Blonde: A Novel | 
pickI would recommend allowing yourself plenty of time to read Blonde – and be prepared for it to weigh on your mind for a long time after. It is both intimate and epic, deeply interior and panoramic simultaneously, and you probably won‘t look at another iconic image of Marilyn Monroe the same way ever again – even though Blonde is, as JCO has emphasised, actually fiction. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/blonde-joyce-carol-oates/
Seventeenth prompt completed for @melissajayne #readyourTBR challenge.
#2023challenge
pickGood. Hard to read at first as it's very disjointed but when you get into it it's such a good read. A fictionalised account of Marilyn Monroe's life from not just her but her friends and family. My advice with this book is to just go with it and don't think too hard about what you are reading otherwise it won't make sense and will spoil the experience, you need to have some background knowledge before you read this as some things won't make sense.
pickI absolutely adore her take on Marilyn. This is a stunning, beautifully written book. My first book I've read by Joyce Carol Oates. Can anyone recommend any other books by her? #12 #2023
My teen dragged me into The Works where I tried to curtail his arts&craft equipment purchases and he tried to limit my book buying by going to the till the moment I cut off his spending. 😆
(Yes, the price stickers have now been successfully removed. The Netflix one is, however, part of the cover 😠)
#TemptingTitles #April2023 Day 7: #OneWord
#MarilynMonroe #goddesses #depression #mentalhealth #photochallenges #personalfavourites
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
As maybe some of you know, Marilyn is my absolute queen. I've got a quote by her tattooed on my thigh, which is just *true*...
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2567659
Just started this book. Joyce Carol Oats' writing is so gripping. I am glad that I came across this.
pickAt 700+ pages, one should get immense credit for creating a propulsive page turner such as BLONDE. A hybrid of fact &fiction, Oates has crafted a mythic & poetic story about Monroe from her innocent & heartbreaking beginnings, through the sexist &misogynistic studio system, and to the well-known tragic end.Through it all, Oates dispels the misconception of Monroe as just another "dumb blonde" by revealing the intelligence &ambition of Norma Jean.
Marilyn Monroe Bookmarks are live in my Etsy shop!! Link in bio to check it out 🥰
#marilynmonroe #diamonds
#Ashsbookmarks #bookmarks #bookmark #books #book #prettybooks #bookaholic #bookadict #bookternet #handmade #etsytrend #bookstagram #bookworm #booktopia #allthebooks #bookish #gift #etsy #etsyshop #shopsmall
Diamonds are a girls best friend!
#marilynmonroe #diamond
#Ashsbookmarks #bookmarks #bookmark #books #book #prettybooks #bookaholic #bookadict #bookternet #handmade #etsytrend #bookstagram #bookworm #booktopia #allthebooks #bookish #gift #etsy #etsyshop #shopsmall
so-soThis one was quite poetic and did a good job of illustrating what Marilyn's inner dialog and feelings might have been. I wish it were a bit more factual; however, Oats does warn the reader it won't be a piece of historical fiction. Oats does make the reader do a little sleuthing to figure out who Marilyn may have been thinking about or involved with during the story. If you're looking for a factual account of her life, this may not be for you.
bailedOops, I did it again! ... I DNF a book. Well, if you can call it DNF if you only read the introduction, and thought "I'm not going to read this book". So instead of reading a fantasy book about Marilyn Monroe, I went to read a fantasy book about people killing each other (Game of Thrones).
@TheAromaofBooks #BookSpinBingo
#3Books ...with a one-word title
I picked these one-word titles from the list of books I've read this year. The tagged was my favorite of the three.
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620
pickAbsolutely engrossing, poetic and beautiful but with elements of very dark, raw aspects that really allowed a glimpse into the turbulent life of Norma Jean's Baker/Marilyn. Oates sensibly offers a disclaimer at the start about regarding how much artistic license she used so I felt comfortable reading this as a work of fiction, albeit heavily inspired by the life of Marilyn Monroe.
As a lifelong admirer of #marylinmonroe I'm ashamed to admit this has been waiting on my bookshelf for almost 10 years. The time has come. 🥳💖
From my local bookshop (still not open 😥)
pickI made a break for it & finally finished Blonde for #SetInHollywood.
A little too long & over laboured in parts ... Yet, out of it all I‘m left with a pearl I will hold & remember. Joyce Carol Oates captures the essence of Marilyn with strong bold writing. I‘m left heartbroken for Marilyn & still this is not a sentimental book.
I‘m so glad I read this 👍🏻❤️💔
✨✨✨✨✨
“She stepped into a fantasy.. She was so deep into her movie character you couldn‘t communicate with her, it was like trying to speak with a sleepwalker. Eyes wide open & seemingly seeing a dream.
The script failed to explore the psychological significance of the issue it raised as melodrama: where does dreaming end & madness begin? Is all “love” based upon delusion ?”
