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Bluets
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
"Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a color."
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review
Robotswithpersonality
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Panpan

Amazing how exhausting less than a hundred pages can be. Feels like someone trying to journal through heartbreak/loss and unsuccessfully distract themselves with musing on the significance of a colour.
While blue has associations with sadness, depression, it almost feels like the author could have chosen any colour and meandered off into reflections and neat or disturbing trivia about it. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? Writing does get 'blue' in parts but it doesn't make the overall project more interesting.
I'm a little suspicious of the amount of this spare text that's actually (credited) quotations from other people.
There are pretty word pictures, but to a certain extent it's a deeply personal catharsis that means more/makes more sense to the writer than it ever will to the reader.
3mo
Robotswithpersonality 3/? As much as it's cute as a small book, I think considering how art-conscious the subject matter can become, I could see it being a more appealing object if it was heavily coffee-table-booked: each page in different shade of blue, images of different blue art pieces/objects in facing pages, one two-page spread for each of these numbered snippet-essays. 3mo
Robotswithpersonality 4/4 Presumably her disabled friend knew she was featured in the passages of this work, but I wish we hear more from her directly, it's not quite voyeuristic or exploitative or objectifying, but something about the writing in reference to her friend felt weird to me.

⚠️Suicidal ideation, depression, r slur
3mo
The_Book_Ninja I‘m here mostly for reviews and this one is excellent. 3mo
12 likes5 comments
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Robotswithpersonality
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Wh- Okay... I have learned a new thing.

9 likes1 stack add
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Twocougs
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

When reading Maggie Nelson, it‘s always good to have no expectations and just let the writing hum along, in this case in blue. I always enjoy her.

Hooked_on_books She‘s brilliant 7mo
29 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
RaeLovesToRead
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

Blue does not have the same meaning to Maggie Nelson as it does to me. And yet, I still loved being drawn into this album of ruminations on the subject.

I was particularly drawn to her thoughts on heartache and desire.

My favourite passages are a bit too sexual for Litsy 😄

⭐⭐⭐⭐

vivastory Blue is my favorite color. This sounds interesting. It reminds me of the following TBR book 2y
Cathythoughts Lovely picture 👍🏻 2y
RaeLovesToRead @vivastory Mine too 💙 I remember you liked The Essex Serpent. Sarah Perry wrote that she was inspired by Bluets in the Acknowledgements 2y
See All 6 Comments
RaeLovesToRead @Cathythoughts Forget me nots 😊😊 2y
batsy I loved this. Some parts were really tender and moving 💙 2y
RaeLovesToRead @batsy Have you read Something Bright then Holes? I think it was my favourite of the two 😊 2y
60 likes1 stack add6 comments
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RaeLovesToRead
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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RaeLovesToRead
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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blurb
Sydneypaige
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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An ode to blue, and a few more things too. Another interesting memoir form 💙

review
8little_paws
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
Mehso-so

Some of this worked for me, she can write a poetic sentence and thought. Some didn't. I can respect her thoughtfulness and reflection and recognize she's probably not the writer for me.

review
Rehesina
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
Mehso-so

I understand why so many people love this, and I really did like it, but it got too much for me at some point. I also feel like this should not be read as an ebook (I read this on Scribd on my phone) but as a paperback at the very least.

slategreyskies I read it in paperback, and I thought it was only so-so too. It was a shame, since I had high hopes for it. 3y
Rehesina @slategreyskies ahhh! That‘s a shame! It has so much potential! I think the author should have edited a good chunk of it out. :/ 3y
13 likes2 comments
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Rehesina
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Rehesina
Bluets | Maggie Nelson

But here we are in great danger—the danger of being jealous of the blues of others, or of blues of times past.

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Rehesina
Bluets | Maggie Nelson

Mostly I have felt myself becoming a servant of sadness. I am still looking for the beauty in that.

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Rehesina
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Months before this afternoon I had a dream, and in this dream an angel came and said: You must spend more time thinking about the divine, and less time imagining unbuttoning the prince of blue‘s pants at the Chelsea Hotel. But what if the prince of blue‘s unbuttoned pants are the divine, I pleaded. So be it, she said, and left me to sob with my face against the blue slate floor

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Linsy
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

Almost forgot how freaking beautiful this book is. So glad I got to revisit with the new audio read by Nelson herself! 💙💙💙

#nfn2020 #audiobook

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Linsy
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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rsteve388 That's cool. Good to know. 3y
GingerAntics That‘s really interesting. 3y
Clwojick Hey! Just checking in again to see if you received my email, or the comment on your team slaughter totals post? 😆 3y
71 likes3 comments
review
Bettinelu
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
Pickpick

