When I was younger, I thought the covers of these books, with the cutout, was so classy and totally not gaudy at all. Not even a teensy bit gaudy. Oh, the follies of youth.

That’s right — a whole month of V.C. Andrews novels (not that they were all written by V.C. Andrews but …)

I do not think my reading choices this month have made me a better writer. Or a better person. Or even a functioning human being.

Anyone want to start a podcast with me about reading trashy novels? I still have my big pile of Christopher Pike books to get through as well.

Thoughts?

• The Third Reich : a history of Nazi Germany by Thomas Childers:

  Me: My book is soooooooooooooooooo depressssssssssssssssing.

  Geoff: What’s your book about?

  Me: The rise of Nazism in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s.

  Geoff: And this surprises you exactly how?

  Me: Shut up.

• American Pastoral by Philip Roth: Great writing. A boring book. Together at last!


• The Morning They Came For Us: Dispatches from Syria by Janine di Giovanni:

  Me: My book is soooooooooooooooooo depressssssssssssssssing.

  Geoff: What’s your book about now?

  Me: The Syrian Civil War.

  Geoff: And this surprises you exactly how? You know there are books that aren’t about genocidal regimes you can read?

  Me: Shut up.

• Dear Teacher by Emile and Diana Lizé: My grandmother had a copy of this book (she was a school teacher). I used to read it every time I went to her house. I was lonely in September and my uncle had just died, so I paid eight four cents after the exchange rate and got a used copy shipped to me from the ‘Murica. USA! USA!

Favourite book:

It’s kinda problematic and classist, but I didn’t realize that when I was seven and reading it. I realize it now, but I don’t know how to get past I still like it.

Most promising book on wishlist:

So promising I already bought it and am reading it and have watched the trailer for JoJo Rabbit about 587234912741 times because it’s what JoJo Rabbit is based on.

(Reminder to self: buy David Bowie German version of Heroes.)

Writing: About a year ago I wrote up a companion piece to Enid Strange. It was about 37 000 words and, even for me, it was odd. Very odd. And too short to do anything with really.

So now I am taking that odd companion piece and putting it in a new container that’s less of a companion piece and more of a direct sequel to Enid Strange. I have 18 000 words of that and that is what I write now. I am trying writing straight on the computer, rather than by hand first. Many changes. Who knows. Plus, today is a Tuesday I have a migraine and my cats keep knocking around ruining my things. Today is ruined.

Yes. I disappeared. I will attempt to come back.

I read:

Thoughts?

• See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt: This book almost did me in. I loathed it, with no reason in particular for me to loathe it, but loathe it I did.
• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes: I’m not quite certain why I was sort of surprised this book revolves around ghost boys, since it’s there in the title, so now I’m pretty sure that when I read titles of books at the library before taking them out, the information does not penetrate my brain.
• Many books by Kate Atkinson: Because I wanted to review everything that happened before the latest Jackson Brodie novel.
• The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño: Another book that almost did me in. I started this is March. I finished it in July. I think I have Stockholm Syndrome regarding it, because I found it useless when I started reading it, but then, after months, now I’m like it’s not bad. It’s sure no 2666 though.
• Conviction by Denise Mina: This book was dumb, but like summer reading dumb, and it’s summer, so I guess that’s okay.

Favourite book:

Most promising book put in my TBR list:

The writing update:

I cleaned up three stories and sent them out. Now I’m cleaning up Wolf Children even though it’s going to take hours to fix, but hours spent with Wolf Children may be worth it. I have such a dumb, emotional attachment to that bizarre novella. Then I also have to clean up my trampoline story.

Also I have no story ideas. My starting of a story about time travelling and Trotsky in Amherst, NS died. So new ideas, come to me. I am ready for you.

I read:

I read:

Favourite book:

Most promising book on my wishlist:

I wrote: Very little. In fact, nothing even of note. I may quit being a writer soon 🙁

I read:

Thoughts:

Remember when I used to read twenty books a month. That seems to have faded away.

The Odessa Stories by Isaac Babel: Review to come.

Veil by Rafia Zakaria: Review to come.

The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle: Reviewed earlier this month.

We Eat Our Own by Kea Wilson: Review to come.

Favourite book:

You’d think with fewer it’d be easier to pick. I guess I ranked The Odessa Stories highest (four out of five). Does that mean it is my favourite?

Most promising book on my wishlist:

I only put three books on my wishlist, so again, not a wide variety of choice.

