What I've been reading: Books No. 37-38
Sep. 17th, 2021 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarahmichiganBook No. 37 was "Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body" by Roxane Gay. I listened to this as an audiobook read by the author, and wow, was it a knockout. I have been part of the Health at Every Size and Size Acceptance/Fat Positivity movement for some time, so listening to Gay's struggles with her own body was hard, but worth it. She lays open her deepest secrets, feelings, longings, and vulnerabilities as she talks about being brutalized at age 12, her feelings about her very large (400+ pounds) body, and all the terrible choices she made in her 20s.
These movements are important and I do wish that more people (women, especially) would be kinder to their bodies, but she's right that often these movements are centered on a "certain kind of fat person." People who are 300, 400 and up tend to move through the world in a different way than someone who can shop the plus-sized section at Target, and she's brutally honest about what this means for her. I was glad to read recently that she's married and seems to be with somebody who is really good for her. I wish her and her wife Debbie all the happiness in the world.
Book No. 38 was "I Am Legend and Other Stories" by Richard Matheson. I listened to this as an audiobook, mostly for the novella "I Am Legend." I liked the reader, Robertson Dean. I watched the movie adaptation with Will Smith well before I read the book so I was making comparisons in my mind. I think the modern adaption is actually better in some ways. There's lots of smoking and LP records and things that date it to the 70s. I can see why this is a classic that inspired multiple movie adaptations, but the main character is a bit sexist and hard to relate to at times. I also listened to several other short stories on this audiobook, but I really HATED the other reader's voice, so that detracted from the overall experience. In short, I'm glad I read "I Am Legend" and understand why it's a classic but I don't necessarily feel the need to read more by Matheson.
1. The Empire of Gold (Daevabad Trilogy #3) [fiction]- S.A. Chakraborty
2. Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls [nonfiction/memoir]- T Kira Madden
3. Miracle Creek [nonfiction]- Angie Kim
4. The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust #2) [fiction]- Philip Pullman
5. How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #9) [fiction]- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
6. They Called Us Enemy [graphic nonfiction]- George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, ill. Harmony Becker
7. Carmilla [fiction]- J. Sheridan Le Fanu (unabridged audiobook)
8. Pieces of Soap: Essays [nonfiction/essays]- Stanley Elkin
9. The Space Between Worlds [fiction]- Micaiah Johnson
10. The Autobiography of Malcolm X [nonfiction/autobiography]- Malcolm X and Alex Haley
11. No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America [nonfiction/memoir]- Darnell L. Moore
12. Mostly Dead Things [fiction]- Kristen Arnett
13. Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) [fiction]- Rebecca Roanhorse
14. Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower [nonfiction]- Brittney Cooper
15. Delirium [fiction]- Laura Restrepo (transl. Natasha Wimmer)
16. The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) [fiction]- Rick Riordan (unabridged audiobook)
17. Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America [nonfiction/memoir]- John Waters (unabridged audiobook)
18. Storm of Locusts (The Sixth World #2) [fiction]- Rebecca Roanhorse
19. The Mistress Of Nothing [fiction]- Kate Pullinger
20. The Graveyard Book [fiction]-Neil Gaiman (unabridged audiobook)
21. The Vanishing Half [fiction]- Brit Bennett
22. Certain Dark Things [fiction]- Silvia Moreno-Garcia
23. The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10) - Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
24. Creepy, Stabby, and Mentally Odd [fiction/short stories]- Wednesday Lee Friday
25. Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History [nonfiction/biography]-Yunte Huang
26. This House Is Haunted [fiction- John Boyne
27. An Unkindness of Ghosts [fiction- Rivers Solomon (unabridged audiobook)
28. The Incredulity of Father Brown [fiction/short stories]- G.K. Chesterton
29. Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good [nonfiction/essays]- Adrienne Maree Brown (author and editor)
30. The Nature of the Beast (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #11) [fiction- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
31. The Sellout [fiction]- Paul Beatty
32. The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband [nonfiction/memoir]- David Finch (unabridged audiobook)
33. Paradise Tales: and Other Stories [fiction/short stories]- Geoff Ryman
34. A Great Reckoning (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #12) [fiction]- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
35. Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism [nonfiction/memoir]- Dawn Prince-Hughes
36. Such a Fun Age [fiction]- Kiley Reid
These movements are important and I do wish that more people (women, especially) would be kinder to their bodies, but she's right that often these movements are centered on a "certain kind of fat person." People who are 300, 400 and up tend to move through the world in a different way than someone who can shop the plus-sized section at Target, and she's brutally honest about what this means for her. I was glad to read recently that she's married and seems to be with somebody who is really good for her. I wish her and her wife Debbie all the happiness in the world.
