The English Understand Wool – Helen DeWitt, 2022. A very short, weird book. Knowing DeWitt’s troubles with publishers explains a lot of the plot, such as it is.
Wee Gillis – Munro Leaf, 1938 (illustrated by Robert Lawson). A friend loved it so much as a child that she wanted to be called “Wee Gillis,” and I was surprised I didn’t remember ever reading it. Enjoyable but didn’t prompt me to change my name…
This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something—Anything—Like Your Life Depends On It – Tabitha Carvan, 2022. Very acute description of how women’s interests are often dismissed, combined with an analysis of fandom, wrapped in a memoir of becoming obsessed with Cumberbatch. I read it in bits over several weeks but always came back to it, which I don’t often do.
The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair With Nature – J. Drew Lanham, 2016. Nature Enviro selection, quotes TBD.
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho, 1988. I was going to make this my selection for the Mass Center for the Book challenge, but I hated it too much. My stepmom had said it was terrible but I wanted to read it anyway because I’m interested in any book that sells that well for that long. The first few one-star reviews at Goodreads said everything I was thinking but better.
Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata, 2018 – Amherst Book Club selections, quotes TBD.
The Sympathizer – Viet Thanh Nguyen, 2015 – Second Monday selection, quotes TBD.
American Fantasy – Emma Straub, 2026.This was my second choice for the Massachusetts Center for the Book September challenge, “A book about a journey.” My stepmother recommended it, and since she warned me about The Alchemist, it felt like a great fit – it’s set on a cruise featuring a reunited boy band. I wrote “An enjoyable and satisfying comedy/romance, without being cloying, that also has interesting insights about fame and fandom.”
The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins, 1868. Great Books selection, re-read. Quotes TBD.
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? – Alan Moore, 1986. Read because I love Watchmen and stumbled across a mention of this being one of the best Supes story ever. Hmm… I did like the description of Moore insisting he needed to be the one to write this elegy to the Silver Age (before DC rebooted/simplified the timeslines), but ehh… It’s actually a collection of 3 Moore Superman stories, one of them being an encounter with Swamp Thing, who… is… quite… interesting… but… a bit… tiresome…
Nuclear War: A Scenario – Annie Jacobson, 2024. TERRIFYING but the scenario is wildly implausible and there’s a strong disaster porn element. I’m still going to read her biological warfare one.