I wrote:

Margery! Sadly, it isn’t coming together as nicely as Enid did. I need something — but I don’t know what. Inspiration? Work-hardership? Fear of failure? I’m flailing with Margery.

So, yes, indeed, I slacked on this the past three months. Some of it was because of working (yay money, boo no time). Some of it was just laziness. So let’s try and play catch-up, shall we? Yes? Yes. Good.

I read:

Thoughts:

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders: Is a book narrated by ghosts better than a book where it was all a dream? No, not really.

To The Promised Land by Michael Honey: Reviewed in June.

Bettie Page Volume One by David Avallone: Reviewed in June

Shock Anthology by Neil Gaiman, Paul Jenkins, Brian Azzarello, Cullen Bunn, Marguerite Bennett, Frank Tieri, and more: Do you like how they make sure to put Neil Gaiman up there first? I think I am one of the few people I know who are ambivalent towards Neil Gaiman. I mean, I’m not going to kick his books out of bed for eating crackers, but at the same time, I’ve never really felt drawn to something because it has Neil Gaiman written in large letters purposefully to draw people like me in.

In any case, I need to review this.

The Boat People by Sharon Bala: This book is getting a fair bit of press lately and if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all, so it is good that a book about topics like this — specifically separating children from their parents during refugee hearings and not just south of the border, but here, in Canada, because it happens in Canada too — is getting attention, and now I am going to stop talking.

Sheets by Brenna Thummler: I was a lot more forgiving of this book full of ghosts than I was about the last book I read full of ghosts.

I need to review this.

The F Bomb by Lauren McKeon: Another book I need to review.

Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen: Damn book world, you can slap a Nazi swastika on anything and you know I’m going to drop everything and read it, even if I already knew a whole bunch about Operation Paperclip before reading this book, so I probably didn’t need to read it, but I did it anyway.

Dead Fish by Ruth Carrington: A mystery book with fish in the title that’s full of red herrings. Oh, that makes me happy.

Let’s just keep on adding to the list of books I didn’t review over the past three months.

The Dark and Other Stories by Deborah Willis: Yep. More to review.

The End of the Moment We Had by Toshiki Okada: I actually reviewed this one and I was all happy and then realized that it isn’t published until September, so you’re going to have to wait until September for me to have done my job.

Favourite book:

How could this not be my favourite book of the quarter? It’s one of these books that anyone who has read it knows it almost by heart; we’re like a secret club, those of us who have read this weird book from the early eighties. We seek each other out, and we know which ones of us are bookworms, which ones of us should be let loose in the Lake Cachuma reserve, which ones of us kinda feel a little bit bad for the teachers. I started biting my nails because of this book, because Skinny Malinky did and so there had to be something to it. It took me over twenty years to break that habit.

It was supposed to be a trilogy. I have book two. There is no book three.

All I hope is that my book (y’all know I have a book, right?) gives someone the same visceral, life-long feeling this book did me. Books for kids can be strange and difficult and full of big words because The War Between The Pitiful Teachers And The Splendid Kids is and that is the type of books I want to write for the same ages of kids.

Most promising book on my wishlist:

As a facial-hair-possessed woman with a kid on the verge of teenager-dom, I am hoping for great things from Karma Khullar‘s mustache when I read it aloud to her whenever I get my copy from inter-library loan.

I wrote:

Other than some copy-editing for the book I have that just came out (!!!!!), I worked on what I hope to be the sequel. And guess what: Come visit on Friday and get a sneak peak of the first few pages of the sequel before anyone else!

I read:

Thoughts:

Review of Triumph and Disaster by Stefan Zweig: Reviewed earlier this month.

Review of The Last Bell by Johannes Urzidil: Reviewed earlier this month.

The Best Damn Answers to Life’s Hardest Questions by Tess Koman: Review to come on publication date.

The Right to be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier: Review to come on (American) publication date.

Review of Ramadan by Ausma Zehanat Khan: Reviewed earlier this month, but in case of TL:DR: the file is sooooooooo pretty.

The Care and Keeping of You by Valerie Lee Schaefer: That’s right — I’m finally starting puberty 😉

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino: How could I love If on a winter’s night a traveler so much and find this book so tedious? What should my third Calvino book be to break the tie? I have Difficult Loves on my shelves somewhere…

Little Moments of Love by Catana Chetwynd: Review to come on publication date.

Favourite book:

Zweig I guess. It’s probably always going to be Zweig.

Most promising book on my wishlist:

I wrote:

Prequel to my faerie story. Plus, getting closer to my faerie story release date: pre-order now!