Booknook Friending Meme

[quillpunk]

Hello, hello! booknook is tossing its hat in the ring for 3weeks4dreamwidth in the form of a friending meme :D

Copy and paste the text from the little box below into a new comment on this post. Feel free to remove the questions that aren't relevant for you! (If you want to fill this out in a post somewhere else, you're welcome do so, simply credit booknook :D)

<b>Name:</b> <b>Pronouns:</b> <b>Age Group:</b> <b>Dealbreaker(s):</b> <b>I Recently Finished Reading:</b> <b>A Book I Want to Reread:</b> <b>Some Published Titles From My To Be Read List:</b> <b>A Book Not-Yet-Published I'm Excited About:</b> <b>Related Book News I've Got My Eye On:</b> (adaptations etc.) <b>My All-Time Favorite Book(s):</b> <b>My Favorite Book Genre(s):</b> <b>A Book I Recommend in My Favorite Genre(s):</b> <b>A Book I Don't Recommend in My Favorite Genre(s):</b> <b>A Genre I'm Interested in Trying Out:</b> <b>Link to My Latest Book Review:</b> <b>Link to My Reading Log:</b> <b>Books/Genres I'm Interested in Discussing/Chatting About:</b>

Comments

[quamquam20]

Pronouns: she/her
Age Group: 30+

I Recently Finished Reading: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
A Book I Want to Reread: The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading by Ian Rowland
Some Published Titles From My To Be Read List: A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris

My All-Time Favorite Book(s): Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, all ACD Sherlock Holmes, If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
My Favorite Book Genre(s): Romance, historical fiction, poetry, fantasy, nonfiction
A Book I Recommend in My Favorite Genre(s): Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore is pretty broadly palatable
A Book I Don't Recommend in My Favorite Genre(s): So, so many
A Genre I'm Interested in Trying Out: Sci-fi

Books/Genres I'm Interested in Discussing/Chatting About: Any! Romance especially.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, all ACD Sherlock Holmes, If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho <<

Gosh, I've lost track how many slave narratives I've read.

You may forget but
let me tell you this:
someone in some future time
will think of us.
-- Sappho

Re: Thoughts

[quamquam20]

Narratives are really incredible pieces of history. It's such a heart-wrenchingly human window into an inhuman institution.

Love her! The way If Not, Winter shows the gaps and missing pieces is really lovely to me. Definitely a visual reminder of how much has been lost to time and how beautiful the remains are. I have a background in archaeology and am more accustomed to thinking about functional objects like that, but it's very poignant to see it done with poetry.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Narratives are really incredible pieces of history. It's such a heart-wrenchingly human window into an inhuman institution. <<

Sooth.

Though you have to remember, American slavery is only one iteration of it, and among the more messed-up versions. It's useful to compare other versions. Rome used slavery, essentially, as a distraction as much as a labor gain -- a way to tie up war captives but give them a route out if they wanted to work their way free. Some societies kept eunuchs as slaves but that was their bureaucracy or scribes or some other fairly high-ranked position. And then you've got parallax about the different forms slavery can take, which you can use if you want to create a fictional version that is more bad or less bad.

>> Love her! The way If Not, Winter shows the gaps and missing pieces is really lovely to me. Definitely a visual reminder of how much has been lost to time and how beautiful the remains are. <<

Agreed.

>> I have a background in archaeology and am more accustomed to thinking about functional objects like that, but it's very poignant to see it done with poetry.<<

If you ever want to talk to the future, or archaeologists, or make something last -- then bake it in ceramic and drop it in a midden or landfill, because that is where they will know to look for things. Rosetta texts are always useful too.

I find archaeology very interesting, especially as inspiration for writing. If you look on my Serial Poetry page, Beneath the Family Tree is about a community of different types of early hominids living together.

[einhornmaedchen]

Hello there :)
I read "The Butchering Art" a couple years and can only recommend it. It's very interesting, if not for the faint of heart ;)

"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is on my to-read list, I definitely plan on finally reading it this year.
I also checked out your userinfo on here and we seem to be a couple things in common - want to try out being friends? My answers are here: https://booknook.dreamwidth.org/7810.html?thread=99970#cmt99970

[quamquam20]

Looking forward to reading it!

"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is just fantastic. Unflinching, clever, and riveting. One of the enslavers he crossed paths with has really stuck with me as an example of how people who begin with good intentions can become the worst villains.

Yes, I just checked out your userinfo (and your answers) and I suspect that would be a good fit!

[einhornmaedchen]

Awesome, I'm going to add you now :)

[quamquam20]

Lovely! Thank you.

[evilinsanemonkey]

ohhh I loved Starling House. I need to read Harrow's other works after that!

And I loved A Psalm for the Wild Built, it's very Soft.

[quamquam20]

It's the only one from her I've read too. Looking forward to the rest.

I keep hearing that about A Psalm for the Wild Built! Definitely keeping that in mind for when I need a pick-me-up.

[matsushima]

How was Starling House? I've got it on hold but it hasn't come in yet. I really enjoyed The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so my hopes are high!

[quamquam20]

I really loved it! The setting is great, Opal was fascinating, and I totally fell in love with the house. The final third felt a bit meandering, but in a way I found enjoyable. Apparently some editions have a final chapter (after the epilogue and the author's acknowledgements) that gives some additional closure.

[matsushima]

Oooh, interesting. I love an alternate(?) ending, so I'll have to track down a copy with that extra chapter!

[quamquam20]

I think it’s a “five years later” kind of thing, and works as an extended epilogue. I will say that the ending felt a bit abrupt without it, or like I just wanted to spend more time with the characters. It’s probably worth tracking down (B&N special edition) if your library copy doesn’t have it!