I think, therefore I read books (though I do not complete books right now)

Posted on by jessburbia

Sometime in October my Goodreads account informed me that I had read 45 books since the beginning of 2020 and in fact had reached my goal of reading 40 books for the year. This is a self-induced deadline/goal/challenge for all those wondering.

So, what did I do after this? I just opened as many books as possible and haven’t completed a one since then (aside from middle school-level books I am reading to keep up on some of the books my daughter reads).

I am not proud. I am kinda confounded. On the one hand, finishing a book gives me such satisfaction. I mean, duh.

And on the other hand, my concertration levels and focus are just at such low levels, it’s a wonder to finish a chapter, a few pages, a paragraph. Yet, I feel unorganized with all the tales I haven’t completed. How many stories can I keep up with.

What is actually humanly, readerly possible?!

Right now I can truly tell you I am reading the following:

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (strong, moving, deeply felt, upsetting, and important so this one I will finish though it will take some time)

Grand by Sara Schaefer (enjoyable, moving yet also light, autobiography about a comedian in her 30s)

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (truthfully only through two chapters, though I can tell by the time I get over the hump of this one – perhaps only 2 more chapters to go, I will want to savor it and in only the 2 chapters I can feel that it will linger when I am done. Is this odd I am thinking about time AFTER I have completed this one? It’s not because I don’t like it. I like it very much. I am just excited about it. So even thinking about analyzing it later with friends sounds yummy and cozy and thought provoking)

And in an update to cool books stories:

A neighbor posted on our neighborhood listserv that she was looking for The Rent Collector by Cameron Wright. I have had the paperback on my shelf since 2018 and it even moved with me from NY to VT but have I read it?

No I have not. A friend passed it along to me and so I felt I should keep it for when the time came.

Anyway, I decided it was a sign to pass it along since it has been on my shelf so long just gathering dust, so to speak (though it’s really not dusty at all)

I put it on my outdoors steps, the neighbor and I arrange a pick up and wouldn’t you know it?! — > I see on my steps a little paper bag with a note and a book.

We had a pop-up book exchange between strangers! No longer strangers, I tell ya.

The book I received (presents!!!!) is We Were The Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. It’s never come across my radar until now and with all the books I am in the middle of I plan to add it to the – I am in the middle of this – list!

Also to add to the list soon – once I get my hands on them are:

Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld and

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin.

I am planning on supporting my local bookstore with the purchase of Steve Martin’s

Jerry Seinfeld’s I’ll wait until I see it at the library. Which means I have to wait for the library to reopen (sad face) or just put it on hold which would mean I would have to return a bunch of books that are overdue. Tee hee.

I am trying my best to be respectful of due dates, I really am. But I have not been lately. #confessionsofalibrarycardholder

That’s all for now – thank you for reading this and happy book reading!

Here I am

Posted on by jessburbia

Indeed.

It’s been 5 months since posting but not 5 months since reading, processing, learning, feeling uncomfortable, growing, nourishing and trying as much as possible to engage.

Ok. That’s not true.

I have not been trying as much as possible to engage. Some days, I’m engaging and some days I am not. In life, in being productive, in reaching out, in being the old “normal”.

Most days I am sitting in the new normal trying to make it joyful, trying to make it seem important, trying to make it functional.

And what does this have to do with books?

Well, reading is the most comfortable I feel these days.

Gosh, getting into a good book really does make the rest of the world fall away.

Some of those reads have been

Mysterious & page-turner-y:

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

Laugh out loud funny:

The New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad by Mike Birbiglia

Meaningful, poetic and thoughtful:

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

A big check off of my “to read” list because it had been there a long time:

Hunger by Roxane Gay

Highly recommendable, New York-y and OMG can’t wait for the TV version:

Fleischman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Sounds like it might not take you out of the real world but it amazingly, seamlessly did:

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

Some of the white girl reading bc ahem, hi. It’s a white girl blogging:

How to Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

I hope you are reading, too and finding some joy in the other worlds!

Untamed

Posted on by jessburbia

I started to listen to Untamed by Glennon Doyle in the car on short drives to and fro.

