Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
zembla

zembla

Joined June 2016

librarian. she/her. #losangeles
reading now icon
Longbourn by Jo Baker
reading now icon
Middlemarch by George Elliot
quote
zembla
post image

8 likes1 stack add
quote
zembla
Longbourn | Jo Baker
post image

blurb
zembla
post image

#7days7books #7Tage7Buecher Day 1.

Books that made an impression or changed me.

14 likes1 stack add
blurb
zembla
post image

#quarantinereadschallenge

1) A Study in Brimstone (Warlock Holmes #1)
2) I don't know! My answer has long been Lolita, but I haven't read it in ages.
3) I miss Book Castle/Movie World in Burbank, CA. It was a perfect rat's nest of a used bookstore. They don't make 'em like that anymore. #losangeles
4) Strong Poison
5) tagged
6) Stuff about healing trauma 😒 Recs welcome!
7) utopia in Woman on the Edge of Time
8) Moby Dick; Out (Kirino)

... 👇

zembla 9) 4 challenges 👀 (Read Harder, @thereadingwomen, Modern Mrs. Darcy, @ReadingGlasses)
10) In a park
11)
(edited) 4y
10 likes1 comment
review
zembla
The Five Red Herrings | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Mehso-so

I'm following along with the podcast As My Whimsy Takes Me (https://asmywimseytakesme.com). They're still talking about the divine Strong Poison, which I finished rereading, so I got a jump on the next book in the series.

I've read this one in full before, but it's not my favorite — so much focus on the mechanics of the murder rather than on characters and relationships — so I went with the 3-hour BBC radio adaptation to refresh my memory. #libby

review
zembla
Such a Fun Age | Kiley Reid
Pickpick

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. The last paragraph is a knockout.

4 likes1 stack add
blurb
zembla
Sex Criminals Vol. 1 | Matt Fraction
post image

Loaned this to a friend and I think he liked it

review
zembla
American Queen | Sierra Simone
post image
Pickpick

She really did write three books retelling the King Arthur myth in a contemporary setting, with kink and a polyamorous triad. What an undertaking! What a time to be alive!!

review
zembla
A Lesson in Thorns | Sierra Simone
post image
Pickpick

In a previous book's afterword, Simone described this as a “nutso 2019 series I have planned—it's going to be like if The Secret History had a baby with a Florence + the Machine album, and then that baby grew up to love spanking people. I'm dying to write it, of course.“
It's strange and ambitious, the friend group's dynamics are intense and claustrophobic (The Secret History comparison holds true), and you'll learn about library science. 5 stars.

7 likes1 stack add
blurb
zembla

Aw nuts. I'm 80 pages in and enjoying this overall, but one of the bodies our narrator inhabits belongs to a fat man, and suddenly we're treated to descriptions of how humiliating and repulsive the narrator finds it. This is a real buzzkill.

Also take it from me, a real, live fat lady — being fat is not a torment, and fat bodies are as beautiful and grotesque as any other bodies. RELAX ABOUT IT.

