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review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

This is a terrific book - a narrative nonfiction history of the Apollo program told mainly through the astronauts. The book will win over jaded resistant readers and often keep us glued. The astronauts are super smart, but also foolish and emotionally distant.

One thing that struck me was the scale of the moonscape. Pike‘s Peak sized mountains outside the landers.

Bookwomble Another book I loved reading! Have you been sneaking into my library while I've not been looking? 😄 1d
Graywacke @Bookwomble that‘s funny! I used an audiobook. So I would have had to steal your book and then find a reader. It is terrific. 1d
40 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Graywacke
The Luminaries | Eleanor Catton
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Pickpick

The 2013 Booker Prize winner. Catton is the youngest winner, and The Luminaries is the longest winner.

A murder mystery during the New Zealand gold rush, woven into astrology.

Long, but fun stuff. Easy going. Then in the end it becomes a different, more nuanced evocative, memorable, curious. Crazy complex, but doesn‘t get lost in the details. It‘s all used to aesthetic purpose. That was cool.

TheKidUpstairs I loved this book, and Catton's ability to pack different genres and ideas into one reading experience. 1d
Graywacke @TheKidUpstairs she was doing a lot here. I think the last 50 pages both changed the feel of the book, and made me like it 100 times better. I already enjoyed it before that. But the change kind of won me over (edited) 1d
BarbaraBB Glad you enjoyed it. Might be my favorite Booker winner. 20h
Graywacke @BarbaraBB i was a skeptic for a long time. Thinking- It‘s fun, but… But i like it a lot more after reading the ending. My favorite Booker is Possession. 🙂 20h
BarbaraBB I liked that one very much too 19h
44 likes2 stack adds5 comments
review
Graywacke
Theres a Monster Behind the Door | Galle Blem, Latitia Saint-Loubert, Karen Fleetwood
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Pickpick

#booker #IB2025 12 of 13. I have one left.

This is a novel about the life of descendants of African slavery on Reunion Island - a French territory in the Indian Ocean. Despite some humor and charm, don‘t expect to be uplifted.

“For here, their pain is told, their disgrace blessed. By night, as by day, I wanted them to exist here, to have an ode to their madness, a book that avenges them even as it absolves them."

Suet624 You‘ve managed to read so many! 1d
Graywacke @vikaplus321 everyone tagged just above are Booker Prize fans. 🙂 1d
See All 12 Comments
Graywacke @Suet624 I‘ll read the whole IB longlist this year. I‘m unreasonably proud ☺️😊 1d
Suet624 As you should be. Do you have a favorite? 1d
Graywacke @Suet624 i do. I loved the winner and enjoyed the list. My own winner is 1d
TheKidUpstairs Congrats on working through the list! I haven't read them all, but what I've read have been excellent. I'm really looking forward to delving into the world of “On the Calculation of Volume“ and reading Heart Lamp. I'm on mile long hold lists for both, but someday my turn will come! 1d
squirrelbrain Wow, the whole longlist - that‘s amazing! I don‘t do the IB, only the ‘standard‘ Booker, which I‘m very much looking forward to. 1d
Graywacke @TheKidUpstairs that my favorite and the winner. Mushtaq left me thinking of Edith Wharton. Negative reviews say it‘s repetitive. But i didn‘t feel that. Come on borrowers - move along. 🙂 1d
Graywacke @squirrelbrain I‘m looking forward to the regular list too. July 29. I‘ll be overwhelmed for a bit. ☺️ 1d
vikaplus321 @Graywacke great to know, thank you 1d
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 7h
49 likes12 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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After lots of playing around with decisions and introductions of various books, it seems i‘ve committed myself to this book - my new morning read. Bring on Mallory.