There isn’t much to and fro now so I am not very far into the book but I know already that I love it. She’s smart and tough and funny and insightful and supportive and the book is just spot on in so many ways.

It’s a must read for all women in the country who are ages 35 – 55.

Maybe even 30 – 60!

And then today a surprise came in the mail – the hardcover copy from a dear friend and fellow bad ass.

I am glad to have both the audible version & the paper version. There is a lot of note taking & highlighting about to happen!

 

Pandemic Thoughts on Reading Part 2

Posted on by jessburbia

23 days ago since my last thoughts on books huh?

I wonder why I am surprised. In good times, I barely update this blog. Why would a scary, unknowing the future, waiting for doom time be any different? I guess I just like to be surprised by my unproductive-ness. I think I seem quite productive in other aspects of my life (go me) and yet, over here in this little corner of the world, where I actually enjoy being productive, it’s about once every 23 or 45 or 75 days. So I’ll say it again. Huh.

I’ve been a little stuck and at the same time trying really hard to not be stuck so that’s messed up.

I did not finish the Nazi book (yet).

I’m not surprised.

Let’s tell it how it is — >

Reading is an escape and reading a book about Nazi’s when a global pandemic is happening is NOT an escape.

So I have finished the book by comedian Ali Wong titled Dear Girls and am almost finished with a self-help-y book by Jen Gotch called The Upside of Being Down.

A great title, right?!  I bought this book from an indie shop because in these times I think buying books is important to keep the stores in business. I do not think my purchases here and there will save the industry but I know they help. Anyway, I bought the book thinking, eh I won’t really like it and you know what helps? Low expectations!

Kidding. It is a well written and fun book. Even though it’s about depression and bipolar disease. (Spoiler alert?)

The thing is it’s all relatable and though she doesn’t say it (and I am sure she knows it because it seems like she has done a thorough anaylsis of herself and therefore others) we are all a little bipolar. Maybe that is not politically correct since people diagnosed as bipolar have serious repercussions and demons and anxiety and all of the mess that goes with unstable mental health BUT we all have ups and downs. And that is what makes the book extremely like-able and relatable.

I don’t know that it’s one I would enjoy as much as I do now with the world falling apart all around us. But I’ll never need to find out because I am reading it now.

 

 

 

Pandemic Thoughts on Reading: Part I

Posted on by jessburbia

Everything is moving at the speed of a light. . . or rather at the speed of a quickly moving, scary, economy-threatening, global-encompassing virus.

During times of social isolation, physical distancing, hunkering down, staying put, nestling in, hygge-ing to the nth degree, drinking lots of tea, social media dieting, careful news watching, reading is having a moment.

It already was but it has progressed.

Self-care is reading. Reading is self-care.

Last week as I was just getting used to the news about this virus which was changing every hour, we visited our local library. The library just underwent a major renovation and it was our first visit to the new space. It was wonderful!! There are now two large wings of the library – one for children and one for adults. There were still books not in their new places. Still could smell the new paint. We ran into neighbors who were just as excited as we were to be in the new building.

While there, I stumbled upon a book that has been on my list for years –  – years! When I read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah I declared to myself that I would be doing a deep dive into WWII tales  – fiction and non. That took me to

Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck (Wow)

and now  – there it was on the shelf I was perusing – to the recommended non-fictional

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson.

Last week it seemed ok to read a non-fiction book about Nazis.

Now Wednesday, March 18 it doesn’t seem as wise.

Here’s the thing: Last week, it was almost self-imposed “research” to see how close this guy (Hitler) is to that other guy (Trump). And now this week it is just perhaps too much. Maybe terror from the 1930 & 40s will cause the distraction from terror of the 2020s I am seeking?

So far – I’ve finished Part I and am on page 50 out of 365.

And yes, it is a good distraction! Man, everything people say about reading is true.

Some people like horror novels and movies.

I don’t.

Do you think most Holocaust “entertainment” pieces (movies, books, articles) should be classified as horror? For me, perhaps it’s the fascination with real crimes of the human condition is what takes me away more than a gory monster or a knife wielding psycho.

What WWII novels would you recommend?