Dieses Buch hat mich sehr beeindruckt und bewegt. Einen Blick in das Seelenleben der Autorin zu bekommen, hat mich zum Nachdenken und Nachfühlen gebracht. Die direkte, poetische und philsophische Sprache hat mich bewegt und berührt. Ich wünsche mir mehr solche Bücher.

review
steph_phanie
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

Finished last night! It reads a bit like a diary of stray thoughts. Nelson reflects on her love for the color blue, the ending of a relationship and her ensuing depression, and a friend's struggle after a tragic accident. It felt both familiar and strange. Many times I put the book down to look up an unfamiliar word, a work of art, or some other thing I hadn't before heard of, which I enjoyed! Likely a reread.
~
Somewhere between Pick and So-So.

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steph_phanie
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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This is one of those books you could return to, and, given your current circumstances or mood, discover something new both about yourself and the author's journey.

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blurb
steph_phanie
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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After the rough ride that was The Sport of Kings, I am really looking forward to this change of pace. (Yep, all the riding puns 😜) Poetry? Prose? Essays? What do YOU call Bluets?

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Asktheletters
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Book Haul In Blue.

batsy Pretty! 4y
Tamra I‘m jealous over Animals at Lockwood Manor! (edited) 4y
13 likes2 comments
review
foxy_frain
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

💙📘

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batsy
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Two blue books... The one on the right, Maggie Nelson's Bluets, I loved. The one on the left a gift from the lovely @merelybookish and one that I should read soon.

#trueblue #MOvember @Cinfhen

Cinfhen I think I need to check out tagged book!!! 4y
erzascarletbookgasm @TrishB also posted the tagged book. I must investigate too @cinfhen! 4y
TrishB Definitely great minds 👍🏻 4y
See All 13 Comments
Nute I remember discovering Bluets in the bookstore and being intrigued because after reading a few pages I wasn‘t sure what type of book it was. I did purchase it but haven‘t read it yet. It will be interesting to hear your thoughts. 4y
emilyhaldi I‘ve always been curious about Bluets.. 4y
batsy @Nute I'm not sure how to describe it or what it is; either a lyric essay in fragments, or prose poetry, but it made me think and feel and I love Nelson's writing for that. 4y
KT1432 I bought Bluets about 3 years ago and still need to read it! 4y
Cathythoughts Beautiful blues 👍🏻💙 4y
readordierachel Ooh, I love Maggie Nelson. Must read Bluets sometime soon. 4y
batsy @Cinfhen @erzascarletbookgasm @emilyhaldi @lele1432 A hard book to recommend, depending on taste, but I loved it 🙂 4y
batsy @readordierachel This is the only one by her I've read & I need to read more ❤️ 4y
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TrishB
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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#trueblue #movember
Definitely not a book for everyone.

batsy Great minds 😉💙 4y
Cinfhen Not familiar with this one, but think I #NeedToRead 4y
TrishB @Cinfhen I really can‘t tell whether you‘d like! I have two copies so I‘ll pop one in with next parcel when I get 5 mins to think/send 😁 4y
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Cinfhen Thank you my dear friend xx if it‘s not for me I‘ll pass it along 4y
KT1432 The second reminder today that I need to finally read my copy of this! 4y
89 likes2 stack adds6 comments
review
sakeriver
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
Pickpick

My first and perhaps main takeaway from this book is that Maggie Nelson is a lot smarter than I am. What is this book? An essay, a prose poem, a collection of aphorisms, a philosophical treatise, a letter—yes. It is abstract and specific. It reaches toward universal truths but is intensely personal. It is high-minded and vulgar. It is intellectual and emotional. I‘m pretty sure it‘s over my head.

Weaponxgirl I loved this book for the same sort of reasons. I kind of just let it flow through me and was hella confused a lot of the time but thoroughly enjoyed the ride. 5y
5 likes1 comment
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sakeriver
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Next

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tholmz
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

Maggie Nelson is such a goddamn good writer.