zembla Honestly, sometimes people talk like we're a different species. Keep! it! to! yourself!!! (edited) 5y
SW-T @christinamcc That‘s one thing I don‘t like about the Odelia Grey mysteries. 5y
zembla @SW-T That's a shame, especially since it looks like those books are pitched as body-positive. On the bright side, whenever I forget that there's power in living unapologetically outside of the norm, something like this comes along to remind me 👀 (edited) 5y
See All 9 Comments
SW-T @christinamcc The pro‘s: she‘s over 40, good job, confident in her job skills. She‘s got a bestie and a paraplegic boyfriend/hubby. The cons: she‘s very insecure/inconsistent about her size. One minute-“I‘m a good person”, then it‘s “I can‘t wear stripes because I‘m big”. Kind of wore me down after a few books. 5y
Weaponxgirl That really sucks! They always seem to focus on the wrong things that can annoy you when your a bit bigger. Like I‘d laugh like hell at someone talking about the torment of thighs rubbing together in the summer. Just don‘t do it in a self loathing kinda way please? I hope this comment makes sense in what I‘m trying to say. 5y
howlinglibraries That‘s why I took this one off my TBR - a fellow fat girl friend messaged me one day to warn me and I refuse to read it after the excerpt she sent me! 😣 5y
zembla @SW-T Oof, that's a drag. I think some of the books coming out now with fat protagonists are doing better at dodging that kind of thing, at least. (edited) 5y
zembla @Weaponxgirl Right? Having a body is funny and weird and terrible and great, no matter what kind of body it is. What annoys me is that fat people are depicted as the only ones with complicated or inconvenient bodies. They're ALL unruly. @howlinglibraries GOOD CALL. I'm able to roll my eyes at it, but if I'd known ahead of time, I probably would've skipped the book. Still haven't seen WALL-E, for similar reasons ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 5y
Weaponxgirl @christinamcc that‘s exactly what I was trying to say! Thank you 🙏 bodies are funny! 5y
13 likes9 comments
blurb
zembla
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
post image

A more legible view of my #readingwomen2018 results, tagged with one of my favorite books I read this year and with arrows pointing to others. #readingwomen

Heideschrampf This is so impressive. Well done! 5y
zembla @Heideschrampf Aww, thank you so much! 💕 5y
11 likes2 comments
blurb
zembla
post image

The tagged book — strange and gorgeous — counted for both 4 (a short story collection) and 21 (a book inspired by a fairytale). All others counted for only one, in order.

I enjoyed doing this challenge, and I'm planning to try #readingwomen2019 too. #readingwomen2018 #readingwomen

review
zembla
Old Man and the Sea | Ernest Hemingway
post image
Panpan

Just not for me, despite some lovely passages (see above).

Aside from offhanded sexism in the narration, there's a 'noble savage' aspect that hasn't aged well, to put it generously ("He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility"; "'Also I have no understanding of [sin]'"). Some parts are laughably heavy-handed (see spoilery comment).

Still, his relationships with nature and with the young boy Manolin are well drawn. #readharder2018

zembla The Christ-figure allegory was drilled into my head in high school, but I had forgotten how clunky it gets in the text itself. I mean honestly: "'Ay,' he said aloud. There is no translation for this word and perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood." OKAY ERNEST. (edited) 5y
5 likes1 comment
quote
zembla
Old Man and the Sea | Ernest Hemingway
post image

🙄🙄🙄

#readharder2018
24: An assigned book you hated (or never finished).

Yeah, so far I'm digging this book about as little as I did in 10th grade, though admittedly for different reasons. Worth a shot, anyway. #readharder

kgriffith 😝 5y
zembla @kgriffith ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 5y
5 likes2 comments
blurb
zembla
post image

(https://twitter.com/danielortberg/status/1072257848136978435)

Sure, it seems obvious when you put it THAT way 😂

Daniel Ortberg transitioned this year (good interview: https://www.thecut.com/2018/03/daniel-mallory-ortberg-interview-heather-havriles..., and I loved this exchange.

I had a similar weird feeling about reading a book printed with his deadname, so I'm glad he clarified, and also this just cracked me up. #queerbooks #transbooks

Caterina Thanks for posting this! I just started reading this book and didn't know. Those tweets are perfect. 😂😂 5y
9 likes1 comment
blurb
zembla
post image

I'm going to finish these four books for the #readharder2018 and #readingwomen2018 challenges. I only decided in October to take on these challenges, so I'm pleased at my progress!

Woman on the Edge of Time fulfills 3 tasks:
#readharder
3: A classic of genre fiction.
17: A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author.

