100
Currently reading:
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver [ongoing]
Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962–1972 by Alejandra Pizarnik [ongoing]
Books finished this week: 1
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: Books Are Magic, at the very start of the summer. (I sent the duplicate copy I accidentally bought at the Strand two weeks ago to a friend—hi, Sabrina!)
Why this book: Satanic Panic!!
Thoughts: This was a case where the book was nothing like what I expected from the summary on the back cover, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. (I thought there was going to be supernatural stuff, for some reason; be warned, there is not.) I assumed it would open with our protagonist, Lacey, as a young teen for a few chapters and then jump into her future, maybe with flashbacks throughout to fill in the gaps. But the story follows Lacey chronologically, through what is pretty much the worst time in her life and into the adulthood she fought hard to build for herself, before the past comes back to snatch it away again. I was surprised how quickly I got through this one, but once it got going, I found it hard to stop reading. I had to find out what was going to happen next, because I genuinely had no fucking idea where it was going.
Library updates:
One hundred books. It took nearly two and a half years (and literally hundreds of new books), but I’ve read 100 books from the Moratorium Library.
There was a time, brief and shining, in my life when I could easily read 75-100 books in a year. That time was mostly when I was commuting over an hour from my parents’ house into the city for work, a time when I wasn’t doing freelance work or enrolled grad school and I had approximately four friends. Not much has changed on the friendship front, but I do make better social use of my time nowadays.
Anyway! One hundred books!! This little blog project has helped me so much since May 2022. It’s helped me prioritize the things that matter—books, reading for pleasure, writing routinely, sharing my words—and collect and process my thoughts in a semi-public space. It still gives me a little jolt when a friend casually mentions, “I read that on your blog.” So, thank you, friends who have done that! Thank you, books, for existing. Thank you, literacy, for allowing me to read and write. I foresee changes on the horizon, but the one constant I’m planning on is the Library.
I also officially started rereading Zen in the Art of Writing on Thursday night, which is another thing the Library has taught me: it’s okay to start again. I had gotten through 50 pages, which felt like a lot of ground to give up, but it had also taken me months to get to that point and I barely remembered anything I’d read. So, after finishing Rainbow Black and taking a look at my shelves and stacks, I decided to start fresh. I read almost half of Zen in that first night, more than I’ve read of the book in months. And I’m feeling so much more energized and inspired by it.
To close this most auspicious Sunday missive, here’s a picture of my cat, because she makes me happy:
Closing thoughts:
In the immortal words of Billy Joel:
I've got to begin again
Though I don't know how to start
Yes, I've got to begin again, and it's hard
Total books read from the Moratorium Library: 100
I’d like to thank the Academy 🥹 We did it, Joe!!
