Here's my TBR for the upcoming 48 hour #QueerBlackathon, happening June 19th-20th. #Blackathon
[ID: Two books sit cover up in front of a mirror. On the left, a green cover with a black figured; the title is The Gospel of Breaking, by Jillian Christmas. On the right, an orange cover featuring black slashes and a bird; the title is Real Life, by Brandon Taylor.]
Last month I read 14 books between #blackathon and #contemporaryathon, including many 4 and 5 star reads. Check out my reviews! https://youtu.be/dzuHRfVVpf0
pickIf I were judging the story alone, it'd be 4/4.5⭐. But the flawless writing bumps it up to an indisputable 5.
For anyone studying the craft of writing, this book is a perfect specimen. Hurston often includes such detailed micro-descriptions of scenes that in theory are unnecessary but add SO MUCH to the story's experience, tone, & meaning. She gives life to inanimate objects that pull the reader in & hold on tight.
Cont'd in comments #blackathon
Then you must tell 'em dat love ain't somethin' lak uh grindstone dat's de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch. Love is lak de sea. It's uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it's different with every shore. #blackathon
And in only a few sentences, this book manages to be a better romance than many entire romance novels. Not to mention showing Janie's increasing empowerment. #blackathon
I fell completely into this almost over the top, flawless description of an approaching hurricane. #blackathon
She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making. The familiar people and things had failed her so she hung over the gate and looked up the road towards way off. She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman. #blackathon
There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought. #blackathon
She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun & the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace & the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom & frothing with delight. #blackathon
pick4/5⭐ This story is told in a combo of typical narrative but mostly a heavy dose of folktale epic. Don't expect much in the way of character growth, because that's not the purpose of the book. However, the gorgeous writing & dense worldbuilding carried me through & still made me invest in the characters. I loved the mythic hyperbole & how well balanced it was to seem absurd at times but still make sense in the context of the story. #blackathon
