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Sara

@seesararead

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"She read books as one would breathe air,
to fill up and live."

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What a book!!!! Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen reads like you’re in on a giant conspiracy theory, or inside the thoughts of a crazy man—or maybe he’s a hopeless romantic? Dr. Leo Liebenstein is convinced that his wife, Rema, has been replaced by a doppelgänger. Using clues from unlikely places and teaming up with unlikely people, including his psychiatric patient Harvey—who believes himself to be a secret agent who controls the weather—he goes on a quest across the world to find her.

It’s conceptually so strong, and each ending—has it been the real Rema this whole time? Has Rema been replaced as the result of some strange parallel universe shift?—becomes more and more plausible as the novel continues. I hadn’t read a book this compulsive in a long time. It’s also surprisingly heartwarming and sweet. Each sentence is a joy to read, filled with witty observations, hilarious remarks, and knife-sharp writing that made me smile the entire time and solidified Dr. Leo as one of my favorite characters ever (and Galchen as a favorite author!).

I loved reading about Dr. Leo using randomness to put together a plan of action; I think it has something true to say about how we’re all connected. It also reminded me of Samantha Hunt’s The Unwritten Book: about putting together a story using clues that may or may not be there, if only to learn something new about the universe that we all exist in for reasons we’re not sure of yet.

There’s so many things this book could be about depending on your interpretation of it and that’s one of the many things I love about it. Different perceptions of this book could even speak to how we all differently perceive the world around us.

Thankful to have sweet @seesararead for this buddy read to discuss every twist and turn!

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #rivkagalchen #atmosphericdisturbances #picadorpaperbacks

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Thrilled to have been tagged by the wonderful @litterachur to do the #54321 challenge. It was harder than I thought but I think this sums me up well. Threw in a photo of a bitty portion of my book shelves to round it out. Let’s go!

5 BOOKS I LOVE
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Beloved by Toni Morrison
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Milkman by Anna Burns
In the Dreamhouse by Carmen Maria Machado

4 AUTO-BUY AUTHORS
Shirley Jackson
Toni Morrison
Octavia Butler
Tove Jannson

3 FAVE GENRES
Lit-fic
Speculative Fiction
Short Story Collection

2 PLACES I LOVE TO READ
In the bath
On an Airplane

1 BOOK I PROMISE TO READ SOON
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

Tagged a handful of book loving friends. Would love to see your answers if you’d like to try it for yourself ♥️
Consider this an open invitation to all who’d like to participate though!

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Toted this one all over town. Chelsea Girls seems to be mislabelled as a novel—since it doesn’t build up to something more—and reads more like loosely connected essays or a representation of being queer in the 70s. The writing style is disorienting at first, and fluctuates between very random and very profound.

I found myself confused as much as I found myself in awe, but once I let go of expectations on what a book should be, or even what a sentence should be, it was fun getting lost in their experiences, letting their words wash over me. The rhythm in their prose is clear, as a poet, and there’s some really really great lines in this one I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Grateful to have @seesararead by my side for this buddy read! ❤️‍🔥

#chelseagirls #eileenmyles #buddyread

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Feb’s tbr stack is looking very very ambitious but very very cute! Feat a blurb telephone @linenlibrarian 💕💞💕

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✨2023 ASPIRATIONS✨

I’ve already talked a bit about my book selection process in 2022. I was reading primarily to maintain momentum through new motherhood and picking books that felt manageable and not unduly challenging, books that would propel me through exhausted middle-of-the-night feedings and drown out the siren song of my social media apps when I used the Kindle app on my phone. I kept up a reading habit, but it didn’t make for the most satisfying reading year.

Another trend is that I read a lot of frontlist, and it was a mixed bag. I enjoyed some amazing new releases but also picked up a lot of books that I doubt will stand the test of time (or even a few years).

With that said, I have some loose reading intentions for 2023:

✨End the year with fewer unread books than I am starting with (through reading my shelves and/or donating). I’ve gotten into the habit of “procuring” books whenever I think I might someday want to read them. My shelves are overflowing with so many books I was briefly excited about but haven’t thought much of since; I’d like to remedy that.

✨Only pick up a book if I think there is a chance I might love it. This doesn’t mean I shouldn’t push myself toward new styles or genres, and it doesn’t mean I can’t read “easy” books. It just means I don’t want to waste my time on books that feel like “filler.” I want to prioritize books I think might be real winners for me.

✨Read at least one nonfiction book per month.

✨Read all the past Booker winners written by women that I haven’t read yet.

✨Read more paper books, and do so in front of Nathan. I want Nathan to grow up around parents who read. Right now from his perspective, it probably looks like I am just obsessed with my phone (which, to be clear, I am), so I want to give him more opportunities to recognize my reading as reading. Thanks to @fictionmatters for the inspiration for this one!

Pictured are some of the books I am excited to get to this year, many of which come recommended by trusted recommendation sources. Let me know if I’ve included any of your favorites!

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‘…sharp-edged, uncompromising and utterly compelling… BOULDER is for everyone, a hard-hitting, incisive triumph.’
New Internationalist

Boulder by Eva Baltasar (translated by Julia Sanches) at your nearest bookstore or get your copy from link in bio ✨

#evabaltasar #juliasanches #boulder #englishpenaward #andotherstories #catalanauthor #translatedfiction #translatedliterature

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📣 Jessica’s Tiny Book Challenge is back bb! 📣

Tiny book challenge is baaaaaack. It's my favorite time of year. Christmas has arrived early. Tell your friends, tell your books.

