Thank you so much, Matt. As I was putting the poll together I was thinking... please tell me what you like... but my overall plan is to just keep doing me. I have suffered terrible burnout in the past because of trying to do more, more, more... and I keep needing to remind myself that it is totally ok to simply ENJOY where you are and what you do already.
Goodbye and good riddance to the holidays, I say! These books sound marvelous! I recently discovered Claire Keegan while visiting Dublin for the first time and read Foster. I want to read every single thing she has written. Also, Sally Rooney forever. I feel like I know you through your reading list! I am so intrigued by Martyr! and will have to add so many of these to my long reading list. Happy reading!
I feel like I know you through your reading list! is the best thing you can say to a book person, isn't it?!
I am obsessed with Keegan now, too. Of the three books I've read, Foster is my favorite, I think, but it almost feels unfair to have to choose. I think she has another short story collection - Antarctica - that I am trying to get my hands on soon.
Nothing that I have said about Martyr! does it justice. The feeling it generates in you is so unlike anything I've read before - just lighthearted and profound at the same time.
I was in a Dublin book shop stressing over which Claire Keegan books I could fit in my carry on lol If I could have I would have snatched it for you!
That is a very powerful description. I feel like I need to read it right away!! I gotta stay on course for my book club now, but I’m so tempted. Don’t let me get book-tracked! hehe
LOL. In my heart of hearts, I honestly LOVE a battered book but I know that makes some people twitch. Gotta hold space for all of us.
My husband is always taking pictures and now that he knows I post some of them here, he takes even more. I have a growing collection of double-chin-with-a-book photos. 😅
Martyr! and James are the two books of 2024 that everybody has loved and - for that reason?? - I kept resisting them. Not proud. I will tackle James soon.
I have yet to get to claire keegan and you are reminding me that i am overdue! I love seeing your best of each month list— we share a few favorites and you’ve again reminded me that I need to get to stoner!
Yes to all of the above! Stoner was the book that set my reading year on fire last year. I read it so early on and put me in such a reflective state of mind that I think I chased that feeling for a while. It is not a perfect book but damn it's close.
There is a History of Literature pod cast in which the host (a non-academic and a lot of fun) asks writers what they would the last book they ever read to be. Mine would be Stoner. I also loved Williams’ other two novels—way, way different than Stoner.
Great reflections and an impressive roundup of reading for 2024! I'm so glad you enjoyed Charing Cross. Get the tissues ready for the film 💕
I also did not enjoy Heartburn, despite being a big fan of Nora. Although it's "funny" it just struck me as a bit...sad, and I never finished it. Like you say, maybe it just hasn't aged well.
Also! Not relevant but as you write here about introverts (raises hand) I attended my very first "Silent Bookclub" last night at a nearby cafe!! It was advertised as "an introverts dream bookclub..." ❤️ 📚
So, the book is based on Nora Ephron's marriage to and divorce from Carl Bernstein, the famous Washington Post journalist and they were a legit power couple in DC at the time they were married... so I have this feeling that her processing of the events around the divorce was really done with an acute awareness that people were watching and gossiping about them / her. It all just reads like a show. And, oddly, reminds of me how we live now ... always with an awareness that through social media there are many eyes on us at all times which completely affects your experience. Sucked for her then, sucks for us now.
I've seen Silent Bookclubs advertised around here too and thought it sounded lovely! You are reminding me to track one down and go. I love the feeling I get in a university library of brains actively at work, this would be similar! And NO SMALL TALK! haha
So my wife and I are planning to attend our first silent book club meeting this Thursday evening. It is being hosted by the local public library. I am looking forward to the experience as I have read good things about silent book clubs. The format promises to be appealing for introverts.
I loved 84 Charing Cross Road, the movie. Gentle, lovely, but sad. I hope Petya likes it as much as she enjoyed the book.
Oh, I hope you both enjoy the silent bookclub as much as I did, Donald! I was so pleasantly surprised by how many folks turned out for it, even on a freezing cold January evening.
The movie was so well cast, pretty much perfect I thought.
Carl Bernstein does not sound like a great guy. I think she is too nice about him in this book. I wonder how she would have written it if she was working on it today.
I was wondering if the movie would be better but it doesn't sound like it is.
One of my reading intentions for 2024 is to read more poetry and I really look forward for picking up Kaveh Akbar's collections. I typically enter books through character or setting but his language is just stunning.
That's what I did too! I ended up reading half and listening to half, just kept switching back and forth which I love doing, it makes you feel so immersed in the world of the book. But I want to do a full reread on paper because I missed so much language!
I have thoughts!!! I can't do it. The most I can manage is to have a physical book as my main read and an audiobook going on in parallel for listening while I do house work or commuting to work.