#readingwomenchallenge
23: The book that has been on my TBR the longest. (Shelved as 'Want to Read' on GR in 2008!)

blurb
zembla
post image

In a comment about The Lady from the Black Lagoon, @SW-T mentioned this new book about how women were shut out of TV and radio during the Red Scare of the '50s, and it looks AMAZING. Wow wow wow.

Also: Dorothy Parker and Lena Horne 💕💕💕

charl08 Sounds brilliant. 5y
6 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
zembla
At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries | Christopher Simon Sykes, Estelle Ellis, Caroline Seebohm
post image

For the first time ever, I have a dedicated ROOM for reading. I'm so excited! The apartment's layout definitely intends it to be a little dining area (check the tile), but this is better. Also those chairs are facing the galley kitchen, so when one of us is cooking, the other two can keep them company. And the dog fits perfectly on the ottoman. #whereiread

Reviewsbylola Waaaaay better as a reading room! Love it! (edited) 5y
zembla @Reviewsbylola Thank you so much! 🥰 5y
14 likes2 comments
quote
zembla
post image

Bustle has an excerpt from this book up. The conversational tone and personal passion that @malloryomeara brings to her subject made this an even better read than a typical biography.

You can read the except here: https://www.bustle.com/p/the-lady-from-the-black-lagoon-tells-the-forgotten-stor...

SW-T Sounds really good! Thanks for the post. Have you heard about The Broadcast 41 by Carol Stabile? It‘s about women being forced out of tv and radio due to the “red scare” in the 1950‘s. 5y
zembla @SW-T Oh wow, I haven't heard about that! I knew a lot of women were forced out of their jobs when men returned from WWII, but this is news to me. Thank you for the tip! 5y
SW-T @christinamcc Welcome! 😊 5y
8 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
zembla
post image
Pickpick

Milicent Patrick designed the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but her jealous male boss ensured her contribution to film history would be attributed to him instead. Thus, many female horror fans (like O'Meara) grow up believing that horror isn't by or for women. Writer/filmmaker @malloryomeara stakes out a place for marginalized people in film by combining this forgotten history with passion and reflections on how the industry has(n't) changed.

zembla (This book comes out on March 5, by the way. I got my hands on an ARC, and I absolutely adored it.) O'Meara also cohosts the podcast @ReadingGlasses, which is perfect for #littens — it's about books and the reading life. https://www.maximumfun.org/shows/reading-glasses (edited) 5y
12 likes1 comment
quote
zembla
post image

“Sport builds character. The ancient Greeks believed athletic prowess an indicator of moral authority.”

“They also believed their gods lived on a mountain and that trouble was caused by little men with horse dicks and pan flutes. Don‘t make it clever just ‘cause it‘s old.”

3 likes1 stack add
quote
zembla
The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle
post image

For anyone else whose ebook edition doesn‘t show the titular dancing men.

Source: 1905 edition on Wikisource, https://goo.gl/images/L77ZH6. #sherlocked #readalong

Daisey Thanks for looking it up and sharing! 6y
15 likes1 comment
quote
zembla
The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle
post image

Yes, this is also how I like to enter a room. 😂

#sherlocked #readalong

quote
zembla
The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle
post image

re: Moriarty.

#sherlocked #readalong

blurb
zembla
Parable of the Sower | Octavia E. Butler
post image

1. Kindred (my interest was piqued when our students were assigned to read it in English classes), then Fledgling.
2. Ebook!
3. I so enjoyed Kindred and Fledgling, and I can‘t pass up reading this with a crowd.