dabbe I had to read this one after reading THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING. I'm interested to read what you think about it. 🖤🐾🖤 2d
Graywacke @dabbe So far it‘s a lot less boring 😆 Ok. i read White‘s book when I was 15 and not a book reader. And that … a lot of years ago. 2d
dabbe @Graywacke No wonder some of my students in honors English would look at me like this when we were reading it: 😳🥱😴💤... 😂 2d
See All 10 Comments
Graywacke @dabbe 😆 high school students have no tolerance for good literature, today or anytime during my lifetime (i might be exaggerating) 2d
Bookwomble This is one of my top five books. Love Malory! 2d
Graywacke @Bookwomble wow. That‘s great encouragement. On one hand I‘m ridiculously charmed. On the other, it‘s 5 minutes a page. It‘s a 60+ hour read… But it‘s my morning. I‘ll take it slow. (edited) 1d
Bookwomble @Graywacke One of my earliest memories (5 years old, perhaps) is of playing Sir Kay in an infant school play, and King Arthur and his knights have been part of my fibre ever since 😊 And, yes, it's dense! The stories in Malory are repetitive in nature, although often with different moral emphases, such as the love triangles between Arthur-Guenevere-Lancelot and Mark-Isoud-Tristram. 1d
Bookwomble My favourite story, I think, is one that Malory created rather than retold: Sir Gareth. It draws from established Arthurian themes, but put together differently. It has an undercurrent of ancient rites and magic, and psychological archetypes that I find really engaging. (Sorry, I'll stop gushing!) 1d
Graywacke @Bookwomble you have a freehand to gush on any of my posts. Especially on Mallory. I really know nothing. And you were acting characters i didn‘t know existed in infant school! You‘re a source for me! You and Monty Python! ☺️ (edited) 1d
Bookwomble Python will probably be a more reliable source! ? And "act" would probably be a generous term. Still, it definitely influenced my love of folklore and chivalrous tales ? 1d
45 likes10 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Bunner Sisters | Edith Wharton
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Whose up for a buddy read of this? It‘s 100 pages. I suggest we chat July 26, in one month.

#whartonbuddyread

@AllDebooks @CarolynM @Currey @IMASLOWREADER @jewright @LapReader @Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen @TheBookHippie

Lcsmcat I‘m in, although I may comment late. The 26th is my Mom‘s 90th birthday celebration. Thirty people, four generations, lots of food! 2d
dabbe @Lcsmcat How cool is this? Happiest of birthdays to your mom! 🤩😍🤩 2d
Graywacke @Lcsmcat wow. That‘s really special. We‘ll celebrate for her a little here in Litsy. 2d
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Currey @Lcsmcat How wonderful. I hope you got her genes and fortitude!! 2d
Currey @Graywacke Absolutely I am in and that day is good for me. 2d
Lcsmcat @dabbe @Graywacke Thanks! And yes, @Currey I hope so too. She is still very independent. 2d
IMASLOWREADER me🙋🏻‍♀️ 2d
CarolynM I'm in. Thanks Dan 2d
jewright I‘m in, please! 2d
Graywacke @jewright how did i not tag you? !! I‘m really glad you found this post 2d
Graywacke @jewright ok. Sorry. I did tag you. I feel better. Disregard… 2d
Leftcoastzen I would like to join in ! 2d
Graywacke @CarolynM @Currey @IMASLOWREADER @jewright @Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen @TheBookHippie - i lured @vikaplus321 onto our group read. 🙂She‘s a friend from my facebook booker prize group and has become a reading buddy. And she‘s new to Litsy. She joined and already posted yesterday. (I might get one other reading buddy to join. He‘s busy though.) 1d
vikaplus321 @Graywacke Happy to be here, thank you for the invitation! 1d
Graywacke @vikaplus321 warm welcome! 1d
TheBookHippie Yes!!!! 1d
TheBookHippie @Lcsmcat How lovely!!!! 1d
39 likes20 comments
blurb
Graywacke
A Leopard-Skin Hat | Anne Serre
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Started this. And it will complete my reading through this year‘s International Booker longlist - the 1st i will have done this.

#booker #IB2025

BarbaraBB So good you read them all! 2d
Graywacke @BarbaraBB I‘m really happy about this 1d
BarbaraBB You should be! I loved this year‘s IB longlist. Now it‘s fingers crossed for the Booker one. Will you read that one as well? 1d
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Graywacke @BarbaraBB definitely! And the options look amazing. I think they have an opportunity for an especially good longlist. Of course judges are weird. 😆 1d
BarbaraBB I don‘t dare doing any predictions! Can‘t wait for the longlist! 1d
Graywacke @BarbaraBB July 29 🥰 1d
39 likes6 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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New audiobook - the new winner of the Women‘s Prize for Nonfiction

review
Graywacke
Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie
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Pickpick

Phew, I did eventually finish. And a week after that I can fully say I‘m glad i read it. But, it took all week to get there.

