I adored every page. Robert Rodi’s narration of his days in Siena is in every way a delight and so many of the minutest details resonated with me (froI adored every page. Robert Rodi’s narration of his days in Siena is in every way a delight and so many of the minutest details resonated with me (from the inherent hilarity of Poggibonsi to the minute-by-minute description of witnessing the Palio from the center of the melée that is the Piazza del Campo). The depths to which the contrade and Palio influence civic life in Siena is difficult to truly understand unless you have lived it and Rodi’s articulation of it is a triumph....more
This was absolutely one of my very favorite books I read this year. As a lover of words, one of my core beliefs is that the language we use matters—thThis was absolutely one of my very favorite books I read this year. As a lover of words, one of my core beliefs is that the language we use matters—that dearly held notion is at the heart of this book. As a tide of fundamentalist backlash has gripped the country politically, and in an almost microcosmic way, has also gripped the American quotient of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this book read (to me and in my current headspace) as a beautiful declaration against such narrow and narrow-minded readings of our origins and histories. The Givenses explore the theological underpinnings of Restoration gospel and how our collective consciousness has been shaped by early and recent Christian history, including and particularly by the Protestant Reformation and the Great Awakening. Fiona and Terryl Givens deftly carve out the ethos of our beliefs in the restored gospel, noting how these truths differ in critical ways from traditional readings of age-old doctrines or ideas. They cite some of my favorite writers, including Robert MacFarlane and Marilynne Robinson (with part of my favorite passage of “Gilead”) and invoke these writers’ and thinkers’ most beautiful ideas in support of their thesis, that our beliefs require a reimagining and re-articulation worthy of their (and our) limitless potential. Their conclusion which encourages reconciliation and community-building with others of the Christian tradition is likewise a beautiful one underscored by many ideas throughout the text....more
I enjoyed this book and liked it much more than “Normal People.” I think Eileen and Alice’s email correspondence threading throughout was my favorite I enjoyed this book and liked it much more than “Normal People.” I think Eileen and Alice’s email correspondence threading throughout was my favorite aspect—many of my favorite passages and the parts that resonated the most were found in these sections. What resonated most with me from this novel was the types of questions the protagonists wrestled with, that it feels most millennials are grappling with: about the kind of world and society we have inherited and what we envision for it as a collective and how we intend to go about enacting that vision of a more beautiful world.
//
I will never not find the lack of quotation marks to be so annoying—this is one of my biggest pet peeves with many contemporary novelists.
A note on content: there were a lot of sex scenes and some in particular that felt kind of gratuitous....more
I loved this speculative historical fiction about (the never-named) William Shakespeare’s home life. Maggie O’Farrell’s prose is exquisite and rich wiI loved this speculative historical fiction about (the never-named) William Shakespeare’s home life. Maggie O’Farrell’s prose is exquisite and rich with details; it’s described as overwrought in some reviewers’ eyes, but to mine, I thought she was able to characterize a sensitivity that her several protagonists shared in how they viewed and moved through their world attuned to the finely rendered details around them. Most of all, this was a story about grief and about the relationships between parent and child; this latter theme most explored through the contrasts of the two generations of parent-child relationships—Agnes and her stepmother and son to an abusive father; Hamnet and Agnes, Hamnet and father. Hamlet has always been my favorite Shakespeare play and I loved this book all the more for its take on the tragedy, weaving it into the context of this novel with a beautiful, poignant, heartbreaking ending....more
Katie Kitamura’s writing is so captivating and I really enjoyed this novel. Much of it is centers on the inner life of the narrator and how she mediatKatie Kitamura’s writing is so captivating and I really enjoyed this novel. Much of it is centers on the inner life of the narrator and how she mediates the world through a lens of translation, which is her line of work but also how she interprets social situations with their changing contexts and narratives. Having studied Italian in college and read various works of literature in Italian and English, I’m continually amazed at the skill and linguistic dexterity required of translators; Kitamura captures these complexities and articulates them so well and with such precision....more
Another marvelous collection by Mary Oliver. Interestingly this volume houses the most overtly religious poems out of all her work that I’ve read.
My fAnother marvelous collection by Mary Oliver. Interestingly this volume houses the most overtly religious poems out of all her work that I’ve read.
My favorites (in chronological order): Messenger The Poet Visits the Museum of Fine Arts Musical Notation: I When the Roses Speak, I Pay Attention Mozart, for Example Making the House Ready for the Lord What I Said at Her Service Praying Gethsemane The Uses of Sorrow Heavy On Thy Wondrous Works I Will Meditate (Psalm 145)...more
This book is meticulously researched and incredibly rendered. Patrick Radden Keefe's reporting is top-notch and the information he uncovers in this boThis book is meticulously researched and incredibly rendered. Patrick Radden Keefe's reporting is top-notch and the information he uncovers in this book is truly astonishing in its sheer volume and the way he has contextualized it in this saga of the Sacklers. I loved reading his afterword about his research and the sources as it gave insight into the years-long process of writing this book.
