Well, this book wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but I can discuss why that's probably okay. Sarah Sands was a journalist and heavily involved inWell, this book wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but I can discuss why that's probably okay. Sarah Sands was a journalist and heavily involved in the BBC's Today show - constantly busy, worked all the time, never a lot of down time or rest without constant headlines and deadlines.
If you want to see it as her own journey of self-discovery away from job harm and toward more relationships and more outdoors time, this is a good read. But I really wanted to read the book it said it was, a journey to ten monasteries and a discussion of silence. Part of the problem was personality and pace - she would stay one night or bring family with her but one day is unlikely to go into silence, and bringing people with you is not going to allow you to immerse into the silence.
I also believe inner silence - meditation and the meditative life - is a practice, while Sands treats it here like a tourist excursion. She would spend one night at these historical sites and then write about it? But she hadn't experienced it yet! She writes about the scarcity and the quiet without really sharing an understanding of it herself. That happens a few times with a few different traditions and I kept putting the book aside. Then covid happened and her actual life grew more quiet and inner and it was like her life became her monastery. I actually thought that was the best inner journey component of the entire book.
All said, there are many better books about these monasteries and many better books talking about various traditions of contemplative life, and this one was disappointing....more
Henry Hoke writes a memoir through 20 stickers that is part nostalgia - for video stores, for summer camp - but also a reckoning. As a white boy growiHenry Hoke writes a memoir through 20 stickers that is part nostalgia - for video stores, for summer camp - but also a reckoning. As a white boy growing up in Charlottesville, that identity came into a clearer focus in recent years and the negative attention his city received. I also felt like he was skirting some discussion of queer identity but maybe he shared what he wanted to share. He also included topics like having a parent with a disability (still his primary parent) and going through parents' divorce as a kid.
Were you a sticker person as a child? I'm guilty. I remember my giant bright pink sticker book of elementary school years...probably why I'm drawn as an adult to paper planners. But the stickers profiled here are not all that variety, some are the type that warn a child about poison, brag about an honor roll student, or warn parents of explicit content. So now you're getting a sense of the range of these essays.
I had a copy from the publisher through NetGalley; it came out 22 January 2022. I'd say despite the positioning of this essay collection inside of the academic side of Bloomsbury, it never feels overly scholarly and is a pleasure to read....more
For anyone who loved the BSC in their childhood (or adulthood, whatever), this is a collection of essays and other forms reflecting on the impact of tFor anyone who loved the BSC in their childhood (or adulthood, whatever), this is a collection of essays and other forms reflecting on the impact of this series. I was a 90s kid who had a babysitting kit and modified my handwriting after seeing some of theirs, which I hadn’t remembered until reading this!
There are essays on sexuality, race, being a child of divorce, diabetes, fashion, social status, and more.
I had a copy of this from the publisher through Edelweiss, and it came out July 6, 2021....more
There is a lot in this book to like. The focus on female photographers - Sally Mann, Imogen Cunningham, Judy Dater, Ruth Orkin, Tina Modotti, Lee MillThere is a lot in this book to like. The focus on female photographers - Sally Mann, Imogen Cunningham, Judy Dater, Ruth Orkin, Tina Modotti, Lee Miller, Madame Yvonne, and Grete Stern - was fascinating and would make this book a great companion to a focused course on the same topic. I spent a lot, a lot, a lot of time looking up images and reading more about many of these artists.
I know this is supposed to be an autobiography through the lens of these lives, but I'm just not sure the author makes it work. I've read books with that strategy that have been impressive - My Autobiography of Carson McCullers comes to mind as a recent book that does this excellently - but in this case I felt the author's own story actually distracted from the highly fascinating stories she was telling about these women and how they had to juggle expectations and gender roles alongside their work.
I love a good quotation, and so does this author, and she throws them into the text in great abundance, without a lot of context. Another strong edit reducing these to the most relevant would have been well advised.
I had a copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss. It came out March 7, 2021....more
I've found myself drawn back to my long Audible library of books I bought but never listened to, and Samantha Irby's first essay collection is one of I've found myself drawn back to my long Audible library of books I bought but never listened to, and Samantha Irby's first essay collection is one of those animals. It covers more ground from her earlier years and a lot, and I mean a lot, about bodily fluids from IBS to female stuff. She reads them, which makes the audio preferred. There are some items that are just lists, and some that devolve into recipes, but I imagine a lot of this is reconfigured blog content, so it fits.
I will always hold Samantha Irby in my heart, because her brashness and ability to find humor in the dark really helped me when my Dad died, and her essays were the first things I managed to read in the days after....more
Jenny Lawson is back with her honest and funny look at life, including chronic illness, marriage, depression, rats, and more. I was giggling in the coJenny Lawson is back with her honest and funny look at life, including chronic illness, marriage, depression, rats, and more. I was giggling in the corner while I read it.