Saleem Sinai is India. Born at midnight at the moment of Independence, he goes through an absurd life that parallels 🇮🇳‘s history, and also seems to undermine itself constantly. He‘s only 31 when he tells us his story - in heavily affected, circular, strained exhausting prose. 🙂 But, it still a pretty fantastic thing

Ruthiella This book exhausted me too. 2w
Graywacke @Ruthiella it‘s tough on the reader 2w
kspenmoll Happy Litsyversary!!!!🩷💜🎉🎉 1w
Graywacke @kspenmoll thanks! 🤗 5d
53 likes4 comments
review
Graywacke
Perfection | Vincenzo Latronico
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Pickpick

A book looking at social media appearance, how it seems real life should measure up. To hammer home the point, the book focuses on how things look, and treats our characters from a distance.

Not sure I‘m a fan of this cold distant literature. But it reads nicely and is well-executed.

This is my 11th from the International #Booker longlist. #IB2025

BookishTrish I thought it was so well executed and was disappointed it didn‘t win 2w
Graywacke @BookishTrish looks like you were moved by it! 2w
sarahbarnes Still waiting on this one from the library. 2w
48 likes4 comments
review
Graywacke
Small Boat | Vincent Delecroix
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Pickpick

Well, I got lost 🙁

An important book. On Nov 24, 2021 a sinking boat with 29 refugees wasn‘t rescued. A French radio operator was in contact with them for hours, but failed to get them help, and criticized them. 27 people drowned.

This is a fictional look at the radio operator. She narrates her thoughts and a perhaps imaginary questioning.

Unfortunately I couldn‘t follow what she was thinking. Didn‘t make sense to me. I just missed too much.

BarbaraBB I loved this one but I also love how different we judge our books! 3w
Lesliereadsalot I loved this one too. I‘m not sure the radio operator could follow her own thoughts. I felt like she was so messed up from the whole experience and could never define for herself exactly what happened. 3w
Graywacke @BarbaraBB i just got lost. 3w
Graywacke @Lesliereadsalot that makes sense. But there is a story with her thought processes. I just couldn‘t find it. 3w
51 likes5 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

The IB Prize winner

The stories are Wharton-esque

The author is a native Kannada speaker, and also activist, lawyer and feminist. Kannada has 60 million speakers, and is older than Hindi.

These stories do not directly challenge cultural norms. The characters all exist in their Muslim Indian world and accept their realities, including their economic reality, as the natural order. It's within this mindset that BM‘s feminism lays its hands.

54 likes2 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

William Blake was fascinating and strange artist, poet and thinker. John Higgs, the author, is very interested in all aspects of Blake, including Blake's weirdest and most arcane, where he spends a whole lot of this book. Not a perfect book, but well done. Fun, fascinating, insightful stuff.

blurb
Graywacke
The Luminaries | Eleanor Catton
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My current book… for a while

I finished Midnight‘s Children, after 32 somewhat difficult hours of reading. And then started this 800 page monster. But, it‘s easy reading after Rushdie.

TheBookHippie But did you like it? 3w
LapReader There is a tv series too. 3w
BarbaraBB This is another all time favorite of mine! 3w
See All 7 Comments
Graywacke @TheBookHippie Midnight‘s Children? It‘s fun to think about, was unfun to read. 🙂 3w
Graywacke @LapReader ooh. Did not know this! 3w
Graywacke @BarbaraBB whoa. Now I‘m afraid not to like it. Honestly, i‘ll sense i‘ll enjoy it. But so far it‘s logic extreme. I need more sea and fiery embers. Maybe they‘ll come later. 3w
TheBookHippie @Graywacke 🙃 Yes, his writing is hit or miss for me but it always makes me think. 3w
51 likes1 stack add7 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie
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Cupcake12 That‘s where my grandad was based in the war. 1mo
Graywacke @Cupcake12 that‘s fascinating! 1mo
BarbaraBB Enjoy that fabulous book! 1mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB it‘s work, but I am enjoying it 1mo
sarahbarnes Great book! 1mo
60 likes1 stack add5 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Perfection | Vincenzo Latronico
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Bought and started yesterday. This is one of three books i left to complete the International Booker longlist.

#booker #IB2025

42 likes1 stack add
blurb
Graywacke
Small Boat | Vincent Delecroix
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Starting a new book. I have four left for the International Booker Award long list.

