Reading Envy 240: Air Quotes with Chris Carey

Chris visits the podcast for the first time, where we discuss web comics and where they live, book clubs and book goals, book slumps and book challenges. We also manage to discuss several debut novels across a wide range of genres, but all with strong representation!

Download or listen via this link:
Reading Envy 240: Air Quotes

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Books discussed:

The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
Islands of Decolonial Love by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, performed by Tantoo Cardinal
Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

Other mentions: 

Gotham Outsiders
Thirsty on Toon
Talking Comics
My Gentle Giant
WEBTOON
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures
Wattpad
Reading Glasses Podcast
Reading Glasses Challenge
Heaving Bosoms Podcast
Heaving Bosoms' Reading Embrace
Big Bad Wolf Series by Charlie Adhara
Gail Carriger
Nagamatsu playlist at Largehearted Boy
Stiff by Mary Roach
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
Sunshine Cleaning (film)
The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnosteinrom
Indigenous Reading Circle in Patreon
Noopiming by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Bojack Horseman (tv show)
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix
Woman Eating by Claire Kohda
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
The Employees by Olga Gavn, translated by Martin Aitken

Related episodes: 

Episode 060 - A Good Era for Communists with Rose Davis
Episode 148 - Multiple Lives with Jeff
Episode 191 - Stealthy yet Sparkly with Gail Carriger
Episode 231 - Psychological Terrorism with Reggie

Stalk us online:

Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy
Chris on Twitter


All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Review: Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs

Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First I read This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories, pushed into my hands by someone at House of Anansi Press when I went to AWP in Tampa. Last year I read Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies.

This year, thanks to Erin and Dani's Book Club, now Indigenous Reading Circle (you can join in Patreon) - I got to read her earlier book of short stories and songs as they spend the first half of the year focusing on story collections. The stories deal with similar themes, all featuring Nishnaabeg characters close to home for Simpson (apologies if my spelling is incorrect for this form of the word, sometimes I see it starting with an A and don't know the rules. On her website, this spelling is used.)

My absolutely favorite story features two friends or lovers who have waited so long to meet in person and when they do find their suspicions correct - and it has to do with what we call "sasquatch" but they would not. (It harkens back to The Sentence which had a chapter called "Tender Sasquatch" as a joke self-pub title.)

Several reviews say the book comes with songs recorded to accompany the stories but I listed to the audio version in Hoopla and it did not have any performances included, and the one publisher site that claims to have them to listen to for free doesn't seem to. I'd welcome any guidance there as I'd love to hear them. I really enjoyed this book in audio! So much I listened to it back to back twice!

I'll attempt to discuss it a bit more on upcoming Episode 240 of the Reading Envy Podcast.

View all my reviews

Reading Envy 239: Gross but Subtle with Katie

Katie joins me for the first time from the far north to discuss her own reading, plus one very creative solution for reading short stories with a book club.

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Reading Envy 239: Gross but Subtle

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Books discussed:

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Sufferance by Thomas King
Seek You: A Journey through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke
Gutter Child by Jael Richardson

Other mentions: 

Well-Read Books
Coles Books
"The Great Awake" by Julia Armfield
Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire
Tournament of Books
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
The Break by Katherena Vermette
The Strangers by Katherena Vermette (forthcoming, hopefully)
Drawing Loneliness with Kristen Radtke (video)
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?: Stories by Kathleen Collins
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
In Concrete by Anne Garrétta, translated by Emma Ramadan

Related episodes: 

Episode 077 - No One Messes With a Wolf with Shawn Mooney
Episode 181 - An Awkward Woman with Yanira Ramirez
Episode 190 - The Good Life with Alex
Episode 202 - Jacket Flap with Chris and Emily

Stalk us online:

Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy
Katie is @katie_sikkes on Instagram


All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Reading Envy 226 - Cucumber Sandwiches with Lindy Pratch

Lindy joins me to talk books, where we discuss Canadian lit, vignettes and white space in writing, and what really makes a monster.