In November I felt so anxious because of the election and ended up picking up and then setting aside so many books, I kept thinking that I would get through them somehow and in the end only finished two. It's not for me, I think I just need a good chunk of effort to immerse myself in the world of a book in order to get a good feel for its world and its rhythm and when I am reading multiple things at a time I just can't do it.
I am curious about your take on Heartburn -- was going to ask if you thought the book was better than the movie or the other way around. But in this case the answer may be - both are bad. LOL
Piggybacking on the conversation from your post - I thought that The Piano Teacher was so much better as a film than as a book and I never feel that. (I just started reading the book over the holidays and having such a hard time getting through it... but I loved the film so much that I am making myself finish so that I can then re-watch and be more thoughtful about it).
Recently finished Boulder—great read. Just added Martyr! to my TBR. Your review made me think of the wonderful novel about the two brothers who drive their father’s body across Iraq to where he wanted to be buried. Very sad but also humorous. Of course I can’t recall the name of it, and I passed along to a friend so not on my shelf. It’s been a couple of years.
I did a search and found it! It’s Syria, not Iraq, and it’s two brothers and a sister. Death is Hard Work by Syrian novelist Khalid Khalifa. Translated into English 2019. Finalist in the National Book Awards. I got a deeper sense of Syria from this novel than from hundreds of news stories. Made me remember why reading is so great at expanding your mind. Same with William’s novel about the Wild West. You’ll never think the same about how the West was won.
For the record, I LOVE IT ALL here. 💗 As as introvert, I am SO happy the holidays are over. I also need a lot of alone time and as I sit in an empty house--I feel BLISSFUL. I love when I see paperbacks that have been broken in and loved hard. Even though I can be a little obsessive about not bending my own books at home, while I'm on vacation, anything goes!
I loved Heartburn the movie but haven't read the book yet.
I'm so happy to see Martyr! made it your favorite read of December! Also, "surgically precise little stories about ordinary people going through extraordinary things" is the best way I've seen to describe Keegan's stories. Have you read any Louise Kennedy yet? I loved both her novel and her collection of stories, but her stories, in particular, reminded me of Keegan!
I am so glad we decided to read it and through such an insane period. I will always remember how anxious we both felt at that time and kept postponing reading it... but man, so glad we did! So glad.
I haven't read Louise Kennedy and I will definitely pick up her books. I typically don't read short stories and was just getting excited to work on that after living Keegan so much last year, did research and was ready to start reading Alice Munro... And then of course the news about her being complicit in her husband's sexual abuse of her daughter... and I just haven't been able to pick up her books. Happy to have this recommendation because I wasn't sure who to read instead. Thank you so much.
I'm a paid subscriber and tried to vote on your poll, but I first got the message that only subscribers can vote, and when I typed in my e-mail address and hit "subscribe," I got the message that "something went wrong." I cast my vote for notes on annotation and commonplacing.
I am so sorry, some of the substack setting are confusing to me and I may have set it up all wrong. Thank you for the vote and thank you for being a paid subscriber. Writing this newsletter feels like a dream to me and it means the world to me that you find my words meaningful. A have a post in progress on commonplacing that will most likely go out next week!
I never read Braiding Sweetgrass and I feel like EVERYONE who read it is totally obsessed with her work forever and ever. Does it matter if I read the Serviceberry first?
No, not at all. “The Serviceberry” is a long-form revision of an article she wrote for Emergence Magazine. It can easily be read in one sitting. I really enjoyed it, but “Braiding Sweetgrass” is on a whole other level of profound awareness of the natural world, our place in it, and our relationships with other beings—all from a Native, Indigenous wisdom perspective. “Braiding Sweetgrass” will be her magnum opus; and very deserved at that.
So glad you loved Martyr! And since I don’t think we connected until midway through the year, it was lovely to get a glimpse back at your entire year of reading!
"She said that Ephron cares about the similar issues as Didion but is actually fun to read." This is spot on haha. I loved Heartburn! Made it into my top 10 of 2024.
I didn't answer the poll because I love it all. Keep being awesome Petya! Also, I sent you a friend request on Storygraph.
Thank you so much, Matt. As I was putting the poll together I was thinking... please tell me what you like... but my overall plan is to just keep doing me. I have suffered terrible burnout in the past because of trying to do more, more, more... and I keep needing to remind myself that it is totally ok to simply ENJOY where you are and what you do already.
What Matt said!! I DID end up voting (for intentional reading posts) but honestly - I would read your shopping lists, Petya!! Just keep doing YOU ❤️
I am working on a post about mindful book consumption so I am not too far! lol
P.S. Thank you so much, friend.
What he said!!!!
I second that emotion! Keeping writing whatever you want to write.
Goodbye and good riddance to the holidays, I say! These books sound marvelous! I recently discovered Claire Keegan while visiting Dublin for the first time and read Foster. I want to read every single thing she has written. Also, Sally Rooney forever. I feel like I know you through your reading list! I am so intrigued by Martyr! and will have to add so many of these to my long reading list. Happy reading!
