Weekly Report

Wilhelm Meister is going slowly, I can't seem to get into it. SaGN is rather wordy and dense in a different way, but fun. And the short stories are a nice late night read.

Oh, oh, oh! I know the answer to this one!

#SundayFunDay @BookmarkTavern

Weekly Report

I've finished 2666. What an experience.

I'm nearly done with Zama and waiting to see which books BookSpinBingo will tell me to prioritize.

Weekly Report

I almost DNF Confessions of a Mask, but the second half improved enough to press onwards. Meanwhile I started the different books as my subway book: Bluebeard's First Wife, Winter in the Blood, and The Bitter Glass. Still reading 2666.

I'm bored with my cookbooks, and I might have gone overboard with library requests...

A collection of very short stories, all in some way inspired by “marciano“ a word that can either mean popsicle or Martian. In each the characters have extra-ordinary reactions to ordinary happenings. It is impressive how the author can evoke an entire story, completely unsettling the reader, in a few pages, but there is also a slight distance, such that any impressions left quickly melted away.

3.5⭐ #Peru

I have been reading this month, although not commenting/reviewing much.

I even got a Bingo!

Weekly Report

I've finished the utterly strange Life of Insects. I've also read the emotional Aue. After an odd ebook set back, I am continuing 2666 at home and King Lear of the Steppes is my subway read.

A novel based on real events, written in a non-fictional manner. It begins as a journalist‘s research notes from a visit to a newly surfaced archive of secret police records. But as the narrator digs deeper into the files, his access is denied and it becomes a journal of his continued investigations, leading to the discovery related to a traumatic event suffered by his mother. I didn‘t get the revelation, because I didn‘t pay attention the names.

#weirdwords #weirdwordwednesday @CBee

Pulchritude: beauty

“How rare pulchritude is among the Irish, I said to myself; therefore what a trouble is made when it does appear...“

Weekly Report

I've finished the tagged book. It was well-written, but not as devastating as the introduction promised.

Still reading 2666 and I've also picked up Human Matters.

Here's February's #BookSpin Bingo board!

@TheAromaofBooks

A typical coming-of-age story with an atypical narrator. A bisexual Palestinian-American, she is unable to please her mother. An outsider both in America and during summers spent in the Middle East, she sabotages mundane relationships by pursuing idealistic, impossible ones. A breakup sends her into treatment, which doesn‘t solve her “love-addition” but interrupts her behavior enough to (eventually) make choices rather than following compulsions.

Weekly Report:

I'm still slowly reading 2666. Death in Rome continues to interest, hope to finish soon. You Exist Too Much is a fine coming of age story from a lesser heard viewpoint, but perhaps not memorable. System Collapse was needed, but with not enough memory of the previous installments, I was confused.

For my #bookerdozen, the first six were easy to choose -- the 5⭐ and 4.5⭐ books (Ducks through How Late). The other six I chose from the many four-star reads that I was slightly more enthusiastic about and didn't seem to have been mentioned already.

@vivastory

Thank goodness my hold came through on this latest Murderbot installment when it did*. Another escapist read with the ever delightful and sarcastic construct as it tries to (once again) rescue its humans from destruction, but this time with less confidence.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a good enough memory of the previous two books to follow along this time. I recommend retaining Network Effect and Fugitive Telemetry first

Beka reflects on the tumultuous past few months, beginning with her failure to pass the term, on her penchant for lying, the stories of “befo time” and political unrest, her great-gran‘s death and wake, a hurricane, and most troubling, the gulf widening between them as Troycie‘s inability to cope with ruinous events causes a breakdown. Beka‘s intelligence and contrariness see her (and the reader) through what could have been just a miserable tale.

Despite the fact that I have a Midwestern palate and can barely tolerate jalapeno, I did find some #Ghana recipes I could enjoy.

Tatale (plantain pancakes), Three Bean Salad, Cocoyam and Sweet Potato Curry, Coconut Rice, Honey and Plantain Ginger Cake, and Spiced Cashews.

#FoodandLit @Texreader @Catsandbooks

#WeeklyReport

Starting the year off a little slowly, only reading these two books. And I haven't finished anything recently.

The first time that Jean-Claude Pelletier read Benno von Archimboldi was Christmas 1980, in Paris, when he was nineteen years old and studying German literature.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Not told in a “standard” western style, it is a story of women‘s relationships, centered on Esi Sekyi – her first marriage to smothering husband Oko, her second polygamous marriage to Ali, and her lifelong friendship with Opokuya. The theme of changes is augmented with glimpses of Opokuya‘s and Ali‘s marriages. Each relationship blends tradition and modernity, none entirely successfully. But it portrays the possibilities for modern African women.

Okay this took far too long to put together -- both planning the books and experimenting with a different photo grid maker. But I'm finally ready to begin my 2024 reading.

#BookSpin = Changes #FoodandLit2024 #Ghana
#DoubleSpin = Fado Alexandrino #1001Books, #Reading1001

@thearomaofbooks

#12Booksof2023

I did not get much reading done in September, but this probably would have been the best book of the month regardless. All the feels.

@Andrew65

Another year another ludicrous amount spent on birthday books.

#12Booksof2023

I had forgotten to wishlist this book after reading the first one and was so very excited when I remembered the sequel existed. This was a fabulous read for the end of August.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2023

July was another good trading month. While this might not be the best book I read, it was the most entertaining.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2023 June was vacation month so I read A LOT of books and I had trouble picking just one. Both were variations on the mystery genre.

