The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them | 
Those of you who read The Possessed and/or a Russian novel for the first quarter of #readingenvyrussia - reminder we are having an online discussion at 2 pm EST today!
Send me an email if you aren't part of the Goodreads group and want a link, my username at gmail.
If you switched course and went with Ukrainian lit, I'd love to have you join us too!
It's time for the first quarter discussion for #readingenvyrussia - the novels. Please send me a message or find the Zoom link in the Goodreads group. It will be May 27th at 2 pm EST.
I know this has been the worst year ever to focus on Russia. If you ended up reading Ukrainian lit instead, feel free to join the discussion. ↘️
panI finally finished this book but it was not at all what I expected. The title and cover are really misleading, actually. This is far more the story of the author going through her PhD program and all the related language learning, research, and travel (mostly to Uzbekistan!) than it has anything to do with Russian books and the people who read them. There are a few highlights of that nature but I was hoping for a book actually about that.
pickWhat better recommendation for Littens than a book by and about someone who loves books - Russian books, in this case. As a russophile myself (though nowhere near the level of Batuman) I was immediately drawn to the subject matter, but you don't need to have any particular fondness for Russian literature to enjoy this. More a travelogue and chronicle of grad-student adventures than a straight scholarly work, it reminds me a little of Sarah Vowell.
pickThis is a mix between a person‘s relationship with books and reading, and a travel diary.
Batuman spends a summer in Samarkand in Uzbekistan, and an introduction to Uzbek literature.
Batuman is studying Russian literature focusing on authors such as Babel, Dostoyevsky and in lesser extent Gogel and Tolstoy.
After reading this, I hope to get to some of my unread books by Gogel, Tolstoy, Murakami and Pamuk.
#BookReport
I finished the tagged book, read Burnt Sugar and Bone, and made good progress on Anne of Green Gables.
A combined #BookReport and #WeeklyForecast
Finished:
📚 Pages & Co: Tilly and the Lost Fairy Tales
Currently reading:
📚 The Possessed. I‘m on route with the chapter a day/ 30p read a day, and hope to finish this week
📚 Anne of Green Gables. Finally in from the library and I‘m ready to join in on the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead
📚 Burnt Sugar. Just started and enjoying so far. Hope to read this week.
#WeeklyForecast
Get a good start on The Possessed, read the second Pages & Co book, and maybe start a Christie or Läckberg crime.
Found on twitter. Can't not love Russian novels 😂
pickI loved this book tho I see why it‘s divided opinions. Part literary criticism of Russian and Uzbek literature, part funny memoir about travel and postgrad study, it maybe has quite narrow appeal but I learned SO much and am really inspired to go read some more Russian literature now. I can see how some things here were developed into The Idiot, which was one of my fave novels last year.
#tbrread #wintergames #merryreaders @Clwojick @StayCurious
Difficult day team. I had the day off work, turned my phone on after cinema to messages asking where I was after a shooting near my work. I wasn‘t anywhere nearby, and as far as I know no one from my work was in the immediate area it happened, so it could have been a lot worse but I‘m still feeling a bit shaken. Never thought I‘d use my work WhatsApp to check on everyone‘s safety. Feeling a bit shaken even tho I wasn‘t even close to any danger.
Payday = expensive bougie salad I can‘t afford and reading in the cafe over lunch 🥰🥰🥰 won‘t be able to treat myself like this many days in the run up to Christmas but it was lovely and luxurious today! Back to soup and leftovers at my desk tomorrow
Snatching a few mins to read before I go celebrate a friend‘s birthday! It has a low litsy rating which I think is partly because it‘s marketed and promoted as a different kind of book than it is - it goes quite hardcore on literary criticism and is less of a memoir than the blurb wants you to think but if you want some theory combined with some memoir and some cultural criticism it‘s fantastic!
#24b4monday @Andrew65 @jb72 @TheReadingMermaid
so-soBatuman's book has a promising beginning, an introduction that made me laugh out loud. The rest of the book doesn't live up to the intro. The bulk of the story is about Elif's sojourns abroad and deep, thoughtful analysis of Russian and Uzbek literature. The title should have warned me, I guess, but I think the introduction foreshadowed a lighter read. The last sentences of the book, above, do reaffirm Batuman's belief in the power of literature.
Even just a few pages in, I think the yellow cover does the best job of communicating the tone of this very funny memoir of grad school. #judgingabookbyitscover #bookcover
Pretty tough to go through so far. But it talks about graduate school life for a Humanities major, so I'm hoping to pick up some inspiration and tips.
Day 2 #RiotGrams--yellow covers
pickWhen I picked this up earlier today and started it, I was not expecting to laugh so hard. Seriously. Tears of laughter. I love her and can't wait to read her novel.
