Reading Wednesday

[troisoiseaux]

Recently read

Read The Short Reign of Pippin IV by John Steinbeck, a 1957 satire in which France decides to give the whole monarchy thing another shot and crowns an amateur astronomer descended from Charlemagne, who really does not want to be a king.

Read The Mighty Red, Louise Erdrich's latest; it's a novel of small-town high drama, set in a farming community in North Dakota during the 2008 recession. There are teenage love triangles, ill-advised weddings, questionable career plans, local tragedies, book clubs as the court of public opinion, and a heist.

Read Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu, a very good short story collection I picked up after seeing a post describe Fu's stories as the kind "that doesn't answer any questions or provide you with any sort of guidance— just walks in and rearranges your photographs so they're slightly off-kilter, leaves you with that destabilization." [x]

Currently reading

Reading Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams - the new Facebook tell-all - because I love non-fiction about dysfunctional Silicon Valley companies, and HOO BOY. She opens her memoir with the time she nearly died in a childhood shark attack and it isn't even in the top five most gobsmacking moments so far.

To read next

Contemplating what to choose as my next Long Classic™ Audiobook, having finished Moby Dick; I feel like I should give Bleak House another shot, since I thoroughly stalled out on my attempt to actually read it (last... November?), but I'm open to suggestions.

Comments

[kore]

That Facebook memoir was certainly gripping! I got a little fed up with how VERY naive she claimed she was toward the end, but no wonder Zuck wanted to silence her.

[ioplokon]

The Heart of Midlothian is long and super weird. Or, you can never go wrong with George Eliot...

[muccamukk]

Middlemarch! (if you haven't already). It's very long and very good.

[osprey_archer]

I also stalled out when I tried to read Bleak House. So that one might actually be the book and not you!

[sabotabby]

Oooh new Louise Erdrich (tiny voice: "we have old Louise Erdrich at home").

I have a hold on Careless People.

[kore]

Ooh also, MIDDLEMARCH

[lunabee34]

I loved Lesser Known Monsters; here's my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5575632131

[chestnut_pod]

Adore Louise Erdrich! My vote for next American Nobel winner, if we get one again.