Change of Plan
Currently reading:
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver [ongoing]
Books finished this week: 3
★★★★★
Where this book came from: Last weekend’s trip to Troubled Sleep
Why this book: I’m an enormous Hark! A Vagrant fan, though I don’t think I’ve ever actually purchased a physical book from Kate Beaton. I was also intrigued by the subject matter: Beaton’s time working in Canada’s oil sands to save up to pay off her student loans.
Thoughts: This book was raw, moving, still stamped all over with Kate Beaton’s patented humor, and incredibly important. I learned so much from reading this book. I had no idea so many young Canadians in the Atlantic provinces have to seek work elsewhere to build lives for themselves, and I cannot imagine what it was like to be a recent college graduate with very little life experience basically thrown to the wolves, grappling with being away from home and family, facing legitimate risks to life and limb (both thanks to your job and your coworkers), being stuck working to make the money you desperately need and yet worrying how the experience is changing you and what kind of impact you being there is having on the wider world. This is a book about hope and fear and disappointment. It covers everything from life-altering events to climate change. I genuinely think everyone should read it. (Trigger warnings for rampant misogyny, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.)
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: Kew & Willow<3
Why this book: Zadie Smith and the subject matter
Thoughts: I have to admit that I was a little worried heading into The Fraud. Being a dumb American, I don’t know very much about British history beyond the Tudors and colonialism. But in Zadie Smith’s hands, you don’t need to know the specifics. Sure, the names of prime ministers might get tossed around, but don’t let those trip you up. I absolutely loved being in Eliza Touchet’s head for so much of the book, as she felt progressive enough to root for her and also to be believable for her time, without tipping into feeling too modern. I never felt lost in the details of the time or of the Tichbourne case—if anything, I was following along fine and just interested to learn more (thanks, Wikipedia). I docked a star because, while I mostly enjoyed Mrs. Touchet’s meandering thoughts, some of her narration did begin to feel a bit repetitive and I was getting a bit weary by the end of the book. But I really enjoyed engrossing myself in these characters’ lives.
★★★☆☆
Where this book came from: Last weekend’s trip to Ripped Bodice (not to be confused with Monday’s visit to Ripped Bodice—more on that below)
Why this book: I can’t lie, I am not a romance reader, so this was fully a case of judging a book by its cover. The title was too good to pass up, and the cover art is gorgeous.
Thoughts: It was fine! From the back cover copy, I was expecting sweetness and smut. Things got more intense than I thought they would (in the plot parts, not so much the smut—though, uh, if you’re not into tentacle porn? Just . . . be warned) and, though this may seem silly for a romance book, I wanted to know more about the characters and the world. Brie was such a fun character at the start, but she loses her personality a bit as the story goes on. Brie and Felix never have a real conversation, and for me, the sex scenes were never hot enough to make up for not really knowing who these folks were. I also belatedly realized that this was Book 2 in a series, so that’s on me, but I think the author still could have done a little more to introduce (or reintroduce) readers to the world and its rules.
Library updates:
Another week, another broken rule. I guess 2024 is the year for it.
I know I’ve said before that I wasn’t going to count comics or graphic novels toward the final Library counts, but I really wanted to share Ducks this week. I read the book in just two or three days and it really made an impact. I also haven’t actually read any comics in quite a long time—maybe not since the Library began. I probably have just as many graphic novels and trade paperbacks and single issues stacked up around my apartment as I do books, though I have read (and sometimes reread) far more of the comics. I’m hoping that Ducks gets me back into the swing of reading comics; I miss that medium. And if I do, perhaps I’ll implement some kind of “Comics Corner” going forward, to share what I read without officially counting them toward the Library’s goals.
I’m writing this on Sunday evening, after a very quiet weekend. Britt (hi, Britt!) came over yesterday for a rainy work day, and it was nice to get through homework a bit of work-work and leave my schedule pretty open for Sunday. After days of clouds and rain, we got a ton of sun, temperatures in the 60s, and clear blue skies today. A few weeks ago, I bought myself a ticket to see a play today, but the idea of traveling into Manhattan and then spending two or three hours inside on such a nice day was immediately unappetizing. So, I went to the beach instead, where I walked a bit and read much more. I ran some errands, bought a new lamp at Target, and was disappointed by Home Depot’s garden departments at not one buy two locations. It’s probably for the best—I probably would’ve sentenced anything I planted today to death. And now I have an excuse to go to my favorite mom-and-pop nursery instead of giving money to our home improvement overlords.
So, the plan changed, but I imagine the outcome was much sweeter. At the beach, it smelled like the ocean and it felt like spring. That’s all I need.
Closing thoughts:
Follow your gut.
Total books read from the Moratorium Library: 68
(Total books added to the Library: 138)
I went to my second Little Nights event at Ripped Bodice, and during a break between prompts, the host announced that anything we bought during the event would be 10% off, and, well . . .