I had a review copy so missed out on illustrations. Sad! I also think she could use less capitalized words (which reads like screaming) and still get the point across, it's a bit abrasive right in a row....more
Bookseller Jaclyn Crupi referred to Ellena Savage as "Australia's Rebecca Solnit" and I think the comparison is appropriate - she tends to focus on feBookseller Jaclyn Crupi referred to Ellena Savage as "Australia's Rebecca Solnit" and I think the comparison is appropriate - she tends to focus on feminist and political themes, is well-researched, but doesn't write from egotistical point of view that I sometimes feel essayists do. She also experiments with form a little more than Solnit.
Like many collections of essays or stories, I would rate each one of these differently, but the first essay, "Yellow City," is worth it entirely in my opinion.
I read this a little ahead of the Australia/NZ month for #readtheworld21 so I'm just reviewing it here and will post to Instagram in April.
I had a copy from the publisher through NetGalley, and it came out in the United States on March 3, 2021....more
It might sound crazy, but I find books on grief comforting. Liz Levine is so experienced with it that people know to go to her for obituaries, memoriaIt might sound crazy, but I find books on grief comforting. Liz Levine is so experienced with it that people know to go to her for obituaries, memorial speeches, and more (joke, maybe.) But the two dearest losses in her life are her childhood best friend (to cancer) and her sister (to mental illness leading to suicide.) She takes an alphabetical journey through concepts surrounding grief and death that allow her to approach them in a gentle way.
For more grief book recommendations, check out the 63rd episode of the Reading Envy Podcast. I also have a "grief-and-death" shelf in Goodreads because when you know, you know!...more
I finally finished listening to this book I've been reading off and on since March. The audio is so cool with all the narrators, bringing me so many pI finally finished listening to this book I've been reading off and on since March. The audio is so cool with all the narrators, bringing me so many pieces of history I didn't know, and putting quite a bit into a greater context I lacked. I'd want to own this in print to reference it but the audio was a great experience....more
Glory Edim asked a handful of black women writers when they first saw themselves in literature, and this essay collection includes their answers. I liGlory Edim asked a handful of black women writers when they first saw themselves in literature, and this essay collection includes their answers. I listened to the audio which I would not recommend. It would have been great if the contributors had narrated their own essays, but they're all read by the editor, making some of it feel a bit repetitive an hard to separate out. Also it's much harder to mark up an audiobook and there's just no way to read this without adding to your TBR list! I've already started readings collection from a poet I learned about from one of the essays.
Contributors include Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing), Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn), Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish), and Barbara Smith (Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology). <-- I copied this list from Audible. ...more
This is my first year reading Erdrich but even so this motherhood memoir is deep backlist, when her girls were all under 4 and her husband was still aThis is my first year reading Erdrich but even so this motherhood memoir is deep backlist, when her girls were all under 4 and her husband was still alive. It feels more like Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek + infant than most new mom memoirs. There are tidbits about her larger family, seasonal noticings of nature, self-reflection, etc.
I found it interesting that she had adopted three older children before having her babies, as it made me think her experience only seems serene because she knows the contrast.
"I'm usually a bit late and relieved if others are a little late too...waiting doesn’t bother me...Life comes on you all unawares while you are stuck in an interim situation. Life sneaks up. You have a tea, another tea, watch the water...There is the sweet self-indulgence of reading in public, a newspaper! Sometimes I simply feel myself vitally alive int eh moment, the interstice."
"[after a baby is born] Most days, I can't get enough distance on myself to define what I am feeling."
“Any sublime effort has its dark moments… Here is a job in which it is not unusual to be, at the same instant, wildly joyous and profoundly stressed.”
“Women without children are also the best of mothers, often, with the patience, interest, and saving grace that the constant relationship with children cannot always sustain…Women who are not mothering their own children have the clarity and focus to see deeply Ito the character of children webbed by family. A child is fortunate who feels witnessed as a person….”...more
A book of writings about becoming a trans man. I was not surprised by the pop culture content, and found some shared experiences with the evangelical A book of writings about becoming a trans man. I was not surprised by the pop culture content, and found some shared experiences with the evangelical childhood content. What I was not expecting was the deep dives on Classical Literature and Philosophy, which honestly I'm not sure I am well-versed enough with to understand all the connections. I appreciated the somewhat shuffling, self-deprecating tone, even if I didn't believe it completely. ...more
I was intrigued by the description of the author - she adopted two non-baby children in California as a 46-year old single mother; we are getting readI was intrigued by the description of the author - she adopted two non-baby children in California as a 46-year old single mother; we are getting ready to adopt two non-baby children in our 40s. What this really is is a cleaned up compilation of essays published in various newspapers, the lighter fare where people read it and chuckle and find some shared experience but that's about it? And there's nothing wrong with that, and it's probably exactly how the book presents itself. Because Fisher has promised not to tell anything negative about her kids, there's a certain level of vagueness that isn't great in a book about kids. I chuckled a few times, skimmed a few times, and it's nice that it ranges from young kid age through teens and leaving the house age, plus pets.
I had an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss; it came out November 24....more
I read this book of essays as part of my Europe 2021 project, and it also aligns with #exyulit and #Readtheworld21 and #WITmonth - Ugresic left CroatiI read this book of essays as part of my Europe 2021 project, and it also aligns with #exyulit and #Readtheworld21 and #WITmonth - Ugresic left Croatia in 1993 and lives mostly in Amsterdam, and she writes about how the irony of writing about the Balkans is that nobody there wants to publish her because she is seen at best "one who left" and at worst a traitor.
