what I’ve been reading lately:
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Witch Grass by Raymond QueneauTranslated and with an Introduction by Barbara WrightNew York Review Books, 2003(Originally published in French by Librairie Gallimard, 1933)
When I saw Carol’s post about NYRB Reading Week, hosted by The Literary Stew and Coffeespoons, I thought it might be a good time to read Witch Grass, which is a New York Review Book that also happens to be on my languishing TBR Challenge list. The price-sticker on the back of my copy of…
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Bitter in the Mouth by Monique TruongRandom House, 2010
I read and loved Monique Truong’s first novel, The Book of Salt, back in 2004, so I was excited to hear that she had a new novel out this year. The narrator of this one, Linda Hammerick, is a quirky person from a quirky family, which could be annoying but which I found pretty charming.…
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The Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynne JonesGreenwillow Books (HarperCollins), 2002 (Originally Macmillan, 1981)
I heard about The Homeward Bounders thanks to this post during this summer’s Diana Wynne Jones Week over at Jenny’s Books, and decided to pick it up at the library. Jamie Hamilton, the narrator of this book, looks thirteen but isn’t really. He should be thirteen. His life is quite ordinary until he’s twelve: he…
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The Magic City by E. NesbitSeaStar Books, 2000 (Originally Macmillan, 1910)
Philip Haldane’s parents are both dead, so Philip, who is ten, has been raised by his older half-sister, Helen. She’s the only family he’s had or wanted, and has always been a kind and caring (and fun!) parent. But now she’s getting married to her childhood sweetheart, whose first wife died, and Philip is none…
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A Week at the Airport by Alain de BottonVintage Books, 2010 (Originally Profile Books, 2009)
This short but satisfying book, which features (really pleasing) photographs by Richard Baker, is the story of de Botton’s week as “writer-in-residence” at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. He explores the airport and its environs, from the Sofitel hotel where he’s staying for the week to the office of the CEO of British Airways, and talks to…
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How They Met, And Other Stories by David LevithanKnopf, 2009 (originally 2008)
This collection of stories about love isn’t my favorite of Levithan’s books—I think his particular explorations of emotion and connection work best for me when they’re novel-length. But because I already like his work, I’m glad I read this book, which does have its share of excellent moments. The eighteen stories collected here (most of…
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The rest of Psychogeography
In “South Downs Way,” Will Self writes about how he has “taken to long-distance walking as a means of dissolving the mechanised matrix which compresses the space-time continuum, and decouples human from physical geography” (69). Which is a mouthful, and perhaps a bit tongue-in-cheek, but also kind of excellent: he’s walking, in part, to remind…
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Psychogeography: Words by Will Self, Pictures by Ralph SteadmanBloomsbury, 2007
Though I didn’t go to any events at the Conflux Festival this year, it nevertheless seemed like the weekend of the festival would be an apt weekend to start reading this book, which I checked out from the library a while ago. The festival, which used to be called Psy.Geo.Conflux, is centered on psychogeography, a…
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Zen Shorts, Zen Ties, and Zen Ghosts by Jon J MuthScholastic Press, 2005, 2008, and 2010
I hadn’t heard that Jon J Muth had a new “Zen ___” book out, but then last month I read the first installment of the Book-Scout Autumn Reading List, and immediately put Zen Shorts, Zen Ties, and Zen Ghosts on hold at the library. Zen Shorts, which came out in 2005, was a Caldecott Honor…
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Escape from Combray by Rick SnyderUgly Duckling Presse, 2009
I picked this book out from the “new books” shelf at the library based on its title (I do like Proust!) and its cover, which is letterpress-printed and lovely, an old street map with great type. I flipped the book open and whatever poem I saw (I don’t remember which one it was) was good…