in september, i read:
imagine me gone, by adam haslett (this was on a lot of independent bookstore lists this summer and i really liked it - intriguing story inside a family struggling with mental illness. that makes it sound very depressing and it was not! as far as i can remember. since i finished it two months ago... thumbs up, though not the best book i've ever read.)
born to run, by bruce springsteen (i listened to the audiobook of this, which springsteen reads, and i was proselytizing about it left and right in august. i really enjoyed it. it led me to listen to more of his music - i knew the hits but nothing beyond that - and goes down as a similar book for me to patti smith's just kids: parts of it were relevant only to super fans, but parts of it really spoke to me. and i love a memoir. if the only thing i get from the book is appreciation to bruce for writing 41 shots, that would be enough. i mean, people. bruce was #blacklivesmatter in 2001.)
spoonbenders, by daryl gregory (i read this for my book club and it's one of those books that you're enjoying as it's going - but you know there's a layer beyond the one you're reading - and then at the end it just all comes together and your mind is slightly blown about the way all the pieces fit together. family drama plus paranormal activity...i'd recommend it!)
in september, i read:
imagine me gone, by adam haslett (this was on a lot of independent bookstore lists this summer and i really liked it - intriguing story inside a family struggling with mental illness. that makes it sound very depressing and it was not! as far as i can remember. since i finished it two months ago... thumbs up, though not the best book i've ever read.)
born to run, by bruce springsteen (i listened to the audiobook of this, which springsteen reads, and i was proselytizing about it left and right in august. i really enjoyed it. it led me to listen to more of his music - i knew the hits but nothing beyond that - and goes down as a similar book for me to patti smith's just kids: parts of it were relevant only to super fans, but parts of it really spoke to me. and i love a memoir. if the only thing i get from the book is appreciation to bruce for writing 41 shots, that would be enough. i mean, people. bruce was #blacklivesmatter in 2001.)
spoonbenders, by daryl gregory (i read this for my book club and it's one of those books that you're enjoying as it's going - but you know there's a layer beyond the one you're reading - and then at the end it just all comes together and your mind is slightly blown about the way all the pieces fit together. family drama plus paranormal activity...i'd recommend it!)
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