In “The Emancipation of Me,” Madison admits he‘s never finished a Franzen book aside from his essay collection, “because who can‘t finish an essay collection?” His self-deprecating response is, “Most of my friends I give my book to probably.” This is obviously meant to be a joke but…WOW, I AGREE.

I shouldn‘t have finished this. I was deeply bored by it. And I‘m exactly his age, which means it should have been a delightful nostalgia trip. 👇🏻

Ahhh, the best time of the year is (finally) upon us!

“Did I take baths in the giant soaking tub with a view of both the Hudson and the East River (and everything in between)? Yussss. But I had complicated thoughts about structural inequality while I did it.”

The above quote captures what Green‘s duology is like quite nicely. Did I find the books compulsively readable and highly entertaining? Yes. Emphasis on the “e” and singular “s.” But…👇🏻

Sunday vibes. 🖤🤍

When I began reading this history of “practical magic” in 1300s-1600s England, I was nothing short of obsessed. My interest, however, slowly tapered off. There are interesting bits sprinkled throughout…but it started to feel like a lot of the same. I‘m also not a big fan of the stylistic, “as we will see in the next chapter” phraseology.

What initially hooked me was the close overlap of priests & “cunning folk”, religion & “service magic.”👇🏻

Puppy‘s first pool time. Summer is coming. 💦

There aren‘t many poems in this collaborative collection by Aimee Nezhukumatathil & Ross Gay: only 12. The poets are friends and they write about their gardens, back & forth, responding to one another.

A light pick. Nothing blew me over…but its essence is wholesome, attentive goodness, which is hard to find fault in. Strangely, my favorite poems were in the “Winter” section, which is undoubtedly my least favorite season!

Andrea Gibson offered this up in their most recent newsletter. It‘s worth sharing. 💗🪏

“Nothing like peach blossoms in February to tell you / something‘s off — when these / shivered and shimmied in the wind, / it was a full month early. / The garden these days leans in as if to say, / “You‘re fucked, friend.” / It says so with equanimity, all its leaves / quaking through the bright light / like applause for the dead.”

I suspect my audiobook listening is about to fall off significantly…🙈

I‘ve discovered Desert Island Discs, a British radio show (now podcast) that‘s been around forever (since 1942).

The host interviews all manner of celebrities (authors, musicians, NASA scientists, etc) about their lives through the conceit of being stranded on a desert island. They basically create a mix tape; they‘re allowed 8 music tracks, 1 book, & 1 luxury item.👇🏻

Sy Montgomery really seems to have taken the idea of “Turtle Time” to heart. I cannot say if this is typical of her writing style…but oh my goodness, this book seemed to last forever. The irony is not lost on me that I wished it would move faster! I found some bits to be repetitive, as well. I could‘ve done with fewer of Fire Chief‘s recovery details, in particular. The message is sweet & sound — turtles DO deserve saving. And cars ARE terrible.

A sci-fi bildungsroman featuring aliens & puzzles!

The Humans (Haig) meets Ready, Player One (Cline) — with some Magicians (Grossman) vibes thrown in for good measure (the MC is young, immature, & terrible to those who care the most).

This is a story about addiction, selfishness, & fear. Fortunately, it‘s also about cooperation, community, & hope.

Hank Green is more of a storyteller and an idea man than a writer of careful prose. 👇🏻

No surprises here! May‘s winning title is tagged. I‘m pleased to be adding more fiction to the bracket.

#Readingbracket2025

Did May feel extra-long to anyone else?

Idle Grounds was my favorite! Sneaky & feverish.

Nettle & Bone is a *magical* listen.

I Hope This Finds You Well was a delightful change of pace.

Unraveling, though a reread, was spun as well as I remembered. Fascinating & timely, in a world that desperately needs more climate justice.

Marmalade is great in small spoonfuls. Dip in & out.

My heart is still recovering from Juno Loves Legs. It‘s visceral.

“I wasn‘t as disconnected as I made myself out to be. Being annoyed by carefully crafted internet personas was part of my carefully crafted internet persona.”

