I read:
Not as much as usual due to the behemoth of 2666.
Thoughts:
- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: This and Viviane last month, both I figured out the mystery only a few pages in. Boo. I know it should make me feel clever, but it does not make me feel clever even one tiny little bit.
- The Thickety by J.A. White: Such a good spooky kids’ book. It scared Geoff but Tesfa was okay with it.
- A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle: I have similar feelings about this book as I did with Harriet the Spy last year, i.e. a book having a female protagonist does not imply a feminist book. Meg’s constant hysterics (and purposefully I am using the word hysterics to describe her) with all the males knowing more than her and Calvin’s job to hold her hand and look after her fill me with righteous feminist rage. So I stick out my tongue although I suppose Meg is good at math, so I guess she can have one cookie, but nothing more. Plus the book is so random that it could give The Amazing World of Gumball a run for its money. Further (yet similar) thoughts by someone else here.
- What Boys Like by Amy Jones: One of my favourite Can-con story collections. A re-read.
- 2666 by Roberto Bolaño: First time in a long time that I was reading a book that I didn’t want to end. It’s like a whole universe in there. Then, once finished, I was still famished and rather than wanting to savour the story, I wanted to pick up a book right away and continue reading (maybe even reading 2666 again). I think you could read this book forever.
- When Everything Feels Like The Movies by Raziel Reid: I can see why Ru won Canada Reads, as it’s a less objectionable choice, but it’s also a conventional choice. This book is unconventional, so maybe that means it isn’t Canadian enough. Still let’s remember, Bear won a Governor’s General award way back in the 1970s and that’s a book about a woman in a sexual relationship with an honest-to-goodness bear, so maybe it is a perfect Canadian book. So When Everything Feels Like The Movies will make it into the canon eventually. Maybe even soon.
- Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M.M. Blume: I really wanted to love this book but children’s books set in New York have to live up to From The Mixed Up Files and this one just doesn’t. Tesfa enjoyed it, but I found the portrayals, especially in the Morocco and India sections, heavy handed and unnecessarily stereotyped.
- A Useless Man by Sait Faik Abasıyanık: Reviewed earlier this month.
- The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro: Oh my goodness, how inane the conversations are. The characters all speak like how an eleven year old would write a Game of Thrones fanfic. I’m starting to think I don’t actually like reading Kazuo Ishiguro. I loved The Remains of the Day (but I read it in high school, so maybe that negates my recommendation of it), I thought Never Let Me Go was okay, I loathed When We Were Orphans and got annoyed at The Unconsoled. And now this, a big fat meh. Maybe I’m just not a fan.
Favourite book of the month:
My new universe to lose myself in.
Most promising book on the wishlist:
It’s about a female mathematician!
I watched: (and there is more than usual because of being on vacation with a television)
Thoughts:
- The first row of cartoons: So kids cartoons are all dadesque now? Nothing makes sense. NOTHING!
- Secrets and Lies: Another mystery I figured out near the beginning. And man, being poor in Australia must suck, what with having a house with a pool and a guest cottage and two cars and super nice furniture and a big open kitchen. *rolls eyes*
- Game of Thrones: I didn’t bother with the rape episode though.
- Futurama: In bad parenting move of the year, my six year old is now obsessed wtih Futurama. This really is a bad parenting move. I’ve got to wean her off it and back to something more appropriate. I feel like an even worse parent than normal now.
I wrote: Wolf Children Part One and typing up. Faerie story. Submitted some short stories to journals and slushed out some more. Taking a slush break as the collection is currently on exclusive right now, so yay!