Download or listen via this link:
Reading Envy 226: Cucumber Sandwiches

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Books discussed: 

 

You're Eating an Orange. You are Naked. by Sheung-King
Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
The Centaur's Wife by Amanda Leduc
The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
What Willow Says by Lynn Buckle

Other mentions:

Shadow Giller Prize
How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa
Giller Prize
Kuessipan by Naomi Fontaine
Tournament of Books
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Jeanette Winterson
Atmospheric Disappearances by Rivka Galchen
The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsey Drager
Disfigured by Amanda Leduc
LitFest Alberta
The Fabulous Zed Watson! by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
2019 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal report about Indigenous children
When the Light of the World was Subdued.... edited by Joy Harjo
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed
And Miles to Go Before I Sleep by Jocelyn Saucier
Come Together, Fall Apart by Cristina Henriquez

Related episodes: 

Episode 095 - Lose the Outside World with Lindy Pratch
Episode 124 - Mush Creatures with Lindy Pratch
Episode 159 - Reading Doorways with Lindy
Episode 196 - Miscommunication with Lindy
Episode 221 - Joint Poetry Readalong with Book Cougars
Episode 223 - Cicada Season with Rachel Mans McKenny

Stalk me online:

Lindy Reads and Reviews (blog)
Lindy on Twitter
Lindy is @Lindy on Litsy
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy
Follow ShadowGiller on Twitter


All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Review: The Seed Keeper

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you loved Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, this is a novel along similar themes. When Rosalie's husband dies, she returns to her father's home in Minnesota on Dakhota land, a place she has not been since she was removed and placed into foster care as a child. The timeline moves back and forth and sometimes the pov switches to another character as it tells the story of a people, the land, the seeds, and those who keep them.

CW for those already experiencing trauma surrounding residential schools, foster care, and the general removal of culture and home that so many endured.

View all my reviews

Reading Envy 221: Joint Poetry Readalong

Chris and Emily of the Book Cougars join me for discussion part 1 of our joint readalong - When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry edited by Joy Harjo et al. I also recorded the group discussion some of the Reading Envy Readers had, so I've included the majority of that discussion as well. It makes the episode slightly longer than usual, but I figure if you were in on discussing this amazing anthology, you'd likely be in for both discussions. Some people really took on the challenge to try poetry, and I know some readers are still working on it. Stay tuned to the Book Cougars where part 2 of our joint readalong, Braiding Sweetgrass, will post June 8th.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 221: Joint Poetry Readalong

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Books discussed:

When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry edited by Joy Harjo et al.
A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

Other mentions:

Studies in American Indian Literature by Paula Gunn Allen
The Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen
Spider Woman's Granddaughters by Paula Gunn Allen
Birchbark Books
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Weigh in on the fall readalong

Related episodes:

Episode 090 - Reading Envy Readalong: East of Eden
Episode 099 - Readalong: The Secret History
Episode 118 - Reading Envy Readalong: To the Bright Edge of the World
Episode 137 - Reading Envy Readalong: The Golden Notebook
Episode 157 - Joint Readalong of Gone with the Wind with Book Cougars
Episode 185 - The Loyal Swineherd (Odyssey readalong)
Episode 193 - And I Feel Fine (Ducks, Newburyport READALONG)
Book Cougars - Joint Readalong of Sapphira and the Slave Girl
Books on the Go - Ep. 121 - American Sunrise with Jenny Colvin 

Stalk us online:

Book Cougars website/podcast
Book Cougars are @bookcougars in Instagram
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Review: Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies

Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was first introduced to this author at AWP a few years ago, and enjoyed her collection, This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories.

From the publisher summary:

"Noopiming is Anishinaabemowin for “in the bush,” and the title is a response to English Canadian settler and author Susanna Moodie’s 1852 memoir Roughing It in the Bush. To read Simpson’s work is an act of decolonization, degentrification, and willful resistance to the perpetuation and dissemination of centuries-old colonial myth-making. It is a lived experience. It is a breaking open of the self to a world alive with people, animals, ancestors, and spirits, who are all busy with the daily labours of healing — healing not only themselves, but their individual pieces of the network, of the web that connects them all together."

I would like to invite the reader into a work that may not feel like it's for them, unless they come from the Anishinaabe tradition or something similar. You may not understand all the concepts at first. You can read it like poetry, let the words flow over you and then go back in. Try to put yourself in the place where the spirits/beings/presences of the natural world are present and play an active role in how you see yourself and your community.

