Finished “James” by Percival Everett, a retelling of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, but instead wholly focused on Jim’s story and point of view.
Although physically enslaved, the autodidact Jim wields an intelligence which pragmatically comprehends the institution which binds him and others, yet rebukes it fully. This review is brilliant captures my thoughts: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6364739158
Going to organise my bookshelf soon with all these new books 📚 Do you organize your books by color, author, genre, or in some creative way? Show me your shelves! #BookshelfBrowsing#Bookstodon#books
Looks like a new batch of giveaways have been loaded onto StoryGraph. Unlike Goodreads, they're not restricted to North America (although a lot are US only still). https://app.thestorygraph.com/giveaways
Jejuniu, jakie to proste, płaskie i szablonowe. Książka (a raczej seria) na pewno ma potencjał, ale tutaj brakuje szlifu i dodania jakiejś ciekawej głębi czy choćby wyjaśnienia pewnych elementów świata. Mam wręcz wrażenie, że to takie "tanie" fantasy. Czyta się nieźle, ale do zapomnienia. A wstęp mówiący o połączeniu kryminału i fantastyki to jakieś nieporozumienie.
I’ve just finished The Next Big Thing by Anita Brookner which was a great and sometimes difficult read. It’s about Julius who’s in his 70s and is now retired. His parents and brother have died and his wife has left him. He’s living alone in central London, his adopted city after his family fled from Nazi Germany. He’s looking for the next big thing in his life, pondering his past and feeling concern for his failing health. Sounds gloomy, right?! Well, the insightful writing just carries you along and pulls you in before you know it and you’re hooked on this story of loneliness and regret in later life. I found myself, like I often do with Anita Brookner, rereading sections due to the beautiful prose. Here’s an example to give you a flavour:
“He raised his eyes to a rooffline bristling with television aerials , lowered them again to windows still blank before the evening lights were lit. The sky was already darkening; signs of spring were absent, and yet the chilly damp held a promise of greenness, of new life only just in abeyance. it was even possible to appreciate that sky; its opaque blue reminded him of certain pictures, though no picture could compete with this strange sense of immanence. With the crust of the earth ready to break into life, the roots expanding to disclose flowers, the trees graciously putting forth leaves. The impassivity of nature never ceased to amaze him. This awakening process was surely superior to anything captured on canvas, yet art made all phenomena its province.in its unceasing war with the effort of capturing moments of time art won this unequal contest, but only just. The majestic indifference of nature was there to remind one of ones place, and no doubt to serve as a corrective to the artist’s ambition. When the canvas was finished it was already a relic, outside change. And surely change was primordial; all must obey it. To ignore the process was to ignore the evidence of one’s own evolutionary cycle.’
Haunting, introspective and with a hint of dark comedy this was so good, just maybe one to approach with caution if yu’re about to retire! This novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002. #bookstodon#AmReading#Braille#BookReview#nature@bookstodon
Jagannath by Karen Tidbeck is on the Audible Plus catalog at the moment.
This is a great introduction to Tidbeck's work. Usually I pause between short stories in a collection by the same author, the same way I pause between books by the same author, so the reading doesn't get monotonous.
Karen Tidbeck's work is different enough to keep me excited at every twist and turn.
Weird, Dark, thought provoking, familiar enough yet different.
A moving, beautifully illustrated true story for children ages 6 to 9 about growing up in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II—from the iconic Star Trek actor, activist, and author of the New York Times bestselling graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy.
For the first time in weeks I woke up with a scene in my head (after a day away from the keyboard, talking to my bestie about my stress, and checking in with my crit partners) so I got up to write... and realized I don't have a playlist for a mermaid book.
When a Mariachi star transfers schools, he expects to be handed his new group's lead vocalist spot—what he gets instead is a tenacious current lead with a very familiar, very kissable face.
A book I edited was written up in the local paper.
So happy to see Shannon Bohrer's book, Judicial Soup: One Man's Wrongful Conviction and What It Means for Criminal Justice Reform, getting some media attention. This is a very relatable book on a hugely important topic. When you read it, first you'll be angry. Then you'll think, "If it can happen to that guy, it can happen to anyone."
This week I'm wrapping up the audio of Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann. This is the second audiobook in a row for me with truly raw depictions of people just scraping by and trying to make the best of their situation. Tillie's narration is heartbreaking. Next audio read needs to be something not so heavy.
Related: now I feel like I should watch "The Walk" starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (not a bad thing)