It's a truly impressive work and very engaging as the story moves through several generations of the Sackler family and their morally bankrupt business ethics, and how their medical innovations and shady marketing tactics were/are in large part to blame for the scale of the modern opioid epidemic. I really think this book deserves a Pulitzer for non-fiction as Radden Keefe's courageous reporting synthesized information and details that were not previously uncovered and juxtaposed. The deeds of the Sackler farmily are truly unconscionable and I definitely plan to read some of the other works about the opioid epidemic to gain a broader understanding of how their story fits into the bigger picture, both in the US and outside of it....more
Howard Thurman was a contemporary of Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. I was recently introduced to this title and immediately sought out a copy. Thurman iHoward Thurman was a contemporary of Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. I was recently introduced to this title and immediately sought out a copy. Thurman is a wonderful theologian and his writing shares something of the quality of C.S. Lewis in its lyrical but straightforward, expositional quality. Thurman’s methodical examination of Jesus as a figure both spiritual and actual, of divine birthright but also born of his era and time, a Jew under Roman rule and occupation, is captivating and striking. He writes of the common struggles faced by the disinherited and oppressed, those to whom he refers as having their backs against the wall. When faced with the unspeakable, what succor does the religion of Jesus have in store for those marginalized individuals and populations, and how is it done? Thurman’s exploration of these topics is wonderful in its sincerity and empathy, and beautiful in its promise of deliverance, echoing the message of one Jesus of Nazareth. I particularly loved Thurman’s early chapters, which touched on the subject and history of Christianity used as a weapon, as it has so often been through many eras in time. Thurman’s hypothesis is not a naïve or oblivious one; he fully comprehends the complexity and inherent unfairness or inhumanity that so often characterizes life for the disinherited, and with this understanding, I found his writings all the more powerful....more
Lyrical and lovely, Imani Perry writes to her sons with an urgency indicative of her wish to set them free of others’ false and dangerous expectationsLyrical and lovely, Imani Perry writes to her sons with an urgency indicative of her wish to set them free of others’ false and dangerous expectations and categories. Her writing is beautiful as are the sentiments she expresses. This book strikes me as a mother’s counterpart to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me” and it was a wonderful quick read....more
Toni Morrison’s writing is incredible. This novel has a dreamlike quality that lost me at times (particularly through the last half of the book), but Toni Morrison’s writing is incredible. This novel has a dreamlike quality that lost me at times (particularly through the last half of the book), but throughout Morrison’s writing kept me feeling connected to the characters and snippets of Harlem life. The bits and pieces about New York City were some of my favorite elements and her lyrical writing was so fitting given the musical title and theme. The jazz-like rhythm of changing between plotlines and characters was also a genius narrative device. I’m looking forward to reading more of her work, and hopefully I will find some more of her novels more compelling as a reader in addition to loving her writing. . . . “This notion of rest, it’s attractive to her, but I don’t think she would like it. They are all like that, these women. Waiting for the ease, the space that need not be filled with anything other than the drift of their own thoughts. But they wouldn’t like it. They are busy and thinking of ways to be busier because such a space of nothing pressing to do would knock them down. No fields of cowslips will rush into that opening, nor mornings free of flies and heat when the light is shy. No. Not at all. They fill their mind and hands with soap and repair and dicey confrontations because what is waiting for them, in a suddenly idle moment, is the seep of rage. Molten. Thick and slow-moving. Mindful and particular about what in its path it chooses to bury.”
“You in trouble,” she says, yawning. “Deep, deep trouble. Can’t rival the dead for love. Lose every time.”
“I don’t know who was more ambitious—the doomsayers or Violet—but it’s hard to match the superstitious for great expectations.”...more
I felt drawn to read this because the title is a favorite phrase/line from a favorite Mary Oliver poem. I loved Sarah Wilson’s central thesis of askinI felt drawn to read this because the title is a favorite phrase/line from a favorite Mary Oliver poem. I loved Sarah Wilson’s central thesis of asking more beautiful questions as a response to the calamities of modern life (including the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and political upheaval around the globe). The book itself is a little lacking as to a cohesive narrative structure but finding myself in similar headspace there were moments I enjoyed nonetheless. I didn’t like the exclusion of endnotes in favor of a hard-to-navigate list on her website....more
This book has been a much-needed breath of fresh air for my mental and emotional state in recent months. Katherine May’s writing is warm and exquisiteThis book has been a much-needed breath of fresh air for my mental and emotional state in recent months. Katherine May’s writing is warm and exquisite. She explores what it is to live on planet earth and be subject to its cycles, and how winter as a season is instructive for how we might better yield and honor the fallow seasons in our own lives. This book is gorgeously woven with pieces of May’s memoirs and an open and inquisitive curiosity as to the lessons winter can teach us. Some sections were the most beautiful nature writing, while others recalled details of scientific studies illuminating the broad impacts of various wintry trappings. May highlights how a constant pace of go-go-go is unsustainable and how rest and renewal serve us well; their restorative power works wonders and we are left better able to face the quickening of our life’s seasons, as they undoubtedly will quicken once more....more
Loading...