I don't believe you have to have an ancestral understanding of this tradition to appreciate the beauty of the work. I probably spent as much time reading reviews and looking up terms as I did reading the work because I want to grasp it. I get closest when I think back to the Erdrich novels I've read, since she writes from a shared tradition, their patterns through the natural world and with each other. It's like another facet of that place, and was worth the journey.

This book came out last year in Canada but only in February 2021 in the USA. I had a review copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.

View all my reviews

Readalong Announcement - joint readalong with the Book Cougars

Book Cougars - Reading Envy
Joint Readalong





Reading Envy Readalong hosts:

When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry edited by Joy Harjo
Bonus read: A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

Ongoing weekly discussion in the Reading Envy Readers group, starts April 4
Listeners discussion of When the Light of the World - hosted by Jenny/Reading Envy, 5/8/21, time TBD
Jenny/Reading Envy and Book Cougars discussion of When the Light of the World plus just poetry in general, 5/12/21
Recorded discussion with Book Cougars posted 6/1/2021
Recorded group discussion of WtLofW posted 6/8/2021, tentative

If you'd like a schedule for suggest reading to keep pace, please scroll down.

Book Cougars will host:

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

| Link to Book Cougars GoodReads group for discussion |

Listeners discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass - hosted by Book Cougars, 5/30/21
Book Cougars and Jenny/Reading Envy discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass, 6/2/21
Recorded discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass will take place on Episode 131, dropping 6/8 

***

Suggested Reading Schedule for When the Light....

Blessing, Intro, Northeast and Midwest
1-98
April 4-10

Plains and Mountains
99-170
April 11-17

Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Pacific Islands
171-265
April 18-24

Southwest and West
267-355
April 25-May 1

Southeast, Outro, Acknowledgements
357-423
May 2-8

Review: The Marrow Thieves

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finally read this YA dystopian novel where people perceived as being indigenous are kidnapped in hopes their bodies will help everyone else regain the ability to dream. The novel is more about the groups of people living on the run and the ways they connect and build community - very little is about the mad scientist component (this is okay but was a bit surprising based on how much it is included in most summaries of the book.) Also in the background are the history of the "residential schools," climate change, and human-directed environmental destruction. It's set in the future so California is gone, the Great Lakes are toast, etc.

If you waffle on YA, there is much less angst than in the Hunger Games or Divergent. The majority of the novel features characters from a broader range of ages.

I had a strange experience (twice!) where I fell asleep while reading it and sank into deep dreams, so beware!

This was the January 2021 pick for Sword and Laser with guest co-host Mallory O'Meara. It was also discussed on Episode 202 of the Reading Envy Podcast with the Book Cougars.

View all my reviews

Reading Envy 208: Thriving in Marginalia with Lauren

It's the last regular episode of the year, featuring frequent guest Lauren. We talk reading around the world, different ways of interacting with other readers, poetry, and more. I know there is a slight sound issue and we think it is internet connection related. I took out of it as much as I could but every once in a while it arises mid-sentence. We will try to do better next time!

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 208: Thriving in Marginalia.

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Books discussed: 

On a Truck Alone, to McMahon by Nabaneeta Dev Sen
Reading the Ceiling by Dayo Forster
Ursula K. LeGuin: The Last Interview edited by David Streitfeld
My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo

Other mentions:

#readtheworld21
Dune by Frank Herbert
Dune (feature film, forthcoming)
The Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Chef by Jaspreet Singh
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
National Book Award - Lifetime Achievement Award, Ursula K. Le Guin
Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (documentary)
*Columbus, GA (I called it Columbia the first time, sorry)
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Books on the Go podcast - American Sunrise
Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo
When the Light of the World was Subdued edited by Joy Harjo
Want by Lynn Steger Strong

Related episodes:

Episode 083 - Slowing Down and Rereading with Julie Davis
Episode 097 - Blank Spaces with Lauren Weinhold
Episode 123 - Godlets and Forests with Lauren Weinhold
Episode 133 - To Understand the World with Lauren Weinhold
Episode 138 - Shared Landscape with Lauren Weinhold 
Episode 147 - Bonus Poetry Recommendations with Lauren
Episode 161 - Women in Translation Month Recommendations with Lauren
Episode 163 - Fainting Goats with Lauren
Episode 186 - This is Gravity with Jeff
Episode 189 - Surreal Superpowers with Tim
Episode 197 - Surly Magnificence with Lauren

Stalk us online:

Lauren at Goodreads
Lauren is @end.notes on Instagram
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors.

