reading is fundamental

Finished the Night Circus at the request of a friend begging me to read it. I liked it. But there's something about it holding me at arms length. I think my favorite part was the stylistic choices Morganstern used, but I felt the story... The contest itself was a bit ephemeral. The whole thing was a bit ephemeral. Maybe it's like the French filmmakers inciting ennui in the viewer and we're just supposed to deal with it. Perhaps it's supposed to feel gossamer and like a dream, one that we could go to. Something more about the reader almost than the story?

Then the second is a graphic novel, Glass Town by Isabel Greensburg, which is a retelling of the Bronte sibling's juvenilia as it intersects with their real lives. I found this part was discussed in Glass Town particularly poignant.

The Wikipedia page on Glass Town is fascinating. Charlotte really thought she was going mad.

Also I find the art of Glass Town so simple but yet when you have these really complex human moments (like Charlotte taking off her glasses) you feel like you're there. I've never had that feeling more so than with this graphic novel specifically.

Quarterlifin. Crisising.

Heard about this book on NPR's Life Kit (I'll go dig the episode up on browser). If you like the episode and want more, definitely buy it but just be aware that most of the principles of it are fairly clearly outlined in the episode.

If anything it was less of "this book" and more like "this book was a midstep domino in the domino meme that is convincing me to quit my job"

Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

This was a cover driven impulse purchase. Gorgeous right? It's YA, not in a series (felt nice to read something that you can tell won't be dumped into a million spin offs and merched to death).

A lot of it is really good. But one the framing narrative kind of drops off, everything is pretty well explored, you're left with a "mystery" which isn't so much a mystery. I don't know, feels like it was fumbled at the 5 yard line. I would still definitely hard recommend it for fans of Erin Morgenstern and historical fiction.

Oh, another big win, this book was set in the 1900s and there are several BIPOC characters. The lead, January, is a WOC and this book doesn't shy away from discussing issues surrounding racism, despite the fantasy setting. Would be curious to hear what any readers in these communities think of this book.

Alix has another book with a similarly beautiful cover that I'm also interested in.

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

Would I be exaggerating if I said this book changed my life? Well it did. Changed my idea of what music could be. Made me fall in love with Sleater Kinney. Inspired me to buy an Gibson SG (all these men around me are so horny for stratocasters) and name her Carrie.

Of all the celeb memoirs I've read, this is the one that I would definitely read again. CARRIE IS AN INSPIRATION.

God I wish she had gone even one chapter into her Portlandia stuff and I really wish she would add an addendum at the end. This was published in 2016, SK released an album in 2015, but they've released at least 3-4 more since. I want to know how the band is doing now!

some trigger warnings: brief mention of SA and suicide in context

Thought it could be interesting to note books I gave up on. It's pretty seldom, honestly, so I like noting it when it happens.

Autism in Heels: I don't even need to summarize why I didn't finish it, this person's review below hit the nail on the head. I got to a chapter about sexual assault in the last third of the book and I was like "why am I putting up with a lady I find annoying AND she's about to trigger the fuck out of me..." I would recommend "But You Don't Look Autistic At All" for a non-cis guy take on what it's like to be autistic (which I have blogged about previously).

"we don't actually care of you wear lipstick, Jennifer."

Heavier than Heaven: Kurt Cobain's definitive autobiography, if you're interested in Nirvana and Cobain, this is the one to read. HOWEVER, I got the sense I was reading/listening to a slow motion car crash. We know where the story ends. Then...on top of that...he's not a really likable person. He had a hard life and was kind of a fucked up guitar/songwriting savant. But even in the best times, Cobain was:

immature

gross (as in, dirty/physically unclean...some of his living conditions by his own choice are really difficult to read about)

lying

self-obsessed person

I know that's harsh. It's really harsh. The dude didn't have much of a chance to become well and self actualized. The big question is if he would've made the art he did if he had. Perhaps not.

But essentially it felt like I was listening to a book about an unlikeable character that ends with that person's suicide. Has a lot in common with a lot of protagonists in Chuck Palahniuk novels, in fact. Maybe there's a reason I've not finished a single one. (Someone spoiled the end of Invisible Monsters for me in a Contrapoints live chat rip).

I checked out Dave Grohl's autobiography because I'm kind of hot for obsessed interested in that man. That probably is more my speed.

I reblogged a post a while back about "reading a book in one setting can can be interpreted in a similar lens as drinking a bottle of wine in one setting -- doesn't mean I was in a healthy place." Well, I haven't done it in a long time, but man I was hooked by this. It's middle grades and written in verse not prose. I usually get turned off by books like that, but I loved it. Essentially it's like if Hatchet meets The Last of Us. Survival narrative about a 12 year old girl who has to make it in an abandoned town after something happened to her parents and all the townsfolk. This is a book I bought for my birthday at a cute indie bookstore.

It's less about the plot and more about the feelings but the ending could've been better (it is middle grades after all). She talks about Island of the Blue Dolphins constantly. Want to check that out/reread that next.