Bookish Chatter | I’m Feeling More Like Myself

Happy Wednesday, friends! So far this week we’ve been enjoying sunny skies and lots of birds. I’ve added three birds to my life list (Magnolia Warbler, Killdeer, and the Belted Kingfisher), which is delightful. We are expecting rain this afternoon that will last through the evening, but that’s okay. We’ve had plenty of time outside to make up for a rainy day!

My reading life has finally been revived. I have a chapter book readaloud, three novels, and one book of nonfiction to share with you today.

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Finished In the Last Week:

“It is what we are being, not what we are to be.”

It’s hard to succinctly describe The Transit of Venus. On the surface, it’s the story of two Australian sisters who are orphaned at an early age and make their way through life’s ups and downs. It’s a quiet book that seems to focus on strange details. I picked it up because everyone raves about the ending, which I found difficult to piece together and was thankful for reading friends who were able to do that work. If you’re in the mood for a thoughtful puzzle, this is a good book for you!

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Yellowface popped up on my TBR this month and I couldn’t resist reading it right away; I pushed everything aside and started it immediately! I wrote a little about it on Monday and managed to finish it last night. I almost want to go back and do some colorcoded highlighting in my copy because Kuang covered so much in just over 300 pages. She explored who has a right to tell certain stories, how the publishing industry dilutes the stories of people of color, cancel culture, and how marketing teams decide which books are going to be best sellers. And she did this through one of the most unlikable characters I’ve ever met: June Hayward. She’s such a selfish and self-centered opportunists, full of micro aggressions and straight up racist ideas and thoughts. But of course, would never consider herself racist.

Kuang’s writing is sharp and modern. This book feels like it was just written yesterday because of how relevant it is. On Monday I wrote that this book speaks to our time and it’s so true. This would make an excellent book club read because there’s so much to pick apart and discuss!

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Fire Rush is on the shortlist for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction. I listened to it on audio and highly recommend that format given that this is written in a specific (and beautiful!) dialect. Hearing it spoken might be easier for many readers than reading it with our eyes. This is mostly set in a Jamaican community in London in the late 70s/early 80s with Margaret Thatcher at the helm of the country. I appreciated the introduction to the dub club scene, which is not something that has been on my radar before.

This book came to life for me in the last third. Yamaye returns to her ancestral homeland of Jamaica and is connected to the people and her island. I thought a lot about what I’ve been learning in Craft in the Real World and the writing crafts common for people of African ancestry. By having a better idea of what Crooks was trying to do, I have a much stronger appreciation for this work. By learning more about the brutal conditions that slaves in the Caribbean faced in our little homeschooling history time, I have an even stronger appreciation for a character who returns home and feels her ancestors in her soul.

We learn so much by reading and finding beauty in the stories around us. I am thankful!

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I have been reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less slowly with a friend since February. I struggled with this book throughout and found it to be geared towards people working in the corporate world with an uncommon amount of control over their work day. The second half of the book was better and was more easily generalized to other situations, which I appreciated. My biggest takeaways from this book is the reminder that less is more and my answers to the question, what do you want to go big on?.

What have I changed in my life since reading this book? I’ve chosen to dedicate more time and energy to my health, reading, and writing goals. I’m working on releasing my guilt about the stitching projects I have started and waiting to be finished! But I know I can’t do everything I want so I’m experimenting with having a smaller focus. So far, I’m pleased with the results. We’ll see how the year plays out!

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Bronwyn and I finished Samantha Saves the Day at the end of last week! In this one, Samantha and her family spend the summer at their camp and the girls discover Samantha’s mother’s sketchbook. It is full of memories on the island that Samantha is too young to remember and it sets her on a journey to rediscover the time she spent with her parents before their deaths. But Samantha, Agnes, and Agatha get stuck on an island during a big storm. With a cool head and a kind heart, Samantha manages to get everyone home safely.

And with this book, Bronwyn and I have finished all of the Samantha books! Just a recap: we have read all of the Kya, Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, and Samantha books. Whew! Next up: Kit, who I think lived during the depression? And I think there’s a movie about her? Perhaps we’ll be able to watch it once we finish her series.

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Did you see that Chelsey and Sara at Novel Pairings are planning to read Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey this summer? I am so tempted to join along! Are any of you planning to read with them?

I wish I could write more this morning but Colton is now awake (at 5:14am)!! I hope to be back on Friday with a little more of an update. Take good care!