This one, oddly, is not available as an ebook on Kindle in the US. I bought my copy from Bookshop.org - didn‘t know they sold ebooks!

willaful I didn't know that either. 1mo
TheBookHippie I‘m slowly trying to just get ebooks from there! It‘s new! 1mo
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sarahbarnes I really want to read this but I don‘t love ebooks. I keep hoping it will show up in print in the US soon…I suspect it may win the prize this year. 1mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes you can buy hardcopies online. Try Blackwells. ?? 1mo
Graywacke @willaful @TheBookHippie I think BookShop.org will become my ebook go to for the foreseeable future. I‘m happy to get away from Kindle (and other deranged corporations) 1mo
willaful @Graywacke I got the impression you can only read their ebooks on their app, is that the case? I don't want to buy anything I can't read on an ereader. :-( 1mo
Graywacke @willaful I don‘t know. (I‘ve only tried their app on my iPhone.) 1mo
willaful @Graywacke Thanks, I didn't see the FAQ. 1mo
46 likes10 comments
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Graywacke
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My new audiobook, from 1993. Yes, I am partially listening to this because the author and I share last names.

Ruthiella Bronson Pinchot is a great narrator. Who knew Balkie had it in him? 😅 1mo
Graywacke @Ruthiella I‘m enjoying him. He does a funny thing where he tries to imitate the voice he‘s reading - Tom Hanks, JFK… 1mo
38 likes2 comments
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Graywacke
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Another book I‘ve been reading from the International #Booker longlist. Originally written in Kannadan, it‘s a muslim-Indian perspective. It‘s been terrific so far. #IB2025

BarbaraBB It‘s the only one on the shortlist I haven‘t read yet. 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB Im impressed. It‘s a slower read than you might expect. But very enjoyable 2mo
BarbaraBB I will be looking for a copy! 2mo
46 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
Graywacke
Reservoir Bitches: Stories | Dahlia de la Cerda
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Pickpick

My 8th from the #Booker longlist comes from a Mexican activist. She tells us, in her best and last story, that a woman is murdered in Mexico every two hours and twenty-five minutes. I liked the last story a lot. Most of the other stories - confident unreflective irreverent voices - sounded too much the same to me. But a good collection overall and an easy read. #IB2025

52 likes1 comment
blurb
Graywacke
Romantic Poets | John Keats
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This is a library book i‘ve been working through. I won‘t make it to the end, at 780 pages. But I enjoyed the William Blake section, and I‘m now reading the William Wordsworth section. All new to me, other than Tyger Tyger, burning bright…

TheBookHippie I found this exact copy thrifting a while back! Still dipping in and out.. 2mo
TheSpineView I remember reading those poems. I took a Romantic literature class in college. Have you read Coleridge yet? 2mo
Graywacke @TheBookHippie I‘m tempted to buy a copy. No intro, notes or explanations. I feel like I‘m reading some kind of source text. 🙂 It‘s pretty. And I love the leathery cover. (edited) 2mo
See All 12 Comments
Graywacke @TheSpineView never. Just the Kublai Khan one. (partially inspired by the Rush song ☺️) 2mo
TheBookHippie @Graywacke I feel exactly the same way. It‘s a gift. 2mo
dabbe “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner“ is my fave. And, if interested, I have a link to a Big Read of it; even Iggy Pop participates! It's absolutely wonderful:
https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/reading/1
2mo
Graywacke @dabbe wow! I‘ll bookmark this. Actually I have read this one once. I remembered being fascinated. (I was supposed to read it in high school, but fat chance I would actually read an assignment then) (edited) 2mo
Kitta What a beautiful book 😍 2mo
Graywacke @Kitta 👍 it‘s a lovely edition 2mo
dabbe @Graywacke Same here! Cliff's Notes, anyone? 🤣 2mo
Graywacke @dabbe well? ☺️ 2mo
dabbe @Graywacke They saved my bacon numerous times. 😎 2mo
49 likes12 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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My current audiobook. I started this past week. The author, John Higgs, seems like a character, with many talents. He‘s really into and excited about the psychology of Blake, who was very much interested in his own vision and the visual world of his own mind. It‘s been fun. I read some Blake poetry along with this, and he has really added to my (still limited) understanding.

review
Graywacke
Disgrace | J. M. Coetzee
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Pickpick

I‘m working through some Booker listed books i‘ve own. This is the 1999 winner, and probably Coetzee‘s most well-known work.

It‘s fantastic, unsettling, dark. Lit prof David Lurie sleeps around, and a maybe rape of a student ends his career in disgrace. His Dantean hell is to go to his daughter‘s farm. He loves his daughter. What happens there parallels his own crimes. Coetzee keeps it moving, keeps the reader glued and surprised. Fantastic.

