"Setting" is the last of the four "Doorways to Reading" for us to discuss, the doorways being librarian Nancy Pearl's break-down of what draws readers into a book. In books with a vibrant setting doorway, readers feel taken in and entranced by the world of the book itself, whether that be a mining freighter in … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Setting
Fantasy
Reading During Difficult Times
In the last couple weeks I have found myself pinned between the return to work and busyness after the relative quiet of the holiday season and a national crisis. I hit a point last week staring at a stack of partially-read books feeling the existential anxiety of not having enough time to read all the … Continue reading Reading During Difficult Times
Going Off Book-ish: Lord of the Rings and ‘Newcomers’ Podcast
The Lord of the Rings movies. That's what my partner and I decided we wanted to distract us this past Tuesday and throughout the week (because, let's be honest, those movies are looong). We've both seen the trilogy oodles of times so decided to start with the The Two Towers. It's my favorite of the … Continue reading Going Off Book-ish: Lord of the Rings and ‘Newcomers’ Podcast
Hanging on By the Fingernails, or the Comfort of Known Books
Friends, how are you doing? For me, this has been a rough and weary couple of weeks with the looming election and the ongoing state of the nation and the world. Which has made it hard to read. I keep picking up books, peeking at them or starting a bit, and then setting them aside. … Continue reading Hanging on By the Fingernails, or the Comfort of Known Books
Going Off Book: I kind of want a ‘Neverending Story’ remake?
I stare at the boxed faces of 60 traditional-aged college students. I speak to them about David Foster Wallace and Audre Lorde, urging them to pay attention to this precious, weird, fleeting time period, to determine how they will use their power—collective and individual—to improve the world. It is impossible to know if I am … Continue reading Going Off Book: I kind of want a ‘Neverending Story’ remake?
On Being a Credulous Reader
As a young person, I read virtually everything by Kurt Vonnegut and I took it completely at face value that in Slaughterhouse-Five Billy Pilgrim had come unstuck in time. I accepted that he toggled between periods in his life, including his time as the male half of a human pair in a zoo on the … Continue reading On Being a Credulous Reader
The Night is Dark and Full of Wonders: The Winternight Trilogy
Every once in a while a book or —even better—a series of books comes along to take you out of yourself. Such a series is the Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. At first glance, the structure of these books, particularly the first one, The Bear and the Nightingale, feels familiar. Vasilisa "Vasya" Petrovna runs wild … Continue reading The Night is Dark and Full of Wonders: The Winternight Trilogy
‘Gideon the Ninth’ and Food Metaphors for Genre Fiction, a.k.a the Delicious Delights of Lesbian necromancers … IN SPAAACE!!!
I have been reading a lot of books about the climate crisis lately, mostly because three separate work projects have put me in their path. These books are less about the science, per se, and more about how we should respond—emotionally, actionally, narratively. I'm grateful for these books having deadlines because, despite how much attention … Continue reading ‘Gideon the Ninth’ and Food Metaphors for Genre Fiction, a.k.a the Delicious Delights of Lesbian necromancers … IN SPAAACE!!!
Memory, Family, Trauma: The Deep and The Yellow House
On the podcast Still Processing hosts Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham discuss pop culture and life in America circa now. On a recent episode while discussing Wortham's tour of Thomas Jefferson's plantation Monticello, alongside Bong Joon Ho's film Parasite and the HBO series Watchmen, Morris says, "[Black people,] as a people, we are allergic to … Continue reading Memory, Family, Trauma: The Deep and The Yellow House
Notions, December 2019 Edition
I don't intend for this blog to become a links dumping ground but sometimes I do get overrun with fun, interesting, thought-provoking things to share! So here goes. Lists Not only are we nearing the end of a year but also the end of a decade so I expect we'll see double or triple the … Continue reading Notions, December 2019 Edition