Pictured: My Facebook profile. I‘m logged in using my phone‘s browser instead of the actual FB app because I‘m trying (with varying degrees of success) to be more disconnected. You know…for the persona. 😜 The astute among you may have noticed that my profile pic‘s been recently updated. 🙈

I needed a palate cleanser after reading an absolute gut-punch of a book (Juno Loves Legs). This was the exact right choice. I stayed up late reading two nights in a row. I was tired at work yesterday & I‘m sure I‘ll be tired again today (after I finally go to sleep & wake up again). The lack of sleep means I‘ll likely be irritable with my coworkers…but that feels right somehow. 😅 A silly premise but messy in the best way. Funny & romantic, too!

A two-sentence review said, “It‘s gorgeously written. I wish I hadn‘t read it.” I don‘t know if I can improve upon that! Except, I don‘t really wish I‘d skipped it.

The story is devastatingly predictable. I don‘t mean that the book is disappointing, just that the repeated patterns in our past & in our present are. The story is not unique. The characters are alive — until they‘re not (& too soon). I can‘t believe it didn‘t end in the springtime.

Taking full advantage of this Monday holiday.

Fiction: Juno Loves Legs (book club)
Nonfiction: Cunning Folk (just started)
Audio: Of Time and Turtles (nearly done)

I just cracked open the middle book this morning & I‘m already slightly obsessed (despite the fact that it has endnotes, which make me want to rip my hair out; fortunately, it seems like they‘re mostly just crediting source material & I can ignore them without missing anything). Also, how gorgeous is that cover?! 🤩

#weekendreads

Everything I‘ve ever read by Baird has taken me forever to finish. I‘ve only read this and Victoria: The Queen, which are very different books in content & length (256 pages vs. 752) — but the fact remains. Baird‘s writing is sprawling, which makes it difficult to read in one go. Nevermind that I kept stopping to cry!

I don‘t know if I found enough of what I wanted (homely, undramatic, everyday grace) but the examples provided knocked me out.👇🏻

My husband & I are getting pedicures. The women at the salon love him because he always chooses outrageous colors. Today, he joked the lime green hue he‘d chosen was called, “S‘not nice.” This made me research if there‘s a line of nail polish with punk rock names. While I didn‘t answer my original question, I did learn about a color named after dial-up Internet called “eeeeeee urrrrrrrrrr deedle deedle screeeelllllllll ee ee ee blurrrrrrblurblur.”

I (re)read this book for my kids‘ fantasy book club at the library. For some, it was their first experience with an epistolary novel! It‘s a format I adore, so I was honored to introduce them to it. I love that the tale is utterly wacky (invisible, levitating, shape-shifting, bossy chickens!) while also being a gentle exploration of grief (for Sophie‘s abuela, with whom she shared a special closeness, and for her uncle, whom she‘d never met).👇🏻

When I bought tickets to watch this documentary film with a longtime friend at our childhood stomping grounds in Worcester (MA), I wondered if the (human) stars of my current audiobook would be there.

They were! 🐢

I drove past the house I grew up in, too, for the first time in about a decade. There are solar panels on the roof now and the front yard looked lovely. There were even a couple of young flowering trees. It made me happy to see.

#tuesdaytunes
Current obsession:

“Born as a data mine for targeted marketing
And no one will listen up until you become a hashtag or a meme…
They want you to be a ghost
When they rob you of your hope
But you've got power when they're not expecting anything…
I rush to my phone
Because I don't wanna feel alone
They forced us to grow
Into a world without a soul.”

https://open.spotify.com/track/46xgkYwLw0qoExTRgNu9v9?si=TuNOCzgNS1Sj7iivwfFy3Q

Would you believe I‘m not a cat person?* 😅🤷‍♀️

Guerrero‘s book may be overly sentimental and unbelievably awkward (e.g. “All this for a cat to pee and poop in?”) but it‘s so nice to read about people genuinely connecting that I *almost* didn‘t care.

The story falls prey to the “summarizing the whole book at the end” trap. Still, the characters are all incredibly sweet (especially Omar & Bong); you can‘t help but cheer for them.