I feel like I know you through your reading list! is the best thing you can say to a book person, isn't it?!
I am obsessed with Keegan now, too. Of the three books I've read, Foster is my favorite, I think, but it almost feels unfair to have to choose. I think she has another short story collection - Antarctica - that I am trying to get my hands on soon.
Nothing that I have said about Martyr! does it justice. The feeling it generates in you is so unlike anything I've read before - just lighthearted and profound at the same time.
I was in a Dublin book shop stressing over which Claire Keegan books I could fit in my carry on lol If I could have I would have snatched it for you!
That is a very powerful description. I feel like I need to read it right away!! I gotta stay on course for my book club now, but I’m so tempted. Don’t let me get book-tracked! hehe
One book at a time!!! We gotta start what we finish (within reason).
One book at a time? I find that to be easier said than done.
I read books with covers bent all wonky like that, too. DON'T APOLOGIZE!!! Amazing photo, by the way. I wish I had more pics of me reading.
I think I'll finally read Martyr! ;)
LOL. In my heart of hearts, I honestly LOVE a battered book but I know that makes some people twitch. Gotta hold space for all of us.
My husband is always taking pictures and now that he knows I post some of them here, he takes even more. I have a growing collection of double-chin-with-a-book photos. 😅
Martyr! and James are the two books of 2024 that everybody has loved and - for that reason?? - I kept resisting them. Not proud. I will tackle James soon.
HAHAH. I’ll have to spread the word to my husband!
I also haven’t tackled James but it’s on my nightstand. Would love a buddy read if you’re down!
I have yet to get to claire keegan and you are reminding me that i am overdue! I love seeing your best of each month list— we share a few favorites and you’ve again reminded me that I need to get to stoner!
Yes to all of the above! Stoner was the book that set my reading year on fire last year. I read it so early on and put me in such a reflective state of mind that I think I chased that feeling for a while. It is not a perfect book but damn it's close.
There is a History of Literature pod cast in which the host (a non-academic and a lot of fun) asks writers what they would the last book they ever read to be. Mine would be Stoner. I also loved Williams’ other two novels—way, way different than Stoner.
Great reflections and an impressive roundup of reading for 2024! I'm so glad you enjoyed Charing Cross. Get the tissues ready for the film 💕
I also did not enjoy Heartburn, despite being a big fan of Nora. Although it's "funny" it just struck me as a bit...sad, and I never finished it. Like you say, maybe it just hasn't aged well.
Also! Not relevant but as you write here about introverts (raises hand) I attended my very first "Silent Bookclub" last night at a nearby cafe!! It was advertised as "an introverts dream bookclub..." ❤️ 📚
So, the book is based on Nora Ephron's marriage to and divorce from Carl Bernstein, the famous Washington Post journalist and they were a legit power couple in DC at the time they were married... so I have this feeling that her processing of the events around the divorce was really done with an acute awareness that people were watching and gossiping about them / her. It all just reads like a show. And, oddly, reminds of me how we live now ... always with an awareness that through social media there are many eyes on us at all times which completely affects your experience. Sucked for her then, sucks for us now.
I've seen Silent Bookclubs advertised around here too and thought it sounded lovely! You are reminding me to track one down and go. I love the feeling I get in a university library of brains actively at work, this would be similar! And NO SMALL TALK! haha
So my wife and I are planning to attend our first silent book club meeting this Thursday evening. It is being hosted by the local public library. I am looking forward to the experience as I have read good things about silent book clubs. The format promises to be appealing for introverts.
I loved 84 Charing Cross Road, the movie. Gentle, lovely, but sad. I hope Petya likes it as much as she enjoyed the book.
Oh, I hope you both enjoy the silent bookclub as much as I did, Donald! I was so pleasantly surprised by how many folks turned out for it, even on a freezing cold January evening.
The movie was so well cast, pretty much perfect I thought.
I saw "Heartburn" the movie when it first came out. It was hard to see Meryl in that role. I may have left early? Xo
Carl Bernstein does not sound like a great guy. I think she is too nice about him in this book. I wonder how she would have written it if she was working on it today.
I was wondering if the movie would be better but it doesn't sound like it is.
Oh I loved Martyr! So funny and tender and sad. Nearly perfect.
One of my reading intentions for 2024 is to read more poetry and I really look forward for picking up Kaveh Akbar's collections. I typically enter books through character or setting but his language is just stunning.
Totally. I was listening to the audiobook and like an hour in I knew I needed to get my hands on a physical copy to really revel in it.
That's what I did too! I ended up reading half and listening to half, just kept switching back and forth which I love doing, it makes you feel so immersed in the world of the book. But I want to do a full reread on paper because I missed so much language!
