Great to see people discovering Bitter Orange! I read this and interviewed Claire for my podcast years ago -- it's a bit creepier and more Gothic than what I normally read, but I found it really compelling and can still picture the house!
weirdly something that's been helping me get out of funky reading slumps is really propulsive, unputdownable non fiction. I just read (and LOVED) Accountable: The Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers whose Lives it Changed Forever.
I really enjoyed reading the article about Susanna Clarke, but I did think it was odd that the piece didn’t even mention Piranesi until the very end. She disappeared for twenty years, except that she wrote a Women’s Prize-winning novel in the middle!
My recent “slump buster” sounds so obvious that I’m almost embarrassed to suggest it (and maybe you are already doing it implicitly), but it’s just been to pick up books I suspect I might love. I start books and add them to my queue for so many reasons, and thinking that a book might be a hit for me is not always top of the list. Specifically Greta & Valdin is my new slump-busting Swiss army book.
Every time you say a nice thing about me or my work it makes my day. Thank you!
Also I am in slump town, too. The only book I have been head over heels about and wanting to listen to is WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. It is the most wonderful book about climate (which I know anxiety) but I promise it doesn't feel like that. It is hours and hours long because there are 20 interviews included and it is fantastic. Plus I *know* you could use more nonfiction in your life.
That’s good to know! I’ll probably do Line of Beauty next since I own it but I’m interested in exploring a lot more of his work. I also loved the sentences! Beautiful and they went down easy.
Great to see people discovering Bitter Orange! I read this and interviewed Claire for my podcast years ago -- it's a bit creepier and more Gothic than what I normally read, but I found it really compelling and can still picture the house!
weirdly something that's been helping me get out of funky reading slumps is really propulsive, unputdownable non fiction. I just read (and LOVED) Accountable: The Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers whose Lives it Changed Forever.
i also reviewed everything i read in September if you re looking for more stuff to add to your TBR 🙃 https://justretrospective.substack.com/
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
I really enjoyed reading the article about Susanna Clarke, but I did think it was odd that the piece didn’t even mention Piranesi until the very end. She disappeared for twenty years, except that she wrote a Women’s Prize-winning novel in the middle!
My recent “slump buster” sounds so obvious that I’m almost embarrassed to suggest it (and maybe you are already doing it implicitly), but it’s just been to pick up books I suspect I might love. I start books and add them to my queue for so many reasons, and thinking that a book might be a hit for me is not always top of the list. Specifically Greta & Valdin is my new slump-busting Swiss army book.
So weird!! I had the same thought!
Every time you say a nice thing about me or my work it makes my day. Thank you!
Also I am in slump town, too. The only book I have been head over heels about and wanting to listen to is WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT? by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. It is the most wonderful book about climate (which I know anxiety) but I promise it doesn't feel like that. It is hours and hours long because there are 20 interviews included and it is fantastic. Plus I *know* you could use more nonfiction in your life.
I really, really liked The Stranger's Child if you want to read more Hollinghurst! His sentence level writing is just extraordinary.
That’s good to know! I’ll probably do Line of Beauty next since I own it but I’m interested in exploring a lot more of his work. I also loved the sentences! Beautiful and they went down easy.
Which "gem" did you pick up in Takoma Park? The link just takes me to the store's site.
Oh sorry! Meant to include a link. I’m reading HAPPINESS by Aminatta Forna!