Ruthiella This book is so disturbing but so very good. 2mo
Reggie Oof. Stacked. 2mo
mjtwo Loved this at uni but need to reread. 2mo
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Graywacke @Ruthiella yes. Agree. And no answers. He‘s trying hard to let us make our own judgements and conclusions 2mo
Graywacke @Reggie ha! Oof, another? It‘s a quick, oddly easy read, if that helps. 2mo
Graywacke @mjtwo cool that you studied it. I didn‘t take any lit classes, sadly. But then, i graduated before this was published. 2mo
Reggie It‘s just sounds like a difficult subject-wise read. 2mo
BarbaraBB I still remember this one vividly 2mo
Graywacke @Reggie it is! 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB I‘m not surprised by that 2mo
55 likes2 stack adds10 comments
review
Graywacke
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Mehso-so

This made the WP for Nonfiction shortlist. It‘s a half-story style journalist‘s narrative. I mean, she goes into detail on her four subjects, all born around 1990, but they can‘t be exactly representative. The are just some women she managed to meet who were successful, most coming from impoverished rural backgrounds and ending up successful urbanites. They‘re a window into this brief era of Chinese social mobility. Important, but incomplete.

Graywacke In my opinion, it might have made more sense to follow one woman, and then add three women who grew up with her in her village. What were their differences expectations and experiences? But that would be a different book (with different access). She touches on this with a sister. 2mo
youneverarrived Great review! I agree with you. 2mo
46 likes2 comments
review
Graywacke
On a Woman's Madness | Astrid Roemer
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Pickpick

I loved this book. It‘s a literary look at Surname around 1980. The main characters is a Jewish-African mixed-race. She leaves her black husband after nine days and goes to the capital to some wild affairs. The language captures the lush surroundings, but it leaves gaps the reader has to fill in. I loved that. Negative capability with intent. It works. #booker #IB2025

Suet624 Oh! I didn‘t realize this was on the booker list! 2mo
BarbaraBB I just starters it and find it hard to get into so I‘m glad for this recommendation! 2mo
43 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Graywacke
Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie
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Starting this today. Feels like a big deal.

Suet624 I haven‘t read this one yet and you‘re right. It feels like a big deal. 2mo
merelybookish I read it years ago and loved it! 2mo
Graywacke @Suet624 it‘s time i try 🙂 2mo
See All 10 Comments
BarbaraBB Echoing @merelybookish 👌🏽 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB ❤️🙂 2mo
bibliothecarivs I read it 20 years ago at university for a course on modern Brit lit. It opened my eyes to so many things and I enjoyed it. Here's hoping you do, too. 2mo
Graywacke @bibliothecarivs ooh. Fantastic. And thanks! So far I‘m spinning amongst Himalayan peaks and failed prayers. 2mo
Currey @Graywacke I have this on my TBR shelf as an actual physical book. I would read along with you but it would take me until the end of the year. 1mo
Graywacke @Currey it might take me that long. ☺️ I‘m reading about 4 minutes a page. And feeling exhausted after reading. It‘s not that hard, though. It‘s just strangely demanding 1mo
43 likes10 comments
review
Graywacke
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Mehso-so

I spent 5.5 months working in this. Piers is important historically, both linguistically and politically. When the peasants revolted in 1381, this work, with its commoner plowman religious hero, was cited. It was popular amongst the underclasses (even if they were largely illiterate). Intellectually it‘s interesting in that it‘s inconclusive. Our author never resolves his issues. But, artistically it‘s only ok. It was work. I‘m glad I‘m done.

Suet624 That‘s too bad. Sounds like a book I‘m be interested in but it sounds a bit too much for me right now. 2mo
Leftcoastzen 😻👏 2mo
Graywacke @Suet624 it‘s tough and droll. 🙂 Actually the beginning is better. The original version was 1/3 as long and had all the good parts. I think i would have been happier with that version. 2mo
Graywacke @Leftcoastzen she‘s just waiting till i give her kitchen scraps. She scored a little ground beef later tonight. 2mo
dabbe #doneisgood 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
62 likes5 comments
review
Graywacke
Solenoide | Mircea C?rt?rescu
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Pickpick

