I went to the library just to pick up the tagged book 🤷

Visited San Francisco today and focused on the bookshops. I restrained myself, though. 😉 So excited to read these!

So far so so so good. I had no idea that Saunders had a book of essays.

I‘m on page 90 and not sure where it‘s going, but I‘m enjoying it so far.

William Blake has been coming up in my life a lot recently, so I picked this up yesterday.

I adore Patti Smith as well, and I enjoyed her short introduction. 🌸

My husband said he wanted to take me to the bookshop today. Very rare, but it‘s the most attractive thing he can do.

I can‘t stop with Junji Ito.

Yes! More Junji Ito.
Featuring Berwyn

Starting this lovely copy of Rebecca I got at a library sale. The descriptive writing is really satisfying so far.

Finally getting around to February‘s BOTM. It‘s interesting that some repercussions of the events in THUG are present in this book since they are both set in the same location.

I loved Watchmen. I thought V for Vendetta would be my favorite, but I‘m not sure. Let‘s see....☺️

Didion‘s descriptive and thoughtful writing is ideal for my audio tastes—especially this book because it‘s short.

Unexpectedly very into graphic novels this year.

Just what I needed!

Happy Spring 🌺

We (Dr. Ric Chambers and I) are recording our third podcast this week, and hopefully releasing our first podcast soon! The podcast is called Book Sense. We talk about all aspects of life, culture, and history through the lens of literature. Each week, we choose a quote or line. I‘m choosing this week. Any ideas for me?

I‘m headed to Denver next week for my birthday. Okay, it‘s for my husband‘s business trip I‘m allowed to tag along for, but I‘m pretending. 😉

Does anyone have any Denver bookshop recommendations?

My final Book of the Month order came in! I canceled a while ago after skipping every month after my first order. Surprisingly, I just wasn‘t interested in any of the picks. This was a good month to use up my remaining credits though! #botm

Next up. The writing is lovely so far.

What a baby. He does this every morning.

I‘m not at all sure where this is going.

This was interesting. Usually, stories about serial killers skim through early life and focus on the horror. Now it‘s time to watch the movie.

Lucy Corin is smart and strange and I adore her writing.

I‘ve been having a hard time focusing on audiobooks lately. I returned the last few halfway through so that I could buy or borrow a physical copy.

I‘ve been interested in this one since it came out. So let‘s see. 45 minutes in, and I‘m already checking if the library has a copy. 🤷‍♀️

I read this book a little over a year ago. It took me a while to get into it, but I was so moved by the end of it.

This book made me cry. That almost never happens. The last book to do that was A Little Life, but honestly, that book manipulated me.

Reflecting on some passages that I really love tonight

50 pages in and so far, so sad.

This book bothered me for all of the wrong reasons.

Also, I wish I could have Gay Talese‘s career.

Ryu Murakami‘s work always promises a dark, sometimes sickening, ride.

Out was my first and favorite by Natsuo Kirino, but I‘d probably read anything I‘m able to by her.

Oh, and I loved Thornhill, thought the ending was great. I wonder if there‘s space left for a second book?

Next read. I love the art in this one. I would‘ve adored this as a kid.

I‘m about 1.5 hours in. Although the subject matter is often horrifying to listen to, it‘s very engrossing and narrated so well.

I was listening to The I-5 killer when it got returned. I was over 10 hours in and 45 minutes from being finished. I looked to check it out again or put a hold on it, but apparently it was taken out of the library‘s catalogue. That‘s fun.

I‘m about an hour into this short novel. I hope it‘s not very sad, though it already kind of is.

I picked this book up during a visit to Asheville. It‘s very strange and very much my type of book. I‘d never heard of Carrington before, and I feel like I should have.

Current read. This one is pretty fun so far.

I‘m about 4 hours into this one. I just keep thinking that there were so many signs and previous crimes! So much could have prevented! But, the last book I listened to was The Psychopath Test, which had me thinking that despite the signs, it‘s not fair to lock someone away because of some unusual behavior or high scores on a checklist So....🤷‍♀️

Next audiobook. I‘m not sure how I feel about that ending in We the Liars. I will say that it turned the story into something I didn‘t think it would be. I‘m looking forward to this next one. I researched a little bit about Jon Ronson for my psychology class in college.

I loved The Faraway Nearby. I‘m looking forward to reading another book by Rebecca Solnit.

I saw this on Libby, so I decided to give the audiobook a try. I‘m about halfway through, but honestly, it‘s pretty boring. I was expecting a mystery of some sort. Not sure why. Also, I don‘t really like the narrator‘s voice for males.

It‘s far too easy to use up a Barnes & Noble gift card...

I‘ve been admiring this purse for two years, and my mother got it for me this year. 😍 It has my favorite book on it! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas or Tuesday 🖤

My husband and I went back to Asheville, where we got married, to celebrate our one year anniversary. I could live in Asheville just for its variety of bookshops. This place, Battery Park Exchange, is so lovely. The bookshop has plenty of places to sit and drink the champagne or coffee they also sell. I really want this place to be my home.

I think lucid dreaming is fascinating.

This book was fun, funny, and strange. I‘d like to read more by this author. The translation, however, seemed a bit...stiff? That could be style of writing, though.

I haven‘t been able to find any books by Talese, but this copy popped up in Barnes and Noble today. Gay Talese is an influential writer to me. I learned about Talese when I took a Literary journalism during my sophomore year of university. In this class, I learned about “new journalism” and read work by Gay Talese, Joseph Mitchell, Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote, and Joan Didion. All of these writers made me realize what type of writer I wanted to be.

I picked up A Breath of Life by Clarice Lispector in Portugal last year and immediately connected with her work in a way that doesn‘t happen as often for me anymore. I‘m working through her complete stories and finding myself connecting very much with the women in these stories. She seemed like such a fabulous person.

This was my least favorite book of his. It wasn‘t bad, but I was ruined by reading Journey Under the Midnight Sun first.

This story is very sad and fascinating. The author‘s tone bothered me for some reason I can‘t explain fully yet, but I‘m glad I read it. It‘s also interesting to learn about how Nabokov likely drew much Lolita from Sally Horner‘s story, and why he would want to keep that obscured.

I love Raymond Carver‘s stories. Cathedral is probably my favorite short story ever, although it‘s not in this collection. I never realized how creepy some of his stories are until now. “Tell the Women We‘re Going” was very creepy and the epitome of “show, don‘t tell.” “The Bath” is another favorite of mine, but I much prefer the extended version of it I‘ve read and can‘t remember where or what the name was.

What is the most comforting book you‘ve read during a particularly difficult period in life?