#earthseedbuddyread

BarbaraTheBibliophage I read Fledgling first, then Kindred. Now these. She‘s fast becoming one of my favorite authors. 6y
6 likes1 comment
quote
zembla
The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle
post image

I‘m struck by how emotionally competent Holmes is in the canon. Flawed and eccentric, sure, but not guilty of the callousness and contempt that BBC‘s Sherlock gets a pass for. Moffat and Gatiss really go all-in on the idea that it‘s more important to fawn over the most clever, special, and male among us than to affirm anyone else‘s basic human dignity. (See also: press coverage of tech billionaires.) #sherlocked

zembla I know and love two series that riff on the Holmes/Watson dynamic and still hold the crime-solving genius accountable for bad behavior. Modern-day Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, descendants of Sherlock and John, respectively: 6y
zembla And Sidney Grice and March Middleton. I like how @quietjenn put it: “It's sort of like a Sherlock story where Watson is a snarky girl and no one pretends that Sherlock isn't an asshole.” 😂 6y
Daisey I absolutely appreciate the dynamic between the original characters! Although I did expect Watson to be more frustrated or upset about not being in on the secret. (edited) 6y
See All 8 Comments
CSeydel That‘s one of my peeves about the recent BBC show (which I did enjoy). The original Sherlock wasn‘t autistic or high-functioning sociopath or any of that. He‘s arrogant, to be sure, and condescending, and proud and prickly — I love the scene in HotB where Mortimer calls him the world‘s “second leading expert” or some such, and Holmes gets nettled — but I don‘t know that he goes out of his way to be rude and insulting. 6y
zembla @Daisey Yeah, when reading I saw that first quote as a “...this freaking guy” moment — of COURSE it would come as a shock! But SH apologizes and has a sound reason, unlike the times BBC SH deceives John about life-and-death matters and the narrative lets him off the hook. (Can‘t get over that subway scene in s3e1.) Perhaps BBC John attacks Sherlock, and ACD Watson doesn‘t, because the latter relationship rests on a foundation of mutual respect? 6y
zembla @CSeydel I love the prickly self-regard! It rings true and makes his appreciation of Watson all the more moving. BBC Sherlock‘s “autism” could have been really powerful. (I‘m great at some things and really terrible at other, seemingly simpler things, so seeing neurodivergence accommodated means a lot.) Given Moffat‘s body of work, he seems more invested in sanctioning the most important person‘s bad behavior. I can‘t get down with that worldview. 6y
Daisey @christinamcc @CSeydel I really appreciate your insights and making me think about this more. Additionally, I was reading something this weekend about how watching modern adaptations impacts way we view Jane Austen‘s writing, which made me reconsider how my viewing of adaptations has impacted my expectations of Sherlock. We really need to read with fresh eyes to appreciate the original. 6y
zembla @Daisey Aw, thank you so much! I was a little worried I‘d just be crashing the party and spoiling people‘s fun, which I don‘t want to do. So I really appreciate your saying that. ❤️🕵️‍♂️ 6y
17 likes8 comments
blurb
zembla
The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle
post image

1. I‘ve read some. I remember getting bogged down in the Mormon section of... The Sign of the Four? ACD‘s writing can feel stilted to me, but the Holmes/Watson dynamic is eternal.
2. Serial Reader! I think I‘ll have an easier time of ACD‘s prose between that and the #sherlocked readalong.
3. Liked BBC Sherlock at first but tired of the fixation on SH as the smartest, most special boy. Love the Jeremy Brett and Brittany Cavallaro adaptations.

zembla If you‘re interested in some of BBC Sherlock‘s pitfalls, there‘s a video essay titled “Sherlock Is Garbage, and Here‘s Why.” In the r/Sherlock comments, someone summarized it: https://www.reddit.com/r/Sherlock/comments/861ong/comment/dw1n5o6 6y
10 likes1 comment
blurb
zembla
When Dimple Met Rishi | Sandhya Menon
post image

This is one of the audiobooksync.com free audiobooks I‘ve been most looking forward to. It‘s a complete delight so far. Download it and open it in OverDrive this week to keep it forever!

blurb
zembla
post image

Ooh, I‘m looking forward to this read-along. Reposted from @tjwill via @LitsyHappenings — head over there for details! #sherlocked

tjwill Thanks for sharing! We are glad you are joining us! 6y
6 likes1 comment
blurb
zembla
post image