Martyr! is so high on my list, but I'm about to start Heartburn for a book club. i'm sure it'll flesh out the movie, which i didn't love!
maybe you've covered this before, but do you read books simultaneously or have thoughts on that?
I have thoughts!!! I can't do it. The most I can manage is to have a physical book as my main read and an audiobook going on in parallel for listening while I do house work or commuting to work.
In November I felt so anxious because of the election and ended up picking up and then setting aside so many books, I kept thinking that I would get through them somehow and in the end only finished two. It's not for me, I think I just need a good chunk of effort to immerse myself in the world of a book in order to get a good feel for its world and its rhythm and when I am reading multiple things at a time I just can't do it.
I am curious about your take on Heartburn -- was going to ask if you thought the book was better than the movie or the other way around. But in this case the answer may be - both are bad. LOL
Piggybacking on the conversation from your post - I thought that The Piano Teacher was so much better as a film than as a book and I never feel that. (I just started reading the book over the holidays and having such a hard time getting through it... but I loved the film so much that I am making myself finish so that I can then re-watch and be more thoughtful about it).
Recently finished Boulder—great read. Just added Martyr! to my TBR. Your review made me think of the wonderful novel about the two brothers who drive their father’s body across Iraq to where he wanted to be buried. Very sad but also humorous. Of course I can’t recall the name of it, and I passed along to a friend so not on my shelf. It’s been a couple of years.
Boulder was one of my reading highlights of last year! Mammoth next!!!
Please share the title of that book if you think of it, it sounds wonderful.
I did a search and found it! It’s Syria, not Iraq, and it’s two brothers and a sister. Death is Hard Work by Syrian novelist Khalid Khalifa. Translated into English 2019. Finalist in the National Book Awards. I got a deeper sense of Syria from this novel than from hundreds of news stories. Made me remember why reading is so great at expanding your mind. Same with William’s novel about the Wild West. You’ll never think the same about how the West was won.
thank you!
For the record, I LOVE IT ALL here. 💗 As as introvert, I am SO happy the holidays are over. I also need a lot of alone time and as I sit in an empty house--I feel BLISSFUL. I love when I see paperbacks that have been broken in and loved hard. Even though I can be a little obsessive about not bending my own books at home, while I'm on vacation, anything goes!
I loved Heartburn the movie but haven't read the book yet.
We made it!!! 😂😂
🥳🥳🥳
I'm so happy to see Martyr! made it your favorite read of December! Also, "surgically precise little stories about ordinary people going through extraordinary things" is the best way I've seen to describe Keegan's stories. Have you read any Louise Kennedy yet? I loved both her novel and her collection of stories, but her stories, in particular, reminded me of Keegan!
I am so glad we decided to read it and through such an insane period. I will always remember how anxious we both felt at that time and kept postponing reading it... but man, so glad we did! So glad.
I haven't read Louise Kennedy and I will definitely pick up her books. I typically don't read short stories and was just getting excited to work on that after living Keegan so much last year, did research and was ready to start reading Alice Munro... And then of course the news about her being complicit in her husband's sexual abuse of her daughter... and I just haven't been able to pick up her books. Happy to have this recommendation because I wasn't sure who to read instead. Thank you so much.
I'm a paid subscriber and tried to vote on your poll, but I first got the message that only subscribers can vote, and when I typed in my e-mail address and hit "subscribe," I got the message that "something went wrong." I cast my vote for notes on annotation and commonplacing.
I am so sorry, some of the substack setting are confusing to me and I may have set it up all wrong. Thank you for the vote and thank you for being a paid subscriber. Writing this newsletter feels like a dream to me and it means the world to me that you find my words meaningful. A have a post in progress on commonplacing that will most likely go out next week!
I agree with Matt too.
And the next small book I’m going to be regifting is “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
I never read Braiding Sweetgrass and I feel like EVERYONE who read it is totally obsessed with her work forever and ever. Does it matter if I read the Serviceberry first?
No, not at all. “The Serviceberry” is a long-form revision of an article she wrote for Emergence Magazine. It can easily be read in one sitting. I really enjoyed it, but “Braiding Sweetgrass” is on a whole other level of profound awareness of the natural world, our place in it, and our relationships with other beings—all from a Native, Indigenous wisdom perspective. “Braiding Sweetgrass” will be her magnum opus; and very deserved at that.
So glad you loved Martyr! And since I don’t think we connected until midway through the year, it was lovely to get a glimpse back at your entire year of reading!
I am so grateful to you because if you hadn't asked that question, I don't think I would have read it and that would have been the saddest.
84, Charing Cross Road is such a sweet one <3
SO GOOD.
"She said that Ephron cares about the similar issues as Didion but is actually fun to read." This is spot on haha. I loved Heartburn! Made it into my top 10 of 2024.