 

 

 

What I’ve read

Posted on by jessburbia

So yeah –  – it’s two months later. Time is a twisted warp-y thingamabob. What can I say?! Or rather, what can I write? I can’t write as fast as I am thinking  I will say that so I will cut to the chase.

Tons of good books have been read!

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

It was such a joy to read! It was so thoughtful, funny, deep, dramatic, enthusiastic, and yet also full of sorrow and mostly it exhibited the beauty of life. Really and truly. Feelings, relationships, relationships with family, friends, and with yourself. It was all stuffed in a precise way into this well-organized, page turner.

Uncanny Valley by Anna Weiner

I just want to scream out “YES!!” to this book. It was such a mood and such an insightful memoir. There was humor as she wove a tale, a true tale of her time as a Silicon Valley worker and resident. As someone only on the surface in this world during stages of my career it was such a ride to read!

OTHERS that I’ve recently read to update at a later day:

The Grace Kelly Dress by Brenda Janowitz

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

Thoughts on the three excellent books below have been posted on Instagram:

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Why We Can’t Sleep by Ada Calhoun

 

 

Books you shouldn’t read (?)

Posted on by jessburbia

A while ago, there was a suggestion of a reader (both of books AND of this blog), that I start a list of books that in my opinion you can skip.

I didn’t want to criticize writers. Who am I to criticize? Writing a book takes a lot of time, a lot of courage, a lot of spell checking and editing, a lot of sacrifice and a lot of vulnerability. The MOST vulnerability because you are putting it all out there on paper without any images or comments.

Just the story. Just the chapters. Just the paragraphs. Just the sentences. Just the word. And yes, just the letters. One after another.

You can’t further explain or defend your writing (and why should you?) but you are just the most vulnerable in that way.

A book of your writing is like you are there with someone in the bath. Or at bedtime. Or lounging on the couch.

You are a storyteller but you put it out there for readers to read at anytime in their lives. They are happy. They are filled with anger. They are relaxing or they are anxious (perhaps on a plane?)

They pick up your book and there it is for them to take in and enjoy (the ultimate) or dislike and criticize. (Oy)

And there you go and you just let them do it.

Your vulnerability in that moment, those moments is the strongest strength there is.

So yeah, I am NOT going to make a list of books to NOT read. And I am going to try to be strong and put myself and my writing out there.

Enjoy your bath time!

Trick article

Posted on by jessburbia

Interview with Jia Tolentino by Eva Wiseman

It’s actually not a trick from The Guardian but it is about Trick Mirror author Jia Tolentino because now that I have started her book and am loving her analysis of all things “today” “in this world” “of this moment” well, of course, I want to read everything about her.

I think she is a wildly talented writer and I truly believe her writing is important. Maybe I believe this because of our generational difference but mostly I think it is because of our sameness. How can it be that she talks of being an individual and NOT summing up categories with random hashtags that take away their meaning and yet, I am sure I am not the only one reading about her interior world and believing we actually have similar perspectives on the way society has been fucked by the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and reality tv?

Of course, it is 20/20 with me because no – I haven’ written the book or a book about it so I can easily read her tome and say to myself, or write in this post, “I know, right? I was completely thinking the same thing!”

What I have done as I have read her essays is thought,

“Wow, I hadn’t thought of it that way but I completely agree.”

And

“Wow. Yes, that is it! That is what I was thinking but I couldn’t articulate nor did I articulate.”

So, we are sisters now.

This hugging of her and welcoming her in without meeting or without reading all of her work or without really truly internet-stalking her as much as one could is a ‘wink wink’ to her actual analysis.

She points out that the simple brush strokes we nowadays take to describe our experiences or feelings is total bullshit.

At least that is how I would summarize her summary.

So how do you talk to Jia Tolentino after you read her interviews and learn what she thinks about what you think? I mean, I don’t talk to her. I would like to.

That sentiment aside, is she ok?

Can she write as she does and then live balancing between the stark and dark analysis and the reality of well, reality?

I wonder if it’s all just a trick.

In fact, I don’t wonder about it. It is a trick.

There’s your trick mirror!

 

 

Time flies when you are reading books

Posted on by jessburbia

I was truly surprised to see there have been no updates since August.

Because, let’s get something straight – there have been books and memorable ones!

And important ones!

