book club
So I decided I want to get back into reading again! I used to read constantly as a kid, even waking up before school at sunrise or while everyone was still sleeping in on Saturdays to read. I received a Kindle and a book on it for Christmas when I was 12 and finished the book by dinner that same day. I still have that Kindle and access to a digital library so I am hoping to read a lot soon! Shall we aim for a book a month? So (since I missed January, and to give some give just in case) 10 books by the end of 2024? I think that's doable!
Posting updates / reviews / thoughts here to keep myself accountable and motivated 🤍
current book
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy | Aug'24 | Last read: Chapter 28
Aug 3, 2024 I've heard a lot of good things about this book, and more good things about how Jennette herself reads it, and I was very excited to see the audiobook available at my library. The writing is great, the voice acting is great. The memories are told in a way that makes it easy to connect the pieces. I don't really even know what I can say, this is just excellent personal writing, a great memoir. Now, the memories themselves... Lol. (Mouse will know what I mean by this, just saying lol when I've been hit with some emotion or traumatic memory or emotional flashback that I just will literally say "lol" ... more
previous books
The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto | Aug'24 | Finished
Aug 3, 2024 I don't know how I feel about this book yet. I read it all in one day yesterday, or I guess listened to it, because it was short and not too daunting and I like Banana Yoshimoto, I read The Lake during my medical leave in about 2018 and it made a lasting impact on me and I made sure I remembered her name because I wanted to read more. And I liked parts of it, like the psychic aspect and the kind of magical elements of a life that feels very real. But both the main characters were in terrible romantic dynamics, with the main character and the guy who was raised as her brother falling for each ... more
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo | May'24 | Finished
Aug 3, 2024 I think this was the book that really allowed me to enjoy reading again. I read it right before I went on a staycation with my partner in May that kind of was the turning point of the year for me. I enjoyed that weekend so much that I was extremely depressed about returning back to my daily life, and so I made a list of things that were important for me to do regularly so that I could stay alive. Reading was one of them. This was also the first book I read after someone online said that they listen to audiobooks to help days when they are bedbound pass better. I've struggled with it before because I can't really focus much, and I used to be the kind of person who likes to hold onto every single word. But I put this ... more
Let This Radicalize You by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes | Apr'24 | Last read: Chapter 8
Aug 3, 2024 I dunno, I needed a break from this book. Processing time, maybe. I got to the chapter I really needed, which spoke about grief as a necessary part of hope, or a step in the process or something. And it spoke specifically about the grief of being disabled, or becoming disabled. I don't quite remember, it's been a few months now. But I was speeding trying to read through the book and annotating as best as I could because I wanted to have read as much of the book as I could before a webinar led by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba. And then I got to that chapter about grief and I stopped. ... more
She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran | Feb'24 | Last read: Chapter 3
Feb 19, 2024 12:40 I could not pick this up for a while, but I read a substack essay from Ismatu Gwendolyn yesterday called "you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress)." The 4 main theses are: (1) the ruling class benefits from illiteracy, (2) short-form video entertains more than it sticks, (3) reading is a discipline distinct from listening, watching, or other forms of literacy and is a skill that needs to be honed separately, and (4) absolutely no one comes to save us but us. There's a lot of good lines in there like "You never have to burn the books if no one ever ... more