Phew. My 5th book from the International #Booker longlist took some time, and some perseverance. It flows, it‘s just keep going. A schoolteacher learns of the layout of electrical solenoids connecting through Bucharest, becomes a mite messiah, floats two feet over his bed loses his way in every building, and turns into something like a sperm. Dear reader, you're left to decide what to make of this.
#IB2025

Suet624 Haha. Love this review. 2mo
Graywacke @Suet624 ☺️ 2mo
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BarbaraBB I am not sure I‘m going to read it… 2mo
Tamra Got this one for my husband because it sounds like it‘s right up his alley. 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB it‘s a commitment. But you‘re my imagined fearless reader. You might love it. (Although Im finding the biggest fans grew up in Eastern Europe. Seems many feel they can relate) 2mo
Graywacke @Tamra just don‘t let him blame me! 😇 2mo
BarbaraBB Thank you, that‘s a huge compliment coming from you! Yet I do have some fear for such a chunkster! 2mo
sarahbarnes Great review! I just started this one and I‘m already tied in mental knots. It feels like a Pynchon novel. But I‘m strangely attracted to the story so we‘ll see how far I get…. 2mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes you‘re just beginning the adventure. There are highs and lows. You have so much stuff ahead of you! 2mo
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review
Graywacke
Postscripts | Daryl Hine
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Pickpick

Another translator of that Horace collection I recently read. Hine was a Canadian poet and kept his homosexuality in the closet for most of his life. coming out in the late 1980's. As a poet, he was the epitome of form. He‘s always clean and striking linguistically. It wasn't always emotionally understandable to me, but when I got in tune, it was really interesting to see how he did things. A quick, entertaining later collection of his.

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

I liked this book enough that it‘s tough to review here. There is just too much I want to talk about. Shakespeare, Richard II, king at 10, riding out amongst the mob of the Peasants Revolt in 1381, his disinterest in his country, and quest for absolute power. Henry IV, who usurped the throne, was his cousin, the same age, and loyal until he felt threatened. Also - Richard was never insane. An awesome book on the Women‘s Prize longlist.

Lcsmcat This is on my TBR. Maybe I‘ll get to it after I finish 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat that sounds fun! I could use some insight on who those various weirdos… er, kings… were. 2mo
Lcsmcat @Graywacke It‘s hilarious. I keep making my husband listen to quotes but I can‘t exactly post them because the set-ups are so long. Highly recommended! 2mo
Graywacke @Lcsmcat great to know. It‘s gets good ratings on audible 2mo
57 likes3 stack adds4 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

This is part of an experiment for me. Kizer contributed to a translations of Horace's Odes that I recently read. This is a later collection of hers. The poetry is much more about story and its impact than form, which tends to be free. They‘re are narrative, meaningful, easy to read and satisfying. I enjoyed her quieter feminism. It was a nice introduction to Kizer.

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Graywacke
On a Woman's Madness | Astrid Roemer
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This book from a Suriname-Dutch author was originally published in Dutch in 1982. It was 1st translated to English in 2023, and this year made the 2025 International #Booker longlist. I just started. The language is rich.
#IB2025

sarahbarnes Will be interested in your review of this one. I didn‘t like it as much as I hoped to. 2mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes interesting. So far i‘m sold. I‘m enjoying the language and multiculturalism, and just being in Suriname and in the early 1980‘s literary world (she published this is 1982!) 2mo
39 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Graywacke
Hunchback: A Novel | Saou Ichikawa
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Pickpick

I read this today. Took 2 hours. My 6th from the International #Booker longlist. It‘s highly regarded.

A heavily disabled woman, with a muscular disorder, dependent on helpers and a ventilator, writes pornographic romances under a pen-name. This is about her looking at her life, and ableist biases, even on book reading, and at her own desires. Unsettling and provoking.
#IB2025

BarbaraBB I was very impressed by this book and am sorry it didn‘t make the shortlist 2mo
sarahbarnes I liked this one too and read it quickly. Agree with @BarbaraBB that I wish it had made the shortlist. 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes i try not to get too worked up on the shortlist and winner. 🙂 But this book was worthy of the shortlist. So was Solenoid. 2mo
50 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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Graywacke
The Mind-reader | Richard Wilbur
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This 1976 poetry collection packs some punch up front. I just started this morning.

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Graywacke
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New audiobook, also my 3rd from the Women‘s Prize for Nonfiction longlist. I‘m enjoying it so far. A couple of these girls grew up on SW china in their rural villages with just their grandparents. Their parents were far from home trying to make a living. I saw villages like these in the mid 1990‘s - hordes of kids with some elderly farmers. No one of parent age.