Book No. 38 was "I Am Legend and Other Stories" by Richard Matheson. I listened to this as an audiobook, mostly for the novella "I Am Legend." I liked the reader, Robertson Dean. I watched the movie adaptation with Will Smith well before I read the book so I was making comparisons in my mind. I think the modern adaption is actually better in some ways. There's lots of smoking and LP records and things that date it to the 70s. I can see why this is a classic that inspired multiple movie adaptations, but the main character is a bit sexist and hard to relate to at times. I also listened to several other short stories on this audiobook, but I really HATED the other reader's voice, so that detracted from the overall experience. In short, I'm glad I read "I Am Legend" and understand why it's a classic but I don't necessarily feel the need to read more by Matheson.
1. The Empire of Gold (Daevabad Trilogy #3) [fiction]- S.A. Chakraborty
2. Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls [nonfiction/memoir]- T Kira Madden
3. Miracle Creek [nonfiction]- Angie Kim
4. The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust #2) [fiction]- Philip Pullman
5. How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #9) [fiction]- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
6. They Called Us Enemy [graphic nonfiction]- George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, ill. Harmony Becker
7. Carmilla [fiction]- J. Sheridan Le Fanu (unabridged audiobook)
8. Pieces of Soap: Essays [nonfiction/essays]- Stanley Elkin
9. The Space Between Worlds [fiction]- Micaiah Johnson
10. The Autobiography of Malcolm X [nonfiction/autobiography]- Malcolm X and Alex Haley
11. No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America [nonfiction/memoir]- Darnell L. Moore
12. Mostly Dead Things [fiction]- Kristen Arnett
13. Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) [fiction]- Rebecca Roanhorse
14. Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower [nonfiction]- Brittney Cooper
15. Delirium [fiction]- Laura Restrepo (transl. Natasha Wimmer)
16. The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) [fiction]- Rick Riordan (unabridged audiobook)
17. Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America [nonfiction/memoir]- John Waters (unabridged audiobook)
18. Storm of Locusts (The Sixth World #2) [fiction]- Rebecca Roanhorse
19. The Mistress Of Nothing [fiction]- Kate Pullinger
20. The Graveyard Book [fiction]-Neil Gaiman (unabridged audiobook)
21. The Vanishing Half [fiction]- Brit Bennett
22. Certain Dark Things [fiction]- Silvia Moreno-Garcia
23. The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10) - Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
24. Creepy, Stabby, and Mentally Odd [fiction/short stories]- Wednesday Lee Friday
25. Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History [nonfiction/biography]-Yunte Huang
26. This House Is Haunted [fiction- John Boyne
27. An Unkindness of Ghosts [fiction- Rivers Solomon (unabridged audiobook)
28. The Incredulity of Father Brown [fiction/short stories]- G.K. Chesterton
29. Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good [nonfiction/essays]- Adrienne Maree Brown (author and editor)
30. The Nature of the Beast (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #11) [fiction- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
31. The Sellout [fiction]- Paul Beatty
32. The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband [nonfiction/memoir]- David Finch (unabridged audiobook)
33. Paradise Tales: and Other Stories [fiction/short stories]- Geoff Ryman
34. A Great Reckoning (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #12) [fiction]- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
35. Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism [nonfiction/memoir]- Dawn Prince-Hughes
36. Such a Fun Age [fiction]- Kiley Reid
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Date: 2021-09-18 02:57 pm (UTC)