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AnneCecilie
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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My #FebruaryTBR
I‘m a little ambitious this month too #LiteraryLove

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Oohhhh let me know about ❤️ 5y
AnneCecilie @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I‘m really looking forward to that as well. I‘ve heard nothing but good things 5y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @AnneCecilie I have all of her books, but haven‘t boutonnières them yet except ❤️ 5y
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AnneCecilie @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks that‘s the only book I‘ve read too. I liked it, but maybe not as much as I thought I would. I didn‘t connect with the characters, but still the story is so powerful that it has stayed with me. I would definitely read one of her other novels 5y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @AnneCecilie I love Jojo and Kayla!! The opening sentence just got me!! 💔💔 5y
AnneCecilie @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks That‘s one of the things that stayed with me too, a very powerful scene. 5y
67 likes6 comments
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whitney
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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“Mostly I have felt myself becoming a servant of sadness. I am still looking for the beauty in that.” - Maggie Nelson

*A photo of my best friend by me!

AnimalRiotPress ❤️❤️❤️❤️ 5y
candority Lovely photo! 5y
MeganAnn 💕💕💕 5y
Gissy Very artistic! 👌 5y
mysterygirl818 Beautiful picture 5y
65 likes1 stack add5 comments
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charl08
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Loneliness is solitude with a problem...

Nelson's sentences hit target.

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charl08
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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I love the cover of this: it reminds me of indigo prints.

TrishB It‘s a gorgeous looking book. 5y
40 likes1 comment
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AnneCecilie
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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I went to an event yesterday where they talked about Du Bois and his importance for sociology. So off course I bought his book since they had that. And since they had Maggie Nelson‘s thoughts on blue, I had to have that as well.

Afterwards I saw the documentary “Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.” I wasn‘t aware off her, until a friend asked if I wanted to see this and the blurb really sold me on this. The documentary really lived up to my expectations.

Emilymdxn This all sounds so cool!!! I loved the Maggie nelson book, hope you like it too 5y
AnneCecilie @Emilymdxn I read her “The Argonauts” and absolutely loved that and hope this is just as good. 5y
batsy I need to read the Du Bois book. I loved Bluets; hope you enjoy. I also love M.I.A. and the docu sounds cool... 5y
46 likes3 comments
review
TrishB
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Mehso-so

There is some absolutely wonderful writing in this and some heart breaking themes. It‘s more of a it‘s me not you! I can see what people love, it just didn‘t touch me enough and left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.
It‘s a book you definitely have to make your own mind up about. The cover is still gorgeous.

erzascarletbookgasm Gorgeous bookmark to match too! 💙 5y
CoffeeNBooks Love the bookmark! 5y
TrishB @erzascarletbookgasm @CoffeeNBooks thank you - my daughter brought me it for Christmas last year. 5y
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LeahBergen Your matching skills are strong today. 😆😆 5y
Kalalalatja I completely agree! 5y
TrishB @LeahBergen @Kalalalatja it‘s the simple things 😘 5y
Cathythoughts Great picture 💙💙💙👍🏻 5y
121 likes1 stack add7 comments
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TrishB
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Not quite sure what I think of the book yet, but there is some beautiful writing.

slategreyskies I thought that the idea for this book was very interesting, and I did like the writing style too. However, it didn‘t end up being as good as I thought it would be. I gave it a so-so rating. 💙 5y
TrishB @slategreyskies still making my mind up! (edited) 5y
quietlycuriouskate It was a so-so for me, too. 5y
TrishB @kathedron same 👍🏻 5y
Cathythoughts Interesting quote .... 5y
105 likes5 comments
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TrishB
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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#litsymail
Thank you Jess, a lovely surprise 💕 and it looks so beautiful too. (No I haven‘t already got it!). Much appreciated.

jhod Happy early birthday!! X 5y
TrishB @jhod thank you 🎉🎉 can‘t wait til it arrives! 5y
Leftcoastzen Pretty cover! 5y
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Cathythoughts ❤️❤️looks & sounds fab 5y
Kalalalatja I listened to this, and it was quite the experience! 5y
ReadingEnvy Ooh i want to read this 5y
Caroline2 Ohhhhh what a beautiful cover!! 😍 5y
Balibee146 Gorgeous x x 5y
108 likes2 stack adds9 comments
blurb
Moray_Reads
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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I have two confessions: I don't know where the original image came from so cannot credit, and I am also guilty of this cardinal sin. I've never said this to a librarian/bookseller but I have said it to myself! #bluebooks #31bookpics @howjessreads

UPDATE: This may be the original post https://m.facebook.com/BlueWillowBooks/photos/our-blue-display/10152241142939882...

SilversReviews Love this photo...thanks for sharing. 5y
Moray_Reads @SilversReviews you're welcome! 5y
51 likes2 comments
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shortsarahrose
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

I wish I could write how Maggie Nelson writes. I may not have connected with this one quite as intensely as The Argonauts, but I still found it fascinating and beautiful.