A low pick.

The pup is *rather* offended that I‘ve chosen to read about cats.

The best (adult) novel I‘ve read all year (no way to measure it against Moominland; they are different soft, round, or zig-zaggy beasts). A child goes missing. Her gaggle of cousins goes looking for her in the thick, viscous, fecund wood.

One might complain that there are too many similes and metaphors but that one would also be forced to admit that 95% of them are so creative and fantastic that the complaint isn‘t really a complaint at all. 👇🏻

Me, in the face of this book‘s 3.30 ⭐️ Goodreads rating.

I wasn‘t confident about my choices, so I never posted it…but here‘s my April #ReadingBracket2025.

I‘m thinking about it now because I‘m musing about May‘s selection. I‘ve been reading Idle Grounds & just loving it. I‘m only a few pages from the end — really dragging my feet on the conclusion. What if I‘m somehow disappointed?

Anyway, my choice for April is John Green‘s The Anthropocene Reviewed. Eminently listenable! 🎧

Mantel is still ahead.

“He was wearing a polo shirt with fat, colored stripes and a white collar which made him look like a formal caterpillar.”

I think Kelly Bishop might be the ultimate chaotic good. She‘s sassy, opinionated, stubborn, motivated by justice, honest about her own faults & failures, optimistic yet realistic, grateful & *never* bitter. What a mindset & what a talent! Her big mouth combined with her dance background made me miss my grandma (a jitterbug champion rather than a classically-trained ballerina) fiercely. It was a pleasure to get to know Emily Gilmore better. 🩰💗🎬

Reread Unraveling for a traveling book club at my library. I hosted today‘s meeting at the NRT (Natural Resources Trust) Sheep Pasture. It was just as good as when I read it the first time — & the book club attendees agreed! How can you not love a book which begins, “Sheep don‘t look like they‘d be slippery.” It explores the process of making a sweater — from shearing the sheep, to spinning & carding the wool, to dyeing and (finally) knitting.👇🏻

A 35-year-old writer moves in with an 85-year-old spitfire, recently widowed, right before the pandemic. He keeps a journal of their experience.

The relationship between Ben & Winnie forms s.l.o.w.l.y. — which makes the end result all the more satisfying. From my lived experience, it reminded me of having a rabbit…that slow build of trust from a creature who is markedly independent & willful in spite of *or because of* her vulnerability.👇🏻

Continuing the trend of occasionally posting non-sequitors so I don‘t get pulled back into other social media (Instagram, Facebook). Thanks for being here!

The non-book-related item of the moment is: I got bangs…which I already regret! 😅 I worried they might not look good, or that I might not be able to style them properly (which remains to be seen). It didn‘t occur to me that they might be plain annoying!

It‘s been raining, raining. 🌧️🌸🍃

A 20-something Taiwanese-American suffering from depression finds a sentient blob in an alleyway. Though she‘s experiencing a profound disconnectedness from herself & others, she tries to forge a connection. I liked this book from the get-go. The dark, cynical humor made me laugh. I wanted *more,* though. More character evolution & more character depth from just about everyone. It‘s certainly a book where everyone‘s uncomfortably in the middle.

Marra, who is not-quite-a-nun & barely a princess, learns that her eldest sister was killed by her husband, the prince. Her middle sister is now married to the same man, crowned king; she stays pregnant to keep him from beating her — or at least hold him back a bit. Marra vows to save her sister, loosening the political noose around her neck, by killing the monster. She assembles a band of not-so-merry, magical misfits to aid her in her quest.👇🏻

The variety encapsulated by my reading month makes me happy. It‘s a pretty accurate snapshot of my literary life as a whole.

StoryGraph tells me I‘m 14 books ahead of my reading goal. It‘s possible I set the bar too low but it still gives me a flush of pleasure!

“I would like to touch the world
and not harm it. I would like to be touched and not
harmed.”