This is the book she linked to. Clearly I need to read this! https://twitter.com/spindlypete/status/992434556094504961

5 likes1 stack add
review
zembla
post image
Pickpick

A delight. I played through a few different times, then I just flipped through reading the endings and whatever else caught my eye. I loved the unlockable playable character and other Easter eggs that I‘ll spoil in a comment below, for anyone who‘s curious.

zembla You can play as Rosaline in a hard-boiled detective storyline, and as Nurse in an old-school adventure game called NURSE QUEST. There are also mini-stories of Macbeth, A Midsummer Night‘s Dream, and Pyramus & Thisbe. This book is clearly made with love, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. 6y
8 likes1 comment
quote
zembla
Negroland: A Memoir | Margo Jefferson
post image

Children always find ways to subvert while they're busy complying.

blurb
zembla
post image

HP8 was a good read, but as far as I'm concerned, #mdhp is the actual canon. @girlziplocked/modern-day-harry-potter-49c584a216d8" rel="nofollow" target="_top">https://medium.com/@girlziplocked/modern-day-harry-potter-49c584a216d8

blurb
zembla
Harry Potter | JK Rowling
post image

I did the thing. (https://www.buzzfeed.com/eleanorbate/accurate-af-sorting-quiz)

quote
zembla
Gaudy Night | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

"Harriet had long ago discovered that one could not like people any the better, merely because they were ill, or dead—still less because one had once liked them very much. Some happy souls could go through life without making this discovery, and they were the men and women who were called 'sincere.'"

quote
zembla
post image

you know, things like EVERYTHING!

11 likes1 stack add
quote
zembla
Jonesy | Sam Humphries
post image

Jonesy's grandma rules.

quote
zembla
post image

"What goes into your diary are things that you noticed when you became present -- that is to say when the hamster wheel of thoughts and plans and worries stopped long enough for you to notice where you were and what was going on around you"

blurb
zembla
This post contains spoilers
show me

I have to get this off my chest: WHAT UPPER-CLASS BUT FINANCIALLY STRAPPED PEOPLE IN THEIR 60s DON'T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE??? This feels so preposterous to me that it's a real distraction as I'm reading.

quote
zembla
Revenge: A Novel | Stephen Fry
post image

"Money is to Everything as an Airplane is to Australia. The airplane isn't Australia, but it remains the only practical way we know of reaching it. So perhaps, metonymically, the airplane is Australia after all."

zembla I think about this an awful lot, especially considering it's been over a decade since I read this book. 8y
16 likes1 comment
blurb
zembla
post image

So much useful information and food for thought in this interview with Zaretta Hammond: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2015/07/cultur... (image from the source)

quote
zembla
post image

"The ocnophil, on the other hand, clings to familiarity and to secure places and people, shuns unpredictable or thrill-seeking experiences, and cherishes objects, both human and physical. 'Accordingly the ocnophilic world consists of objects, separated by horrid empty spaces ... The ocnophilic individual lives from object to object, cutting his sojourns in the empty spaces as short as possible.'"

blurb
zembla
post image

Does the U.S. in 2016 feel like a hamfisted alternate-history novel to anyone else?

zembla P.S. I was so bored by the obsessive erection cataloging in Portnoy's Complaint that I haven't tried any other Roth novels, so I'm not saying this one is hamfisted — just that our current reality sure ain't subtle. 8y
zembla P.P.S. I hate how Apple News automatically shows me new headlines whenever I search for something on my phone. There's a reason I don't keep the news on in my house 24/7, and its that Im not always prepared to confront the latest mass shooting or murder of an unarmed black person. I need to be informed in general, but I'm not a paramedic, and I don't need to be on call. ANYWAY. 8y
queerbookreader @christinamcc You can fully turn that shit off in your settings, I did that the second I got the iOS that introduced that. Plus it doesn't even show reliable websites, it's garbage 8y
zembla @lemonlime799 ah, you're right! I'd turned off SOMETHING News-related, but it was still showing up. Under Spotlight Search I had to turn off Siri Suggestions entirely, and now it's gone. Thank you! 💅🏼 8y
12 likes4 comments
quote
zembla
post image