Themes of the essays focus largely on post-Communist ex-Yugoslavia, from pop culture to feminism to the use of human skin as art. There is a fair amount on the legacy of violence and the changes in languages as the smaller nations tried to differentiate themselves, and the plight of people wanting to identify with those spaces but having to go elsewhere for work.
It's clear the author is a journalist as the style is very straightforward rather than creative/lyric style. One essay I found to be pretty fatphobic - is it American fat people who are responsible for climate change, I mean really? The essays are organized chronologically and go almost to 2020....more
This book of memoir-essays seemed like a better use of my time than doom scrolling, from the writer of Eric Reads the News - most topics are light takThis book of memoir-essays seemed like a better use of my time than doom scrolling, from the writer of Eric Reads the News - most topics are light takes but enjoyable - family, gay pride, growing a voice.
He might be regretting the conclusion of "The Past Smelled Terrible," about how we will never actually have to live through an apocalypse but here's why we crave it - and he goes on to describe our actual living situation for the last 7 months! Ha. Whoops.
Here's the last quote though, still true:
"How are we supposed to live without a meteor bearing down on us? How are we supposed to find the best parts of humanity without a brutal regime at the door? How are we supposed to tell the people we love that we love them if we're not five minutes from being destroyed? That's the challenge of being alive."
I also wish to return to our "midtopian life."...more
Can there be a more perfect book to read as the year winds down? Katherine May looks at wintering from a number of perspectives including viewing the Can there be a more perfect book to read as the year winds down? Katherine May looks at wintering from a number of perspectives including viewing the aurora borealis, the time she lost her voice, seasonal affective disorder, and more, including how most of nature rests for transformation in the winter. And we should too!
This is a new title so might be good for gifts for your older, reflective relative. Maybe alongside a book of poetry by Mary Oliver or Barbara Kingsolver.
I had a review copy of the print but ended up listening to the audio, which I found very soothing. ...more
Posting about this is a little like time traveling because I heard about it from a podcast guest on an episode nobody has heard yet (upcoming) but I wPosting about this is a little like time traveling because I heard about it from a podcast guest on an episode nobody has heard yet (upcoming) but I went and listened right away. The collection of essays spans quite a few years, including one that came from when Patchett's book was the freshman read at Clemson and was a huge controversy; that's just down the road from me. I loved hearing Patchett's thoughts on writing, family, and friendship. Her voice sounds so much like Laura Linney! And it's in hoopla for those with access....more
We've been watching the Mindy Project (a rewatch for me, first time for my husband) so when I saw this series of six essays by Mindy Kaling it was an We've been watching the Mindy Project (a rewatch for me, first time for my husband) so when I saw this series of six essays by Mindy Kaling it was an obvious download. The Kindle version is free to Amazon Prime members and after you download them you can access the audio free as well. Obviously I listened to this in audio read by the author - this is the shortest in the "Nothing Like I Imagined" series.
Coach Taylor, by the way, is the fictional character played by Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights. (If I were going to refer to him as an ideal male I would use his character from Early Edition.)
This essay is about why it's better not to get married. Okay!...more
We've been watching the Mindy Project (a rewatch for me, first time for my husband) so when I saw this series of six essays by Mindy Kaling it was an We've been watching the Mindy Project (a rewatch for me, first time for my husband) so when I saw this series of six essays by Mindy Kaling it was an obvious download. The Kindle version is free to Amazon Prime members and after you download them you can access the audio free as well. Obviously I listened to this in audio read by the author - this essay is about social anxiety in Hollywood, how she made friends after moving to Los Angeles to write for The Office, her 40th birthday compared to BJ Novak's 40th birthday (and how good of a friend he is.)
If I may make a PSA - don't go up to Mindy and ask her to be your best friend if you've never met her before. It freaks her out....more
We've been watching the Mindy Project (a rewatch for me, first time for my husband) so when I saw this series of six essays by Mindy Kaling it was an We've been watching the Mindy Project (a rewatch for me, first time for my husband) so when I saw this series of six essays by Mindy Kaling it was an obvious download. The Kindle version is free to Amazon Prime members and after you download them you can access the audio free as well. Obviously I listened to this in audio read by the author - this one is all about hiring a baby nurse who ends up playing a role Mindy wishes her mother could have played, but she is deceased.
This one is interesting, especially since you don't often hear about single motherhood, but I really feel she should have acknowledge the incredible amount of privilege she has, just once, even once. I know she's a comedy writer but okay at the hospital, every time her baby cried, the baby's nurse took care of it. Every time she needed something, her (separate!) nurse was there. A few days later (!) they went home. The baby nurse stayed with her full-time and even handled the baby for the 3 am feedings (she did the feeding but the nurse brings her the baby.) This is not how it goes for the majority of people.
She also frequently refers to her baby as "my baby" - this might be an attempt not to gender the child, although from time to time she does use "my daughter" or her name. Over and over it feels like when kids have a baby doll... it's a bit strange, can't quite put my finger on it....more
Jenny (Reading Envy)
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