What are you reading?

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

I went to Barnes & Noble, this afternoon, and bought two more books, which I hope are really, really good. One is from Obama's summer read list: The Nickel Boys (author: Colson Whitehead).

The other is a book called Evvie Drake Starts Over, by new author - Linda Holmes, who also is the host of an NPR pod cast -- Pop Culture Happy Hour. She also appears regularly on other NPR shows, including Weekend Edition, Before NPR, and All Things Considered.

I'm looking forward to reading both books.

I've not even opened up The Nickel Boys yet, but oh my gosh, the book by Linda Holmes is really good. I hope to finish reading it, by tomorrow. I don't want to spoil this book for any other reader, but the novel broaches subjects, for example, like performative roles people perform for their own sake or for the sakes of others.

I had no idea that Holmes would write about such things in her first work of fiction, but performative roles people play is not really any type of fiction.

It's an interesting field of study, for me, due to my communication studies background in Higher Ed. Role play, whether it's intentional or not, is one way human's communicate to others in performative type ways.

I like Linda Holmes first novel for the way she uses her novel's character narrative's as a way for others to explore the obscurity behind performative role play (why people mask their behaviors, etc).

I'm only half way through the Holmes novel, but I'm giving it the best rating possible because it's an very enjoyable and interesting story to read.

[Sparkle]

I’m reading ‘The Travelers’ by Regina Porter, it’s a fantastic multi-generational, multi-threaded family story that spans multiple decades in Modern American history. It reads like a screenplay, has as many interwoven characters as Marquez novel, and delves into deep waters addressing racism and multiracial family dynamics with a deftness that is pretty damn remarkable. I’d say this novel was overlooked by all the big awards committees.

I’ve also had the pleasure of reading some of the widely lauded new novels
Ocean Vuong’s genre breaking “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” should be a part of the queer canon. It is truly remarkable.

I devoured Margaret Atwood’s “The Testaments” within a couple of days and was not at all disappointed, but completely enthralled. I also saw her National Theatre simulcast reading the day it was published.

I just sped-read Ann Patchett’s “The Dutch House” in 2.5 days - she’s a brilliant weaver of stories.

And I throughly enjoyed Elizabeth Gilbert’s newest “City of Girls” - a wonderful story of courageous women breaking the rules, and a fabulous romp through New York theatre world in the mid century.

And now... I’m impatiently awaiting the publication of “The Secret Commonwealth” Philip Pullman’s second in the prequel/sequel series that sandwiches the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy.

Edited to add: typos are due to (a) my iPhone which is not terribly smart (b) my suddenly and rapidly deteriorating 45yr old eyesight.