I've let almost a year go by without giving my tinies the attention they deserve but no longer. I've been MIA and not reading as much as usual but I think round 3 of #jessicastinybookchallenge is just the kick in the tuchus I need to get me back.

Who is with me?

📣 What is this challenge?

Let’s see how many tiny books we can read in 1 week.

📣 What is a tiny book?

I would say anything under 100-150 pages, but do what feels tiny to you.

📣 When do we start??

[EDIT: challenge updates to 2 weeks!] Sunday, September 25 —> Sunday, October 9

📣 How does it work??

Share a post anytime between now and the challenge kickoff with what you hope to read and tag friends to join in. Once the week starts, share your tiny reading progress. Make sure to add #JessicasTinyBookChallenge and tag @jessicas_bookstack and others to spread the love.

Ive tagged some book friendos to join me but all are invited - spread the tiny book word.

Let’s hit those 2022 goals one tiny book at a time.

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My #firstfavoritefuture list of some fave authors tagged by @anagrammatology ! 🪷

Samantha Hunt
First: The Dark Dark
Favorite: The Seas
Future: The Unwritten Book

Toni Morrison
First: Beloved
Favorite: The Bluest Eye
Future: Jazz

Maggie Nelson
First: The Argonauts
Favorite: Jane: A Murder
Future: Bluets

Catherine Lacey
First: The Answers
Favorite: Certain American States
Future: Nobody Is Ever Missing

Ottessa Moshfegh
First: My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Favorite: My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Future: Homesick for Another World

Tagged some friends to share!

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #amreading #booksofinstagram #bookworm #bookish #booksofig #bookrecommendation #bookrecommendations

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#sixbookssoon

Sam from @auldlangsynebooks tagged me to share six books I’m planning on reading soon…

The Adventures of China Iron // Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
Minor Detail // Adania Shibli
Indelicacy // Amina Cain
Winter // Ali Smith
Frankenstein in Baghdad // Ahmed Saadawi
Welcome to America // Linda Boström Knausgård

I’ve also included some books I think you should read soon if you haven’t read them yet!

Girl With a Pearl Earring // Tracy Chevalier
In the Distance // Hernan Diaz

Consider yourself tagged if you haven’t done a post like this lately!

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Like a memoir or a conversation, the unnamed narrator in Claire-Louise Bennett’s Checkout 19 is deeply personal (so much so I felt it had to be Bennett, at least in some instances) as she reflects on the books she read during distinctive parts of her life. There’s many digressions, side-tracks, stories within stories—playing on the fact that no one’s life is linear, and suggesting that a novel can be more than a straightforward sequence of events.

This is a book about books, and perhaps the most quoted line from this novel: “We read to come alive” adds to my experience because as I read on, I felt Bennett’s character come alive. Books are a way to keep living, and besides discussing how/why we read certain things at certain points in our lives, I loved the juxtaposition of the narrator and her boyfriend’s ideas about searching for simile, metaphor, and symbolism within actual life.

There’s lots of experimental structures present in this book, most of them odd meanderings and musings that I didn’t always quite understand and wondered how they fit in the book. But overall, I found this book notable and Bennett’s writing hypnotizing. Even if I tended to get lost in what she was trying to say, it was worth it, especially in the last few startling and meaningful chapters which basically made the book for me.

Grateful to @seesararead for the buddy read and for our future ones!! ❤️‍🔥

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #amreading #booksofinstagram #readmorebooks #bookworm #bookaholic #bookish #bookreview #bookreviews #bookreviewer #booksbooksbooks #booksofig #bookrecommendation #bookrecommendations #checkout19 #clairelouisebennett

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#sixprettybooks tagged by @baileywithherbooks 🖤

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#Lastbooki

Thanks for the tag @scoutandlyra + @numberslady_reads

I bought -
Violets, Alex Hyde. Whole heartedly recommend. I bought this from a local bookshop and it's signed. In violet ink of course. You don't get that touch from Jeff.

I gave to someone else -
To Paradise, Hanya Yanagihara. Gifting this brick of a book to my lovely friend who joyfully recommended A Little Life in that period known as prebooksta. No warning, no hint at the trauma within. So she's having a bit of Yanagihara right back for her troubles. It also came with a tote. Does that mean I have to gift the tote too? 🤔

Was gifted-
That would be the book that's been my companion this week, Companion Piece by guru Ali Smith.

Started-
The Inseparables, the newly discovered novel from Simone de Beauvoir because why would I be finishing off my current reads when I can randomly start a new one?

Finished-
The Heeding, a collection of poems by Rob Cowen. Out tomorrow (31/3/22) in paperback. Recommend.

Gave 5 Stars to-
✨Companion Piece, Ali Smith.
✨War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy - okay it was a rocky road but who am I to argue with Leo's superior intellect?

Gave 2 stars to-
None. I probably wouldn't proceed with a book I felt was only worthy of two stars.

DNF-
The Fell, Sarah Moss.

Listened to-
Still listening to To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee. Sissy Spacek is bringing this novel ALIVE and she's enjoying her car journeys reading to me.

Cover photo - completely unrelated to this tag but a book I loved when I was at Uni. I'd be nervous to revisit in case my thoughts have changed. But what a cover. I used to imagine the girl on the cover was me. So it's sort of related. Me if I was a girlfriend in a coma.

Tagging a few, all welcome to participate 👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️

#bookstagramchallenge #bookstagrammeruk #newbooks #mylibrary #hardbackbooks #paperbacks #igreads #booksallday #bookreccos #bookaddict #igreads #readersofinstagram #bookfriends #bookcoverlove #favouritebookcovers #bookcoverdesign #bookfriendsarethebestfriends

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