How her past defines her future & her deepest need to be seen & loved ... amazing writing
And this backdrop of Hollywood, of the world at this time ....
I can‘t speak highly enough of this book.
Still lots of reading till the end 👍🏻❤️
#booked2020 #setinHollywood
#WondrousWednesday
Thanks lovely Katie @youneverarrived for the tag X
✨Books don‘t keep me up late , I‘d fall asleep. But I‘m finding the tagged one hard to put down.
✨Most recently, A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon ❤️👍🏻 I might not have kept going ( only for #booked2020) so glad I did
✨Remove dust jacket
Tagging all who wish to play !
Hi Sherri 🙋🏼♀️ @Eggs
so-soOk, I did it. I found and read a #booksetinHollywood for #Booked2020. Not a choice topic, but it was rather interesting, and good to learn more about a major cultural icon. My audiobook from the library was the abridged (8 hours) version of the 700-pager, which was fine. (No options for what I really wanted: NF about the 50s blacklist.) I felt iffy about the fictionalized drama of her story, but see her as a stronger woman than I did before.
Blonde has passed the 100 pages test ... with flying colours ! Still , there‘s 650 pages of very small print left ... what was I thinking ?!!! )
To be fair ,this is an ambitious choice of story , Marilyn Monroe. The writing is strong, truthful & magical.... I‘m very happy to read on ....
#setinHollywood #booked2020
pickAfter I stopped dealing with what's true and what's not, the story turned into an interestingly fictionalized version of Marylin Monore's life. Several different narrators and several different narrating styles round off this inner divide - between a public 'dumb blonde' image and a girl who just wanted family and not to be laughed at. An emotional, but not sentimental story, with a energetic structure, however - story with superfluous ... 👇🏻
My book arrived today ... for possibly #booked2020 #SetInHollywood ... it‘s long , I‘m hoping it will be a good one ! Litsy reviews are very encouraging 🤞🏻Marilyn Monroe ❤️💔
pickI loved this book. Marilyn's story is both beautiful and tragic. I think what I took away most from this is that she was just a woman who wanted to be loved and respected as an intelligent person, not just admired for her looks. I really appreciated how the story captured what it was like to be a woman, especially a woman in Hollywood, during this time period. I wonder if a lot has really changed today?
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Challenges listed below 👇
1. Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates
It has been on my TBR, and it fit more than one challenge so I finally picked it up. I'm liking it so far.
2. Normal People by Sally Rooney
Meh...
3. I want to beat my reading total from last year. I also want to commit to keeping a book journal. So far, so good...but a lot of year to go!
#weekendreads
@rachelsbrittain
pickListened this as an audio book and really liked it! The reader was just perfect for Marilyn Monroe's inner voice. It was nice to get an better image of her behind all the movie glamour.
Marilyn Monroe started off as a bright, shining, #luckystar, before her unfortunate descent into loneliness and tragedy.
JCO is so hit or miss for me, but her stellar depiction of Norma Jean rocked my world. #movember
As good a sendup of the ' manic pixie' stereotype as there ever was
I loved this book in high school. A fictional bio of Marilyn Monroe. I bet she was often referred to as #thatgirl #timbittunes
This book was picked for me this month by my goodreads book club. Im actually really excited to read it. I've never read any Joyce Carol Oates before but I'm always down for anything marilyn monroe!
I guess I never believed that I deserved to live. The way other people do. I needed to justify my life every hour. I needed your permission.
"The legend of Marilyn Monroe aka Norma Jeane Baker comes provocatively alive in this powerful tale of Hollywood myth and heartbreaking reality. Marilyn Monroe lives reborn to tell her untold history; this is a dazzling fictional portrait of the intricate inner life of the idolized and desired movie star as only the inimitable Joyce Carol Oates could paint it."
when i heard about this book i knew I needed to read it! I loved her as a little girl!
I‘ve been wanting to read this for awhile, has anyone here read it? It‘s on sale today for $1.99.
#sale
#kindle
#MarilynMonroe
Another book that I probably would not have read without the #1001books list, but I‘m glad I did.
This was my first Oates novel, and it was a chunkster. I really love the writing, and the fictionalized account of Marilyn Monroe‘s life was engrossing. I fell into a rabbit hole of google searches trying to see what was real and what was fabricated. It‘s really sad all the way through, but still a solid read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
This was my first book by JCO and I thought 1115 pages was total #overkill 😑 So many people love her writing so I‘m hoping this was a fluke... but I know she writes a lot of #chunksters 😬
#marchintolove
so-soThis door stopper is done! And it‘s my 200th read from the #1001books list! Very readable and generally enjoyable. BUT. This is not a biography. No even close. This is a very VERY fictionalized version of Baker/Monroe‘s life. She completely changed things that are known to be true, put words in peoples‘ mouths and thoughts in their heads. The ending is worthy of black helicopters. Why not just write a story rather than use real people? Urgh.
