I fell down a bit of a Holy Roman Empire reading rabbit hole (as one does). It started with an obligatory read of a Martin Luther biography and went from there. Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet by Lyndal Roper. Ok technically I’ve already read this book. This was the pick for the November History Book…
Add Robert Macfarlane’s Landmarks to the pantheon of books that are best read slowly so that every word, every image, every bit of new knowledge might be savored to the fullest. In the grand scheme of categories and genres and other restrictive labels, Landmarks would most readily find its footing in nature writing, but it…
The title of this post is declarative, when in fact it should appear a bit more harried: italicized, containing a completely capitalized word, punctuated by both a question mark and an exclamation point. What am I NOT reading right now?! is more representative of the current state of things, at least from the vantage point…
I met Franz Kafka over the body of a giant insect. It was, years upon years ago, an inauspicious introduction. And first impressions being what they are–misleading, mostly–I veered away from a second encounter, slipping quickly past the K’s (or the PT 2620’s, here) with downcast eyes. Then, well, then my epistolary leanings pitched me…
If only letters – written, sent with a stamp cornered at a crooked angle – were still a thing. As they are sadly not, instead of out of mailboxes, I’ve been pulling off of shelves piles of books crammed with page after page of posthumously published letters, the latest being Anne Sexton’s, as compiled and…
The name William Marshal was not wholly unknown to me going into Asbridge’s The Greatest Knight, but the details of Marshal’s life, those were very sketchy indeed. I’ve only just started the second section of the biography, which opens in 1166, shortly after Marshal had been knighted, but prior to that my notes on his…
Spiders and Conjurers and Hypnotists, oh my.
Two weeks ago I was also discussing What I’m Reading Now, with that list capped off by Meg Wolitzer’s Belzhar, a young adult novel that tangentially relies on the life and works of Sylvia Plath to support a small handful of the story’s themes. I’ve read Plath’s The Bell Jar, Ariel, and assorted brief articles…
Michelle here, former Book Monogamist. See, these days I have any number of fairly wildly different* books in progress at roundabout the same time. Here are early thoughts on the three books I’m Reading Now.