And luckily, I have updated the Instagram @jessbrarian account because I mean, phew!!

One thing that is nice and lucky for me is that I can use writing and my humor to go into a little world of my own and ignore the real world.

That is what reading is as well.

An escape.

Reprieve and it’s one that makes me feel quite productive.

There is nothing I love more than going into my GoodReads app on my phone to click on the “I’ve finished the book” button.

I love reading a review of a book in the NYTimes Book Review of a book I have read and agree with the writer wholeheartedly or see the book from a new perspective. I am definitely one to exclaim, “Oh so you like reading books! Imagine how much you might like reading book reviews!!”

In my case, so much.

One recent review that really blew me away and just made me love books and reviews and graphic novels forever more is the review of Raina Telgemeier’s new graphic novel. Guts.

I read the book over the course of a few hours and continue to be so impressed with Raina Telgemeier and her ability to tell relevant, important stories for middle schoolers (and their parents 🙂 ) .

She is so talented to be able to parse out how her anxiety (Guts is a memoir, of sorts) manifested when she was a young girl in 5th grade. As the book reviewer, points out it’s with few words and in a few frames of art that she can make the reader truly feel what the character (Raina) is feeling.

What I also thoroughly enjoyed was her note at the end to readers. In simple language, she talked straight to the middle school readers without a condescending tone. It was with a loving teacher-esque tone where she let them know that the story was about HER anxiety and not all anxiety looks or feels the same but what is the same is that from time to time we all have it and we usually have people around us who can help us through it.

I don’t even have anxiety now but I could feel that if I were in middle school how warm and important those words would be.

*Here is what is currently being read and I am sooooo into them:

Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino is a series of essays from the writer who is now 30 and has grown up in the internet era. From AOL to blogs to social media.

After I read the first 30 pages I absolutely could not stop quoting it or going back to it to quote during conversations.

It’s practically a guide book to the internet and social media now! (the first essay, anyway)

I’m now in the middle of the second piece which is about the author’s time on reality tv. She’s looking back on it and documenting how it feels and remembering what she thought while she was in the show and what she thinks now as an adult in the “Real World” (pun intended)

*City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

I am halfway through.

This is so so entertaining. It’s witty and serious and you can tell there is perhaps something dark that is going to happen in the latter half.

*I can’t wait to get into The Dutch House by Ann Patchett.

If you haven’t picked up her others – Bel Canto, State of Wonder, Commonwealth and one of my top 3 books ever, Truth and Beauty  – please stop reading this and start reading one of those!!

Truth and Beauty: A Friendship is a memoir of her friendship with Lucy Grealy, a poet and writer.

*Last week, I picked up Lady In The Lake by Laura Lippman at my local library’s book sale for $2. Lottery winner right here!

I recently heard her on the radio speaking so the multi-media experience has begun! She is a crime writer whom I have not read in the past but the NPR “sighting” coupled with my sister telling me she read the book and enjoyed it with a dash of the book appearing in my face at the book sale means — > all signs point to me reading this one soon!!

 

 

 

 

This one got me in the gut

Posted on by jessburbia

It was a memoir and after about only 2 pages I was hooked. She went there and she went there fast!

Wait – what does that even mean? Sometimes, I am finding in this social media driven world, we (the collective we which includes writers and posters) use shorthand to express ourselves which can leave out the gushy details, the informative descriptions, & necessary nuances to our feelings when we review a book, a movie, a moment.

So I am going to go there to the best of my ability to explain what I mean by this statement.

In the memoir ALL YOU WILL EVER KNOW by Nicole Chung, you will know right away about the backbone of this read. She’s struggled with the terms of her identity and life as a Korean female adopted by a Christian family near Seattle. The terms by which she slowly – painstakingly slowly –  uncovers who she is and what she wants to learn about her roots is told in this tale very truthfully so the reader can feel the depths of her emotions and her internal strife.

It is wonderful, truly wonderful to read her words. They leave no room for wondering what she has left out. There are no what ifs and lingering loopholes. The only plot point, so to speak is what her future holds after the birth of her daughter and as she navigates life as mother as an adoptee who has moved through her life with her eyes wide open and wanting to open them more about the family who birthed her.