Review: Almanac of the Dead

Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was one of my goals to read more indigenous authors in 2020, but I've decided to withhold judgment on Leslie Marmon Silko until I've read her other works. I know better than to punish a writer or a novel for not being what I wanted but this doesn't match the cover blurb or what I was hoping for. Instead of a family or community saga saturated in characters from various indigenous backgrounds, it is a novel about government corruption, police corruption, drug trafficking, people trafficking, unethical business practices, and people who place no value on lives other than their own. Most of the characters are white men and the author puts the reader inside their narratives, leaving me reading from uncomfortable perspectives page after page after page. By the time I got back to the characters I initially felt invested in, I didn't care as much about them after they'd been absent for 500 pages.

Most of the novel takes place in Tuscon but some characters and chapters are in Mexico, elsewhere in Arizona, maybe California. Current events are eco-terrorism, the early hints of the Internet (the novel was originally published in 1991), the AIDS crisis, and the ongoing commercial failures of the industries who had moved into Tuscon and Phoenix.

There is an underlying sense that those who are indigenous have developed various ways of coping with the dominant population (some comply, some become corrupt, some plan revolution, some stick to themselves) and the novel actually ends in a somewhat hopeful way, but it's a heck of a journey to get there. This book is dark and reminded me of the experience reading 2666.

The underlying premise according to the publisher blurb is this fragmented text handed down from ancestors to these elderly sisters but it really played such a minor role - I would have loved to see it more significantly a part of the text. With how much attention is given it in the beginning I was left without feeling it had done much. Same with many of the early characters, honestly. I think the author may have tried to do too much and just ended up not doing much. Publishers Weekly didn't disagree with me.

CW rape, murder, suicide, drugs, harm to children, harm to animals, kidnapping, etc.

View all my reviews

Review: Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West

Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West by Lauren Redniss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Oak Flat is a serene high-elevation mesa that sits above the southeastern Arizona desert, fifteen miles to the west of the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. For the San Carlos tribe, Oak Flat is a holy place, an ancient burial ground and religious site where Apache girls celebrate the coming-of-age ritual known as the Sunrise Ceremony. In 1995, a massive untapped copper reserve was discovered nearby. A decade later, a law was passed transferring the area to a private company, whose planned copper mine will wipe Oak Flat off the map--sending its natural springs, petroglyph-covered rocks, and old-growth trees tumbling into a void...The book follows the fortunes of two families with profound connections to the contested site: the Nosies, an Apache family whose teenage daughter is an activist and leader in the Oak Flat fight, and the Gorhams, a mining family whose patriarch was a sheriff in the lawless early days of Arizona statehood."

I understand the print version of this to have stunning visuals; I enjoyed the audio with multiple narrators. I appreciated that the issues raised are more broadly shared with various indigenous groups but I also enjoyed learning more about Apache ceremony and this one family's experiences with it.

View all my reviews

Review: The Beadworkers

The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These short stories, some poetics, and one play/script type story focus on relationships between people in the northwest that have some kind of indigenous background, most often Nez Perce. The author includes some Nez Perce language and some elements of traditional tales (Coyote may show up) but for the most part the stories are contemporary people navigating their lives.

I was immediately drawn in by the cover because Mt Hood was my closest mountain growing up and my morning bus ride often included a view of the sun coming up behind it. Looking closer, the image is rendered in beadwork by Marcus Amerman (beadwork is a tradition mentioned in multiple stories.)

My Mom had a close friend who grew up on the Yakama rez which is mentioned here, and I went to a few salmon bakes in my childhood, so in some ways the characters feel familiar to me. They are diverse - a wide range of rural, suburban, and urban people with shared ancestry that comes along with its own set of expectations and traditions often unknown to the non indigenous people around them, including gifts of blankets and specific locations for ceremonies. Some stories are experimental in form (one revolves around the creation of a board game) while others are more narrative. Highly recommended!