😂😂😂
(Cara photo from rubylane.com)

Mayread HHmmm Was Ken's head big enough? 8y
zembla @Skiles I wondered that too! Maybe she only had a couple of pairs — those Barbie heels are pretty tiny... 8y
KVanRead Lol! I have got to read this! 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa This book was excellent! The audio was fabulous too! 8y
18 likes4 comments
review
zembla
Matilda | Roald Dahl
post image
Pickpick

For a while during my childhood, I wouldn't touch a book that Roald Dahl hadn't written. My tastes have broadened now, but I still love his viciousness and his heart, especially this story of stomaching injustice, fighting bullies, and finding love and support.

zembla As an older reader, pair with CARRIE — the tragedy to this book's comedy. 8y
KVanRead I didn't read this until I had my own children and it definitely my favorite Roald Dahl. I often think I need to do Matilda's booklist for a reading challenge 😊 8y
zembla @KVanRead ooh, that's a great idea! Like the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge: http://goingdownswinging.org.au/category/read/regulars/the-rory-gilmore-reading-... 8y
KVanRead @christinamcc I know, that one looks so amazing...❤️the Gilmour Girls 8y
14 likes4 comments
blurb
zembla
Parable of the Sower | Octavia E. Butler
post image

Wow. "Handwritten notes on inside cover of one of Octavia E. Butler‘s commonplace books, 1988. Octavia E. Butler papers." - https://clockshop.org/project/radio-imagination/ (Feb. 2016-Jan. 2017 in #losangeles) via @Skiles

http://www.huntington.org/octaviabutler/
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8hm5br8/

Mayread I cry ever time I read it. Every. Damned. Time. 8y
Chessa Wow!!! 8y
zembla @Skiles ❤️ 8y
See All 6 Comments
zembla @Chessa Right?? 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa That's awesome! 8y
Caryl Wow! Beautiful. 8y
19 likes6 comments
quote
zembla
post image

"The challenge then is ... to rise above the primal nature of commuting, and conquer this Last Frontier of Hostility and Indifference. ... in the chaos, we reduce drivers to their cars and cyclists to their bicycles. However, this only serves to exacerbate our mutual hostility, since divorcing a person from his or her humanity in a primal situation can be disastrous. It just places us at greater remove from our own compassion."

14 likes1 stack add
review
zembla
post image
Pickpick

"The Moe Howard bike helmet: Trying to make a cool-looking helmet is a losing battle. Any helmet looks like a rocket ship at worst, and a bowl at best, so I‘d start there, with the Moe Howard bowl." A fun, quick read that makes (in my case) a good primer for a noob and (I would imagine) a thought-provoking or affirming jaunt for the experienced cyclist.

quote
zembla
post image

"protection, so you can do the thing that would be dumb to do without it."

ValerieAndBooks The part about the snake made me laugh though! 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Oh, the alluring feeling of invincibility, making you feel safer than you actually are. 8y
12 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
zembla
post image

I really, really want to try commuting by bike. I'm assured that it is possible, even in #losangeles, but my cycling experience is limited to an extremely bike-friendly campus several years ago, so I need some bookish courage.

ValerieAndBooks Would that bike-friendly campus have been UCDavis? (Ignore if it's too nosy of a question) 8y
zembla @ValerieAndBooks Alas, no! But it was in Northern California, and it'd originally been built to be navigable on horseback, so bikes were a perfect fit. I miss insulated campus biking so much! 8y
ValerieAndBooks I know what you mean! Though I'm not inclined to be a bicyclist I wish the roads were safer for them. Or roads just for them! 8y
9 likes3 comments