repost for @AllDebooks
Here's the reading list for #VirginiaBloomsberries 2026 #buddyreads.
I've left the biography choice up to the individual reader. The 3 selected on the right are the most readily available.
The selected diaries, essays and letters are the Vintage Classic or Oxford World Classics publications.
All are welcome to join us. Please let me know if you wish to be added/removed from the taglist.
pickA great set of essays from a brilliant voice. They made me think, laugh, and shake with anger. Wonderful on #audio, read by the author. 6 bingoes for November, not terrible for a busy month. @TheAromaofBooks
pickReading this book reminds me of this quote: “We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read.” Anton Ego, Ratatouille.
... there has developed among those who do it [presidential campaign reporting] so arresting an enthusiasm for overlooking the contradictions inherent in reporting that which occurs only in order to be reported. They are willing, in exchange for “access“, to transmit the images their sources wish transmitted. They are even willing... to present these images not as a story the campaign wants told, but as fact.
“You can't imagine how it is when everyone you know is gone,“ someone I knew who was old would say to me, and I would nod, uncomprehending, yes I can, I can imagine, would even think, God forgive me, that there must be a certain peace in outliving all debts and claims, in being known to no one, floating free. I believed that days would be too full forever, too crowded with friends there was no time to see.
pickAnother win for me from Levy. These essays are concise and sharp, on topics ranging from writers and visual artists, to shoes and driving. Listening sent me on a few searches for other books she mentioned. I loved all of these essays, and loved getting a glimpse into this brilliant mind. The audio is also spectacular.
pickRoss Gay took a year to chronicle the small joys in his life, and it is, well, delightful. While he doesn‘t shy away from those things in this world that are definitely not good, among those he finds countless delights that made me smile and laugh and look for the good around me. He narrates the audio, and his narration makes it even better.
pickI was worried about this short story/essay collection after Go Set A Watchman, but I actually quite liked it. Some of these have previously been published, but they were all new to me. My favorite was Lee‘s recollection of the time when her friends gave her a year‘s salary so she could take the year off to write.
