Wants to read Zazen
book
Rated Legende van een zelfmoord 8/10
Eerste deel sloeg me recht in mijn gezicht. De onverwachte hardheid in prachtige beelden. Het perspectief van het opgroeiende kind tov van de hopeloze vader. Ijzersterk. De spanningsboog voor mij brak echter na 'het schot'. Hoe verrassend en aangrijpend die scene ook is, erna was ik (helaas)de connectie met het verhaal en zijn personages kwijt. Het was voor mij als lezer niet duidelijk dat het om 5 korte verhalen en een novelle ging. Waarschijnlijk meer mijn 'fout' dan van Vann's boek.
Rated Boy, Snow, Bird 8/10
A strange little book - a quick, enjoyable read, shot through with touches of dreamlike/fairytale weirdness. A woman flees her abusive home in New York in the 1950s and marries into a slightly mysterious family in New England; the book is told from the perspective of this woman (the Boy of the title - that's her name) and her daughter (Bird) but also revolves around her relationship with her stepdaughter (Snow). Lots of metaphorically rich stuff about race and gender in mid-century America.
Rated Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings 4/10
Rated Doctor Who: The Five Companions 10/10
<div>Ok maybe 5 stars is rounding up, but I'm just so glad to have the one Jean Marsh audio adventure I was missing.</div><div><br></div>
Rated The Chestnut Man 8/10
Rated What You Are Getting Wrong about Appalachia 8/10
Very thoughtful and compelling. Designed primarily as a corrective to books like [b:Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis|27161156|Hillbilly Elegy A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis|J.D. Vance|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463569814s/27161156.jpg|47200486] and the coverage of Appalachia around the 2016 election, but worth reading on its own: a study of how Appalachia has been willfully misunderstood by people looking to extract either coal or political advantage from it, and the historic streak of radical politics that still exists, running counter to Appalachia's conservative electoral shift. Well worth reading and quick.
Rated De Alpenfederatie 6/10
Rated Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye 8/10
This is a really good middle grade book that both myself AND my 9-yr-old son enjoyed a lot. (And the e-ARC I had didn't even have the finished illustrations yet.)
Finished reading Green Shadows: Vinjeru's Awakening
Rated Crossing the Heart of Africa: An Odyssey of Love and Adventure 8/10
Smith weaves Grogan and his tale together seamlessly between chapters, doing an excellent job of making Grogan's experiences seem just as present as his own.<br><br>I love to hear people's individual stories over a more detached perspective. Grogan's story interests me before a research paper on African exploration and imperialism would. Still, even Grogan's story on its own might not have been enough without having Smith's journey entwined with the narrative. It's an honest, though not overly heavy read, and though we know that both parties get married in the end, it's easy to forget that during all the moments of suspense. I highly recommend Crossing's brand of informative wanderlust.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/12/crossing-heart-of-africa-by-julian.html">Glorified Love Letters.</a>)
Edited 23d ago
Today is Thomas Mann’s #birthday.
His novel Doctor Faustus feels strikingly modern: it is not just a novel about the past. It is a warning.
Mann shows how a gifted person — and even an entire country — can be seduced by evil and lose their soul.
#ThomasMann #books #DoctorFaustus #reading @bookstodon #bookstodon #today #onthisday #Mann #Faustus #novel #book #booksky #BookTok #bookstagram #readingcommunity
Rated Guards! Guards! 9/10
Edited 24d ago
Rated Look to Windward 9/10
Edited 24d ago
Rated A Field Guide to Awkward Silences 6/10
Has its moments, but kind of disappointing because I really like her Post columns. As a book, it aims by turns to be charming and clever and poignant and wise but it doesn't quite hit as high as it aims.
Finished reading Cibola Burn
Rated The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet 10/10
Mitchell injects bits of poetry into his prose, and it never feels awkward or ostentatious. When time slows for Jacob and he absorbs the minutiae of the moment, one may find a rhyme scheme or more involved imagery. Between the masterful way in which he threads these literary bits of style and the different points of view, the amount of research involved in writing de Zoet is all the more impressive.<br><br>Everyone in the port town wants something, and some are willing to lie, while others hold steadfast to their integrity to achieve it. At the moment Jacob decides to make his intentions to Miss Aibigawa known, she is sent away to a mysterious and isolated mountain shrine. The unfolding details concerning the shrine are what make up the meat of the story, and are what propel the pages forward. Yes, there are still concerns regarding the Dutch occupation, and the conflict between East and West, but Mitchell has not written a simple historical novel. At the heart of everything is communication — what we understand about one another, the struggle against the unknown, and what we choose to withhold. Even the more reprehensible characters are fighting their own battles, and while one may not feel the same empathy towards them, their toil is understandable. And despite the seriousness throughout, Mitchell also provides subtle humor — overbearing mothers, card game insults and sarcasm transcend time, really. I invite you all to use the word “cockchafer” at your earliest convenience.<br><br>Though I have yet to read David Mitchell’s other novels, I still feel like my favorite has yet to come. That’s not to disparage anything about de Zoet, but for making me love a story I might have otherwise ignored, I can only guess that his more modern settings will leave me lacking in the adequate vocabulary to describe their greatness. This is high and hypothetical praise, I know, but my head and my heart are in agreement. <br><br>(Full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/03/thousand-autumns-of-jacob-de-zoet-by.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)