Also interesting to read this after reading about Deleuze‘s philosophy. I feel like he would have liked this.

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shortsarahrose
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Took a sick day (sore throat, sinus stuff). Spent too much of it watching the Kavanaugh hearings. Need some #selfcare. Loved The Argonauts when I read it in 2015 and have been meaning to read more of Nelson‘s work. Now seems like a good time.

1 like1 stack add
review
Emilymdxn
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this book. It was like a small, odd jewel. I‘m so in love with modern female personal essay writers.

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Emilymdxn
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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When I was alive, I aimed to be a student not of longing but of light.

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Emilymdxn
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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On to this one! I have such a huge stack of library books to read, and holds to pick up so I need to speed up!

fleeting I loved this! 6y
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quietlycuriouskate
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Mehso-so

Oh, the pitfalls of anticipation!
There were indeed paragraphs that smacked me between my blue eyes but as a whole it didn't add up to the profound thing I expected it would be. Maybe it was the sensation of shuttling back and forth between sex and the cerebral. Maybe it's not her but me that hasn't a heart: anyway, here I am, the illustrated definition of "the feel of not to feel it".
(Thanks for that, Keats!)

merelybookish Disappointing when a book does live up to expectations, but at least you got to use that awesome line from Keats. 🙂 6y
merelybookish *doesn't 🤦 6y
batsy I loved this, but I read it awhile ago and so often books are about timing and circumstance :) That's a fabulous Keats quote. 6y
44 likes3 comments
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quietlycuriouskate
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Ouch! 😩

If love was a bird then you shot it down
the blood and the feathers they lay spread on the ground

(The Wonder Stuff, unless I am very much mistaken: my teens weren't ALL about Latin! 😉)

LauraBeth This is why you shouldn‘t keep a green tree in your heart - to avoid those singing birds coming and moving in! 6y
48 likes1 comment
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quietlycuriouskate
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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"If you are in love with blue you fill your pouch with stones good for sucking and head down to the river."

Bloody hell! I wish I could say I don't know what she's talking about here. The other side of this, though, is a remedy I discovered by intuition: swimming regularly in a blue pool (with the added side-effect that the smell of chlorine is now an anchor for feeling strong and calm!).

emilyhaldi I keep getting drawn to this book and wondering if I should pick it up... 💙 6y
44 likes1 comment
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deathmetalcardigan
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Welcome to Litsy 👍📚 6y
116 likes1 comment
review
Weaponxgirl
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Pickpick

I found this on scribd and tore through it last night. The best way to describe this is as a beautiful tangent that is heartbreaking.
We start on the colour blue and go through emotions and thoughts on things such as the blues, blue movies, how we see it.
It's a hard book to describe but if like me you sometimes just let the writing flow through you not worrying about plot ect and like a poets voice then you will probably love this.

mhillis I just read an article about this book! http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/hybridity-in-color/ 6y
Weaponxgirl @mhillis thanks! It's a short book but interesting and worth a reread at some point 6y
batsy Yes! Great review of a book I love a lot but have a hard time describing. 6y
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readordierachel I love Maggie Nelson. Really need to read this one! 6y
Weaponxgirl @batsy thanks, I really wasn't sure how to describe this one 6y
Weaponxgirl @ReadOrDieRachel it's my first by her but not my last 6y
53 likes5 stack adds6 comments
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mspixieears
Bluets | Maggie Nelson

139. “Memory is blue in the head? Heads are easily taken off” (Lorine Niedecker).

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mspixieears
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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I missed a poetry workshop because I didn‘t hear my alarm go off, so thought while it‘s on, I‘ll read a book. Just started Bluets, recommended to me by a poet who did some readings in my city a month ago.

Visual description: front cover of blue hardback splayed onto light brown/tan bedcover. The part of book visible has ‘Bluets‘ in a painted blue bubble, the author ‘Maggie Nelson‘ in capitals at the bottom.

quietlycuriouskate I'll look forward to your review. This one's been on my library wishlist a while. 6y
mspixieears @River_Voice it‘s beautiful, really subtle, sad, touching and yet still so fresh in its look at common human emotions from unorthodox, oblique angles. 6y
10 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
needleminding
Bluets | Maggie Nelson
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Do you ever just slump into a rut of not taking care of yourself (which includes not reading) and you know what you need to do but you're still slumped? I was away from home and didn't have much access to the internet for about 2 days and during that time read Bluets. Yes, it's short, but still I felt really good about it. Also, related, my grandmother gave me this book that she used to read to her kindergarten students. 💙

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