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pickThis debut is quite unremittingly harsh and bleak and dark and also (as so often happens) quite unremittingly beautiful and insightful and tender. Read my full review at http://www.wanderaven.com/blog/2017/8/23/gather-the-daughters (image sourced online)
Major socialising going on about thirty feet away but this is my happiness. #sorrybutalsonot #asyougetolderthesethingsgeteasiertodo
Not a book, but excellent reading (and viewing - I hope Annie Leibovitz lives forever) material to help me get through immunology shots this morning!
Pretty sure this book is trying to kill me via sleep deprivation.
#RiotGrams Day 13: #freebie I actually don't yet have much experience with Roald Dahl, but I love short stories and simply had to have these gorgeous covers.
#RiotGrams catch up Day 12: #summerreads Pretty sure my typical sort of favourite read doesn't exactly match up with many readers' ideas of a summer read.
#RiotGrams Day 11: #littlefreelibrary It's not that any of the books in my library were free to me, but rather that I very rarely keep books after I read them, and usually decide shortly after beginning a book where it's going next, whether as a donation to my local library, to a friend who I know will enjoy it, the next door neighbour who has invited me to give her anything I'm ready to relinquish, or to the #littlefreelibrary down the block.
My #RiotGrams Day 10, #booksinthewild is a *bit* false. I did get up at 6 am to go hiking before it got too hot, and I did take my book into the wild (read: foothills above #saltlakecity) but the poem shown is as long as I could sit there, what with all the pollen laden grasses, before I had to keep moving!
Day 9 of #RiotGrams: #lgbtqpride Stumbled across this graphic memoir this week and immediately ordered because it looks fascinating. 🏳️🌈
#RiotGrams Day Seven: #booksandicecream PSA: do not succumb to the cuteness of pint slices. More expensive for much less yumminess - the two I've had so far average about one tiny chunk of cookie dough per "slice". The book, however, has been fantastic so far.
#RiotGrams Day 7: #welllovedreads A beloved friend gave me this when it was desperately needed. It feels like a declaration opposite of The Giving Tree and should be the higher valued lesson.
And I'm all, "This long-term series looks SO GREAT and how exciting is it that another big tome comes out every few months! I'm buying this first one, devouring it, and eagerly anticipating the rest!" #twoyearslaterstillunread #theresfourvolumesnow #RiotGrams Day Six #numbertitles
#RiotGrams Day Five #somethingmagical Seattle Public Library (downtown location). One of my favourite places. #seattlepubliclibrary @bookriot
#RiotGrams Day 4: Notebooks/Journals. I've been bullet journaling for more than a year now and find it really works for me. A couple journals back I stuck a great sticker on one, and now doing so is my favourite part about starting a new journal. Sticker via one of @Liberty 's special printings.
#RiotGrams Day 3 #howIread - several books at once. Usually one ends up taking over and I finish that before returning to the others.
#riotgrams Day One: #shelfie No actual bookcase because the part of me that can be quite minimalist in the rest of my life hasn't managed to stop buying physical books, but I keep saying I'm going to read them down and then keep up with anything I buy, so I don't need a bookshelf! Right? These are all unread.
I rarely #galleybrag but I'm so damn excited to be given this. Will keep my physical book pre-order in place but sooooooo excited about getting an early opportunity for this one!!
One of the most gorgeous things I've read/gaped at so far this year (and I'm only on something like page 20).
All my reading is going through a slower-than-I-would-like phase, in part due to other parts of life being busier. But I'm really enjoying this one and every time I read it I question why I haven't yet read every word he has ever written.
pickRight up there with Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo, this is absolutely one of my favourite books of the year thus far. Incredibly dark and more brutal than one might anticipate, it's also rich, gorgeous, funny. Chapter 44 really did my head (& heart) in; might well do so for months to come. Will definitely have a book hangover after this one. Out on Tuesday the 14th.
pickAbsolutely loved this memoir - it's always so thrilling to find someone who oftentimes feels the same in life and particularly when they can articulate those emotions.
The (physical, there are a couple of digital in play, too) books of which I'm currently reading a bit of each night while the doodle snores in the background during my #litsypartyofone. Sometimes I'll have several books going at once but eventually one will take over and I'll end up reading mostly just that one until I'm done - the emerging runaway in this instance is It's All Absolutely Fine...
pickSaunders' descriptions of Lincoln's appearance made me go back and look at images online throughout reading. Saunders is often noticed for his flamboyant style, a trait that can be a red flag. But, unlike some others, Saunders absolutely backs up all that posturing with solid storytelling that affects the reader deeply, sometimes not until sometime after you're done reading and think, "Oh, damn, man.... that was ROUGH."
pickSomehow, not quite what I wanted, though I can't articulately express exactly what felt lacking.
I had some issues with the protagonist, whom I think such a story relies heavily upon for empathy and identification, and a couple of her actions.
In general, though, I quite enjoyed the setting, the storyline, the elements of magical realism, and will be keeping an eye on the author.
pickJust absolutely gorgeous writing. Violent, gruesome, tender... don't let the synopsis or dog on the cover fool you into thinking this is cutesy. It's the beauty and harshness and love and sadness that I want from a story with a dog at the heart.
Very appropriate image found online by the photographer Anthony Hazelden.
so-soStopped reading 100 pages short of 415, which is enough to illustrate my disappointment. Some great writing, actually, but the plot and point just fell short for me.
❤ 2016 best nine books ❤
Even when I'm not in Seattle, I'm often dwelling upon that lovely place.