Suet624 Oh boy. China has such a tough history in regards to children and families. 2mo
Graywacke @Suet624 So far it‘s not exactly about the horrors. I mean there are serious things that happen. But this is after the cultural revolution and all the government created famines. These are the children of all that. Focus is more on issues related to education and poverty and absent parents. 2mo
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Graywacke
Postscripts | Daryl Hine
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Trying a second of my new poetry books. Hine was a late 20th century poet of form. He wrote a long poem of being gay in the 1970‘s, and didn‘t publish it for two decades. This is a 1991 collection, apparently an important later collection of his.

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Graywacke
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Pickpick

Tough one for Jewish me to review. The premise is that all the Arabs in Israel disappear. So we follow a Jewish reporter who breaks into his disappeared Palestinian friend‘s apartment, and finds and starts reading his diary about the Palestinian history in Jaffa. Reading a Palestinian diary through an uninvited Israeli reader echoes the colonialist theme brought up throughout the novel.

BarbaraBB That sounds tough indeed, especially when you‘re Jewish. I am looking forward to it. 3mo
sarahbarnes I‘m just starting this one. Sounds like a tough read. 3mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes I‘m curious what you think. The reading itself was fast, but i was unable to say anything about it at first. There was a lot to process in my head. 3mo
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Graywacke
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Pickpick

Lulu Miller, of NPR, is an excellent writer and reader. This book feels like a high energy NPR story. And I would like to tell you how wonderful it is, but it does have issues. It is entertaining throughout, and she touches on the meaning of life and the MAGA mentality, and her personal life, while providing a biography of pioneering American fish taxonomist and eugenicist (!) David Star Jordan. (Also, fish do exist)

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Graywacke
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Pickpick

Several contemporary (2002) poets translating Horace's Odes freely. All must have some knowledge of Latin. All were born from ~1920 to ~1965. So a bunch of older classically inclined poets. Each translation is a combination of Horace's and the poet's meanings. Overall it leaves an interesting impression, and I enjoyed that. I‘ve been working through this since Jan 13, a little bit each morning.

Suet624 Great job on your commitment to checking in on this every morning. I always end up petering out at some point 3mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 3mo
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Graywacke
Solenoide | Mircea C?rt?rescu
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Next international #booker book. I‘m about 20% in - it‘s long. #IB2025

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Graywacke
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Pickpick

Dystopian feel, with pared down prose and a lot mystery. Eventually we figure out we're in some future with a much smaller population of humanity. And we're within an unnatural system where no one seems to understand the controls. [The Giver] was always on my mind. This is is a bit of a puzzle to put together.

I liked it. I liked the pared down prose and curiosity build-up.

#booker #IB2025 No. 3

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Graywacke
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Pickpick

I waited 14 years to read this not-difficult book. Sigh.

This tries to capture a transitional era in the sciences, ~1800, when science and the arts were closely linked and science was a wide-open field for adventure, but was also becoming formalized, and a far more stringent field. (The steampunk era? 🙂) But Holmes approach is pure biography (of people instead of ideas). I was entertained. This is an easy, wonderful listen.

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Graywacke
Eurotrash: Roman | Christian Kracht
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Pickpick

My second from the 2025 #IB2025 longlist.

It's that funny-not-funny-but-still-funny serious-not-serious-very-serious sort of satire - here on the dark history of Europe from the heirs.

But it becomes a bonding road trip, and a series of conversations and a character study of senile mom. This not only works but was thoroughly entertaining, especially because of mom‘s occasional sharpness. Comically heartwarming? Maybe. I enjoyed it. #booker

Suet624 I'm about to sit down and explore all the catalogs of the libraries in my area to see how many of these Booker and Women's Prize lists I can find. Glad you liked this one. (edited) 3mo
AnneCecilie I‘m reading this one now. Hasn‘t gotten to the road trip yet 3mo
Graywacke @Suet624 yay! Either i‘ve hit the good ones 1st or it‘s just a good year. 3mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie i found the beginning a little overwhelming. If you‘re finding that too, hang in there a bit. 3mo
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Graywacke
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My new audiobook - and my second from the 2025 Women‘s Prize for Nonfiction. Lots of Shakespeare in the introduction 🥰