@Andrew65

#12booksof2023 May saw the reunion of the #BandofTrollopes with a loose buddy read of the third book in the Barchester series. The language takes a minute to get used to, but then it is a joy to sink into these gentle comedies.

@Andrew65

#CatsofLitsy #Bert

#12Booksof2023 April

Definitely the strangest 🦇💩🍌👖book I read all year, which also made it the most intriguing and fun. And I luuuurve the cover.

@Andrew65

Another book chosen for its location, but this was also brought to my attention from the many Litsy reviews. Loved the unusual protagonist and the portrayal of how her illness dictated her days.

#12Booksof2023 @Andrew65

I was (finally) drawn into this series by the netflix adaptation. Death is such a fantastic character in both mediums, so how can this not be the best thing I read in Feb?

#12BooksOf2023 @Andrew65

A book chosen for the author's nationality and setting, but the narrative voice was so brilliantly done it was one of my best reads of the year.

#12DaysofChristmas

Another #FoodandLit meal, this time from #Sweden, using the tagged cookbook.

Sweet Potato and Leek Gratin, Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes, Pizzasallad, Autumn Salad, Pear and Ginger Traybake

@Texreader @Catsandbooks

I have managed to read several books for my Novella November, but not as many as I hoped.

The Diesel is a fantastical story of a transgender person in UAE, hard to make sense of. The tagged was a retelling of Shakespeare. Memory is dense and more non-fictional than I liked, but several chapters were completely engrossing. In Sicily is a picture of it's time. And Sacrifice was enjoyable and also forgettable.

Up next, I think, is Hard Times.

I was surprised to find a cookbook for #FoodandLit #Chile in the library. So many tasty looking recipes, but I settled on just making ensalada de repollo con zanahoria, crema de garbanzos, tortilla de lechuga, and the irresistible chupe de mariscos.

After finishing Clarissa (and Julie, or the New Eloise), I need to read some sort works. I've been thinking of some sort of "Novella November". So, I've chosen 11 books under 200 pages to read this month.

#Novellaember ? Hmmm, must work on the hashtag...

Belated Weekly Report:

There finally was a nice day with morning sunshine for my picture 😊

I have read the amusing meta-fictional The Age of Goodbyes and finally! finished #Clarissa 🎇🎆🎉

So, of course, I have started another 18th C epistolary novel, Julie or the New Eloise 😳🙄 For something completely different (that I can carry on the subway), I am also reading the tagged book.

Weekly Report

Almost done with Clarissa! So, of course, I've started another 18th century epistolary novel 😂 This one is overwrought. Also reading the quite meta Age of Goodbyes. And because my hold from several months ago came through, I read Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

I may have gone a little overboard at the Brooklyn Book Festival....

16 books from 14 different indie publishers

Occasional Weekly Report:

Finally finished the Rushdie. Excellent, wordy and I should have read it during a vacation. Also read Ivory Pearl which was delightful until it abruptly stops because the author never finished it. And read, start to finish, very quickly the love letter to NYC that is The World We Made.

Always reading Clarissa and about to start Love in a Fallen City and/or The Great Believes.

🤣 I ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 N.K. Jemisin.

Weekly Report

I've finished the tagged #CostaRica book of short stories and Fugitive Telemetry.

The rest of my books are long and slow going 🫤

Clarissa continues, the Rushdie reads much slower than I thought it would, and I'm having trouble getting into the Kesey.

Weekly Report

I had a productive reading week. I've finished How the One-armed..., In the Forest, Born into This, and Eclipse of the Crescent Moon.

Clarissa is ongoing, as always. And I think I will start The Grind Benefit Her Feet next.

It's been awhile since I've finished a book or posted a weekly report. I'm reading some long ones and so keep starting others that I hope will hold my attention!

The tagged is a Hungarian classic from the #1001Books list. Clarissa, of course. In the Forest has a darker subject than I wanted and Born into This is short stories that are good for subway reading.

August's #TitlesandTunes took some thought. The somewhat absurd “Pulling Mussels (from the shell)“ with it's beach holiday images seemed a nice counterpoint to the (probably violent) noir story of a war orphan turned photojournalist (with the help of a rich man) taking a break in Cuba. In 1956.

I've substituted the actual Shakespeare quote above for #TheWorldIsMyOyster. 😊

@Cinfhen @BarbaraBB

Not too bad! The goals were:
60% owned-TBR
40% Women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+
33% translated works
51% published before 2000 😒
33% 1001-Books

I am behind in #ReadingtheAmericas (want to read a total of 18 for the year) and just where I should be for #FoodandLIt.

I so rarely read non-fiction anything above 1 book is a success. 😂

For #TitlesandTunes I may not get to this story of “love, death, and rock 'n' roll“ in July (and save it for August's #AuthorAMonth), but I do want to read it soonish. Who doesn't love an Orfeo retelling?

Too many #sexdrugsandrockandroll songs to choose from, but “Rock and Roll Lifestyle“ by Cake has been stuck in my head for several days now. You're welcome?

@Cinfhen, @BarbaraBB

Occasional Weekly Report:

I just got back from a chill family visit, reading almost a book a day. So, I've finished The Romantics (quiet, bittersweet), The Restless (interesting structure), After the Death of Don Juan (longish postscript of a well known story), The Tree of Man (stoic view of Australian frontier), and Laidlaw (early Scottish noir).

Still reading Clarissa and almost done with the tagged book.

Perfect book for a quiet, contemplative day at the lake.

😳😳😳

#Clarissa