1. Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women, by Joseph Hansen, Mary-Alice Waters, and Evelyn Reed (1986)
This book's purpose seems to be to document a debate that took place in the 1950s via a series of article and letters-to-the-editor in a communist newsletter. However, I found I didn't care that much for the most part. Too much militant jargon, also. On the bright side, did you know that "comradely yours" was considered an appropriate communist sign-off for a letter?
2. Changing Season: A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm, by David Mas Masumoto with Nikiko Masumoto (2016)
A collection of little standalone chapters with musings about life and operations on a small, third-generation family farm. I think these were mostly newspaper columns before they were a book. Conversational and taught me some things I didn't know. I couldn't read too many at once.
3. Looks, by Madeleine George (2008)
What a smart and interesting young adult novel. Really didn't feel like quite any other one I've read before. The story is one I can imagine others doing, but this book felt like it took its world, and its two girl narrators, seriously. Seriously enough to look closely and build them from scratch, not from expectations or cliches.
4. The Wild Girl, by Kate Forsyth (2015)
Ah! Utterly engrossing...I couldn't stop thinking about this one for a while. The only somewhat imagined story of a young woman named Dortchen Wild, who grew up next door to the Brothers Grimm and told them many of their stories. It is masterful as historical fiction - I learned so much about the time and place she lived in, and about the birth of the Grimm's collection of tales, without feeling like I was being taught. Terribly dark in parts, but oh, such a tale. I'd issue a content warning for sexual abuse.
5. Rose Penski, by Roz Perry (1989)
Quirky 1980s romance. This one charmed me because the long-term couple FEELS like a real long-term couple to me. It's not very plotty. There is a cancer context. The two women are quirky and ever so real, as are there interactions, and they are romantic in that exact way - not in a romance novel way.
6. Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe, by Roger McNamee (2019)
Have you deleted your Facebook (and Instagram) yet? I did, almost two years ago and I've been having a grand time. Unfortunately the present and future of my world is still being determined primarily by fellow humans who cannot say the same thing. This book is primarily a history of "the Facebook catastrophe" and its backlash (including the author's work as a lobbyist) to date.
7. When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka (2002)
Seriously well-crafted. Sharp as a razor. Sparse. Heartbreaking without being dramatic. It's not the first book I've read on the Japanese-American internment experience, but it's so affecting and humanizing that it really shook me into a new way of looking at an old piece of knowledge.
8. Let Them Be Said, by Susan Griffin (1973)
Feminist poetry. Very 1970s leftist vibe and tone. Not totally my thing, despite my love for 1970s feminism.
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I have been Instagram/Facebook-free since high school and it's probably one of the best decisions I've ever made.
ReplyDeleteI'm really in awe of how much you read. I've been trying to increase the amount of time I spend reading so you are an inspiration on that front! This past month, I finished "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" and started "Something New Under the Sun" -- a bit challenging to describe, but they're both in that "off-beat" literary genre thing (though I suppose that's more or a marketing frame than a genre). Strong writing, weird plots, contemporary POV.
Congrats to you! Can't imagine how much good that's done you. My twenties would have been much better without those platforms. Has that contributed to you continuing to blog?
DeleteReading inspiration is real, ha! I have a couple internet acquaintances who have read 90-100+ books already this year and they definitely motivate me. This year I'm in such a "sad? read. happy? read. tired? read, then sleep" place...
Oh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation was great, wasn't it. Having read the jacket, I was really skeptical that 1) I would enjoy it and 2) it would manage to have any kind of real plot arc...but lo and behold, it succeeded at both.
I never thought about it in the context of my blog, but you're probably onto something there! I still am more connected to the Internet than I would like, but the periods when I "detach" are usually my most creative.
ReplyDelete90+!! Amazing! A goal to aspire to :) I am hoping to reorient myself into that place you mention -- when the main form of retreating into solace/joy/emotion is reading (and not TV or scrolling through the feed or what have you). What helps keep you in that place?
Yes, it was great! I had the same reservations as you but found it to be a (darkly) fun read.
Bookwards is such a good direction! Your question is also good, and I'm not sure what the answer is. I should think about it...and then write a blog post! Ha.
DeleteI would be very happy to read such a post, if you want to share! :)
ReplyDelete