View all my reviews

Review: Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America's Stolen Land

Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America's Stolen Land by Noé Álvarez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Noé Álvarez, a Mexican-American with Purépecha ancestry, participated in a 6,000-mile ultramarathon relay through North America in 2004 that sought to bring awareness and healing to indigenous peoples from Canada to Guatemala. The author also surrounds the run with more about his life - from his childhood in Yakima, Washington with parents who worked in backbreaking agricultural jobs, to flailing as a first-generation college student, to the places he created for himself after this journey. He follows up in the end with many of the other runners, and it seems to have been a transformative experience for all of them (or, these are people who are most likely to seek out such an experience.)

I liked experiencing the individual stories of the runners, the challenges of trying to pull it off for this higher purpose when individuals are not so high-minded, and various indigenous places and traditions they got to interact with along the way. (Did I watch all the videos on the internet about Purépecha language and history, mostly in Spanish? I did! They were never conquered by the Aztecs and from my limited understanding are the ancestors of the people who would attempt to reclaim land in the Zapatista movement.)

It was interesting to see North America through an indigenous, feet on the ground (literally) perspective. That lens connects to the natural world and the rich history more easily, but doesn't shy away from the tensions of borders, military movements, police presence, poverty, and control.

Side note, or personal note - the community in which I grew up in rural Oregon was heavily populated by seasonal workers, and I had several classmates who were only in school half the year until their parents were able to relocate more permanently. I grew up maybe 5 miles from at least one "migrant housing" situation. I did a project in high school where I interviewed a man who had grown up as a child of a seasonal workers and ended up going to college, etc., and was at that time working for the State of Oregon in the employment office, often assisting people who were new to the area for similar reasons. This is backbreaking work, but I never really saw it from the inside. Like most parents who hope their children will be in a better situation, both my parents didn't want us doing that kind of work. They both had to spend their summers working in agricultural jobs to help their families make ends meet, as soon as they were able, and until they either got better jobs or left home. My Dad picked beans and worked at a maraschino cherry plant. My Mom picked beans, cucumbers, and berries (but quickly found a fast food job instead!) We still picked fruit in the summer and canned/froze it for our own consumption but that is very different from the demands of the industry itself which only thrives if you can push your body to the limit as Álvarez describes his mother doing in this book. It sent me on my own path of reflection.

I believe the publisher sent this to me way back in the beforetimes, the author did a lot of virtual book talks, because it came out in March.

View all my reviews

Reading Envy 202: Jacket Flap with Chris and Emily of the Book Cougars

Chris and Emily, known fondly as Book Cougars, join me to discuss books we've read and liked recently. We address the controversy of one of the books selected, new books by well-loved authors, and authors that we're just discovering (and whose back files we need to read.) Links to Book Cougars are included at the end of the shownotes so check out their podcast too.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 202: Jacket Flap

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner
Or subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: Subscribe
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New! Listen through Google Podcasts


Books discussed:

 

All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny
Rage Baking edited by Kathy Gunst and Katherine Alford
Tides by Jonathan White
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Other mentions:

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi
Book Cougars Goodreads Group - Sapphira and the Slave Girl discussion
Hurma by Ali Al-Muqri (book mentioned from Yemen)
Booktopia (at Northshire Bookstore)
Ann Kingman
Michael Kindness
Books on the Nightstand podcast (no new episodes)
Powells City of Books
Library of Congress - National Book Festival
Bloody Scotland Festival
Decatur Book Festival
Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley
The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
Circe by Madeline Miller*
Emily's Lists
Tangerine Jones @ragebaking
Jenny's video playlist to accompany Tides
Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Bestiary by K. Ming Chang
Trumbull Park by Frank London Brown
Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

*I kept referring to Madeline Miller as a translator. I do think she has the scholarly chops to translate, but her works that I've read and loved are novels that are retellings of myths. I know this, but misspoke during our discussion. Sorry!