merelybookish I just started this! 3mo
Graywacke @merelybookish I‘m 2.5 hours in (12%), and fascinated (edited) 3mo
merelybookish How's it going? I'm about halfway through. I am enjoying it and amazed I'm mostly keeping everyone straight. 3mo
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Graywacke @merelybookish i‘m 6 hours in and constantly fascinated. The nature of power, the way everyone plays this game, it‘s crazy and so much looser than I realized. 3mo
merelybookish @Graywacke Yeah, I was skeptical in her intro when she said there are parallels to today. But you can see how there can be very different visions of power and different avenues can be taken to secure it. I feel like that is playing out before our eyes. 3mo
Graywacke @merelybookish I‘m still thinking about that. It‘s different. But the undermining of norms for power and with destructive intent are striking parallels. The indifference to human life is so strange. 3mo
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Graywacke
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Starting a newly acquired poetry book. It‘s signed, and I‘m clumsy, so I‘m trying to keep it protected. But i do remove the plastic to read it. 🙂

GingerAntics Not going to lie, if you kept it on to read, I‘d like to see how you make that work. 🤣 3mo
Leftcoastzen 😁👏🐶 3mo
Graywacke @GingerAntics 😊 No clue @Leftcoastzen sleepy pup - clearly exited i‘m home today. 3mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 3mo
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Graywacke
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My next international booker read.
#booker #IB2025

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Graywacke
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Pickpick

Tara Selter is stuck in November 18. That is every day when she wakes up its 11/18 (or 18/11 🇬🇧) , and everything repeats itself - the rainy weather near Lille, France, the sky, and people who wake fresh to their first 11/18, with no memory of the previous 11/18s.

It‘s a very curious book, with terrific atmosphere and yet many unanswered questions. It‘s the kind of book that makes me want to try writing.

#booker #IB2025

sarahbarnes Ooh, great review. I‘m on the hold list for this one and looking forward to it. 4mo
BarbaraBB Great review. I can‘t imagine it being a series! 4mo
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Graywacke @sarahbarnes 👍 I hope you get it soon. Also thanks 4mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB well, it leaves a lot to answer for. 🙂 I‘m wondering how it might evolve. Book 2 is available in English and I have a library copy. 4mo
AnneCecilie @BarbaraBB As you read on it makes perfect sense. I‘m sitting here waiting for the 6th volume to be released. I think it‘s supposed to be 7 volumes 3mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie ooh! You‘ve read them in Danish? I think seven are planned. Five released in original language. 3mo
AnneCecilie @Graywacke No, translated into Norwegian, but the Scandinavian countries usually translate each other‘s bestsellers pretty fast 3mo
BarbaraBB @AnneCecilie I hope I‘ll enjoy it I‘d love a good Danish series to look forward to! (edited) 3mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie that makes sense. And cool 3mo
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Graywacke
The Beginning of Spring | Penelope Fitzgerald
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Pickpick

Frank Reid and 1913 Moscow. Penny has a way. Frank is a curious character, tolerant of everything. When his wife leaves the country without warning, taking the three kids and then sending them back, however much it was killing him inside, he continues along independent, making terrible decisions, while remaining tolerant of all collapsing Russia‘s foibles. A fantastic little novel.

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Graywacke
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New audiobook I started today (it‘s on the Women‘s Prize for Nonfiction longlist)

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Graywacke
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Working ok this one. #booker #IB2025

BarbaraBB Very excited about this one. I have heard such good things! 4mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB easy fast reading. And very curious. I‘m enjoying it. 4mo
sarahbarnes Glad to hear you‘re enjoying this one. It is a bit of a puzzle in places. 4mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes yes! feels like it‘s all scattered puzzle pieces 4mo
sarahbarnes Yes! Great description. 4mo
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Graywacke
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Pickpick

I felt fascinated but confused the 1st time I read this. I had sympathy for narrator, but some serious doubts. I reread it to try to get some clarity, but found it equally opaque. Now i see a path of evil intent by our narrator. But i couldn‘t pin her down. She‘s hiding herself. In interviews the author says she wants readers to finish the book with questions, not answers. I have more questions upon rereading. The book is brilliant, by the way.

sarahbarnes I‘ve been put off my reviews of this one, but you‘re making me want to give it a go. 4mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes goodness, I love it. It‘s unique in that it‘s so focused on sound. If you read, i hope you take to that aspect. But it‘s difficult in that it‘s all an unreliable narrator not enlightening the reader. So readers have to roll with it a bit. 4mo
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