Joy Sullivan strikes me as a poet aiming to be a younger, more sexual Mary Oliver (cf: “Tomatoes” to “Roses” [Felicity]). But Mary was already perfect; fully incarnate yet not inelegantly carnal. I don‘t begrudge Sullivan having had an orgasm or writing about it. I do have reservations about her — metaphorically — beating off a dead horse (an offense which feels particularly egregious coming from a horse girl). 👇🏻

Filled with examples of truly beautiful prose (e.g. “If I was allowed, I‘d run my finger across Mama‘s face the way I do with Christmas bulbs to feel their shine”), this novel describes hideously traumatic experiences. There‘s so much needless death, the fact of which the Dakhóta children in each section (set in the 1960s, 1930s, & 1900s) are all too aware.

It‘s heartbreaking, intimate, and historically accurate pain. ??

April‘s selection for my kids‘ fantasy book club at the library. It was my favorite when I was little, so I was eager to see how it would be received by today‘s generation, 30 years later. It dawned a gorgeous, sunny day (after a month full of rain), so I had only one attendee. Lucky for me, Maeve is my (secret) favorite! She LOVED the book, which was validating. If I‘m being honest, much of my taste today can be traced back exactly this far.👇🏻

Did I go back and find the post I made about this dedication 8 years ago? You bet I did! Good thing this wasn‘t that popular of a book (though sad for Katie Cotugno, who is delightful)!

I wasn‘t even that big of a Hanson fan but my childhood bff was — and this made me laugh. Funnily enough, I just saw her today for brunch!

Wild to think I‘ve been on Litsy for over 8 years.

#SundayFunday

WELL.

That was a joyful chore! 😅 I‘ve placed my votes for #CampLitsy25. I chose the titles I thought would lead to the most productive discussions — or, in the case of Sky Daddy, the one(s) I didn‘t want to be alone with. 😜

Thanks for hosting, @BarbaraBB @Megabooks & @squirrelbrain !

*If you‘re interested in viewing the longlist, voting, or in the event itself, visit any of their pages or check out the hashtag!

Jett got to pick out a tomato plant. He‘s very proud. Can‘t wait to pee on it, tbh.

Despite acing AP US History, taught by a very liberal teacher in the heart of Massachusetts — in a former factory town! — I‘m just now learning about the suffragette slogan “Bread for all, & Roses too!” which is inextricably linked to the Lowell Textile Mill Strike.

My soul is consumed; I need the words framed immediately.

Read the linked poem, then the context in the comments below:

https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/bread-and-roses-song/

Another treasure discovered via Katherine May‘s newsletter. Musicians have submitted a petition to have Los Cedros Cloud Forest (which already has legally established personhood) recognized as a co-creator of their song. It features “frogs, birds, the slowed down echolocating frequencies of bats & vibrations from the mycorrhizal networks of a newly discovered fungus.”

https://open.spotify.com/track/3H182DGezvqGcpcUwIALNW?si=-exWOuJtS9-EUGZf55o_Ng

“I want my parents to be in love in both ways, not Dad by himself. So I fall in love for them, over and over again.”

#BibliologistBio

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE GENRES?
Literary fiction, speculative fiction, nature writing, memoirs, essays, & romance.

WHAT ARE A FEW OF YOUR DESERT-ISLAND READS?
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, and Devotions by Mary Oliver.

WHAT'S YOUR GO-TO READING SNACK?
Coffee and frosted animal crackers or beer and wasabi peas.

Cont‘d 👇🏻

I reactivated MyTBR account & have been daydreaming about being a bibliologist ever since. What would your profile look like if you worked for them? I‘ll share mine in a separate post!

QUESTIONS:

•What are your favorite genres?
•What are a few of your desert island reads?
•What‘s your go-to reading snack?
•Weirdest or most interesting place you‘ve read a book?
•What do you do when you‘re not reading?

#BibliologistBio

Dalton, a political adviser forced into a rare period of inactivity by the pandemic, finds an injured leveret on the path behind her country home and nurses it back to health. Though she never closes the door to the fields & meadows beyond her threshold, the hare chooses to spend pieces of each day with her. Dalton‘s cottage is viewed as a safe haven — so safe that the hare eventually opts to give birth to her wild babies in the author‘s bedroom.