Related episodes:

Episode 037 - Breakdancing to Bach with Juliane Kunzendorf
Episode 131 - Tartan Noir and More with Claire Duffy
Episode 133 - To Understand the World with Lauren Weinhold
Episode 157 - Joint Readalong of Gone with the Wind with Book Cougars
 

Stalk us online:

Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy
Book Cougars website/podcast
Book Cougars are @bookcougars in Instagram

Books Read September 2020: 229-257

This was a strange reading month because I started out refocusing on my 2020 reading goals, plus reading challenges from Instagram to read your own books, read books about science, and read Latinx heritage books (which goes September 15 - October 15.) But the eARC backlog started to feel overwhelming, and you can almost see the shift in my list. I also had to give myself permission to bail on a few books I was stuck on, and that freed up my reading flow. I don't know why I can't learn that lesson better; it's one I learn over and over again. But this month I found a lot of great reads, particularly in non-fiction, which is unusual for me. I read a lot of one-word title books, which was just a strange thing I observed. I also read books from the library for the first time since March (that I hadn't already checked out or accessed electronically) - I utilized curbside pickup. I hope doing so is in support of wanting my libraries to do what they feel is safe and not putting anyone at risk There are a lot of conflicting opinions about this topic.

 

Pictured: 5-star reads for September

229. Oranges in No Man's Land by Elizabeth Laird ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
230. Whale Day by Billy Collins, read by Billy Collins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (review copy audiobook; my review)
231. The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hadeyat, translated by Naveed Noori ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
232. Blizzard: Poems by Henri Cole ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC in Edelweiss; my review)
233. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC in NetGalley; my review)
234. Hurma by Ali Al-Muqri, translated by T.M. Aplin ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
235. Earth Almanac by Ted Williams, illustrated by John Burgoyne ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC in NetGalley; my review)
236. Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz, narrated by Almarie Guerra ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
237. Glory and Its Litany of Horrors by Fernanda Torres, translated by Eric M.B. Becker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
238. Homesick by Nino Cipri ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (review copy; my review)
239. Before You Say I Do Clare Lydon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher; my review)
240. Eat a Peach by David Chang and Gabe Ulla, narrated by David Chang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (review copy audiobook; my review)
241. Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library book; my review)
242. Tides by Jonathan White ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
243. Igifu by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Jordan Stump ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
244. Bestiary by K-Ming Chang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
245. Iwigara by Enrique Salmon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
246. No Offense by Meg Cabot ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
247. A Highlander is Coming to Town by Laura Trentham ⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
248. Guillotine by Eduardo C. Corral ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher; my review)
249. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow, narrated by January LaVoy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy audiobook; my review)
250. What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
251. The Selected Works of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (print galley from publisher; my review)
252. The Writer's Library by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
253. Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library copy; my review)
254. Our Women on the Ground by Zahra Hankir, ed. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
255. Headscarves and Hymens by Mona Eltahawy, narrated by Mona Eltahawy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
256. Farewell, Ghosts by Nadia Terranova, translated by Ann Goldstein ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
257. Nine Moons by Gabriela Wiener, translated by Jessica Powell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)

Books read: 29 

Audiobooks: 5
eBooks: 13
Print books: 11

Library: 4
Personal: 8
Review: 17

Challenges
LatinxHeritage 2
readwhatyouown 9
scienceseptember 3
readtheworld21 2

Goals
Middle East 5
Indigenous writers 3
Around the World 13

Genres
Fantasy 2
Foodie 2
Horror 2
Memoir 2
Poetry 4
Romance 2

Reading Envy 181: An Awkward Woman with Yanira Ramirez

Yanira is back and we are talking reading goals, especially the classics, and reading our backlists. We talk about books we've read and liked recently, with a brief interlude tribute to interlibrary loan. Make sure to check out Yanira's previous appearances on the podcast, since this is number five.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 181: An Awkward Woman with Yanira.

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Books discussed:



Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Planetfall by Emma Newman
Anti-Social by Andrew Marantz
Tracks by Louise Erdrich
Incidental Inventions by Elena Ferrante


Other mentions:

#erdrichmedicinereadalong sponsored by @erins_library and @thunderbirdwomanreads in Instagram
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
After Atlas by Emma Newman
Four Souls by Louise Erdrich
Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner


Related episodes:

Episode 070 - Words Like Weapons with Yanira Ramirez
Episode 096 - Not Without Hope with Yanira Ramirez
Episode 108 - Venn Diagram with Yanira Ramirez 
Episode 127 - The Sadness Between Books with Bianca Escalante 
Episode 141 - Profound and Tedious Work with Yanira Ramirez


Stalk us online:

Yanira at Goodreads
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy