This & That

This & That

Nightstand July 18, 2021

I hope you all had a great weekend? Did you do read some good books or visit a bookstore? We visited Barnes & Noble because I was looking for some of the Stampington Magazines which I like to get every once in a while. Unfortunately they did not have the latest Bella Grace edition (they had one that said display until Dec. 2020!). I know I can order these online but of course it’s always much more fun to get them at the bookstore.

I had a bit of a look through at the craft books and that area has gotten even smaller which is such a shame. I’m surprised because I thought people were turning to handmade projects since the start of the pandemic? Anyway, I actually was happy to find a book on bookbinding that looked interesting, Bound by Hand by Erica Ekrem. I have another of her books which I’ve enjoyed so while I didn’t get it, I’m tempted to go back for it.

I haven’t talked much about bookbinding lately and that’s just because I’ve been taking a bit of a break but I was excited to hear that the Georgetown Art Center, which stocks some of my journals, has been opening up again and some of my journals have recently sold. Yay (picture shown is from some different journals I’ve made).

Also, the Austin Book Arts Center has a workshop I’m very interested in later this year so I hope to sign up for it. I really miss in person classes but completely understand the need for virtual courses.

In other news, I know you all sent me good wishes for my father-in-law and I’m very happy to report he has been at home now for more than a week and is doing well. So thank you again or all the prayers and good thoughts.

I have so many updates on books read – I think I’m behind on at least 11 book reviews. I want to tell you about my current reads and how my challenges are going but more to follow. I hope you have a great start to the week!

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Six in Six: 2021 Edition

Six in Six: 2021 Edition

Nightstand July 14, 2021

I’ve seen several mid-year in review posts and I wanted to jump in and do one as well but then I saw this great meme on JoAnn at Gulfside Musing’s blog that I thought this is the perfect way to capture the year so far.

Six in Six is hosted by Jo of The Book Jotter, and has been around since 2012. The idea is to fit six books, authors, events, etc. from this year into each category. And, there are a lot of categories to choose from but I decided on 4.
Six new to me authors: Given that about 80% of the books I’ve read this year are by new to me authors I thought it would be easy to pick some stand-outs:
Andrea Levy, Amparo Davila, Riku Onda, Nadine Matheson, Patricia Engel, and Antoine Laurain
Six trips to Europe: Since we aren’t traveling at least let it be through books:
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (Italy & England)
Fresh Water for Flowers by Natalie Perrin (France)
A Heart of Stone by Renate Dorrestine (The Netherlands)
Cold Granite by Stuart McBride (Scotland)
Incidents in the Rue Laugier by Anita Brookner (France & England)
Six books that didn’t live up to expectations:
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult
Lurkers by Sandi Tan
Rules for Vising by Jessica Francis Kane
Real People by Alison Lurie
Six books I have read but not reviewed: I recommend all of these and hope to talk about them a bit more soon.
Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Mouthful of Birds by Samantha Schweblin
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Reader’s Room by Antoine Laurin
The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday by Kiley Dunbar
Have you done a mid-year review of your reading year? Have your reading goals changed? I’ve been enjoying a lot of great books and books from my stacks but I am falling a bit behind on some of my challenges and overall number of books I’d like to read but maybe things will pick up in the next several months. Anyway, would love to hear how your thoughts.
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Book Haul

Book Haul

Nightstand July 12, 2021

Last month was my bloggiversary and so of course I couldn’t pass up a reason to celebrate without a good book haul so here are the books I got:

Space Invaders by Nona Fernández, translated by Natasha Wimmer. This is a story about a group of children growing up in Chile at the end of the Pinochet regime and who in adulthood are preoccupied by uneasy memories of their classmate Estrella.

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, translated by Sherif Hetata. A novel about a young women in a Cairo prison cell, facing execution. I’ve heard a lot of praise about this book recently and think it will be an excellent read.

Circe by Madeline Miller. In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child — not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power — the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. A a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us. I already had to flip through this one to see the beautiful illustrations.

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz. In my effort to discover more poets I thought why not try the winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

I want to read all of these now and I’m excited that two of these will be perfect for Women in Translation month coming up next month. Let me know if you’ve read any of these and what you thought.

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