nomadreader

The backstory:   Sea State  is the debut by Scottish journalist Tabitha Lasley My thoughts:  This gorgeous book, part memoir and part journalism, is difficult to describe. It is both deeply personal, raw, and honest about life, love, and the passion and reality of an affair. It's also a fascinating exploration of the work and home lives of the men who work on oil rigs off the coast of Northern Scotland. How do men, Lasley wonders, act when there are no women around? The writing is extraordinary. Favorite passage: "I couldn't say  what I wanted, because what I wanted resided deep down, in a place under language, a register that lost everything in translation." Rating: 4.5/5 Length: 220 pages Publication date: December 7, 2021 Source: my local public library Want to read for yourself? Buy Sea State from an independent bookstore , Bookshop.org or Amazon (if you must), or find a copy at your local library .   As an affiliate, I receive a small commission whe...

Well, hello there! As we turn the corner of another new year in the midst of this pandemic, I find myself wanting to return to this space that felt like a chore in summer 2020. I still the community and conversations on bookstagram, but I also find myself longing to keep an easy to access record of my reading in one place. I have some ideas about how I can use both spaces in ways that bring me joy and don't feel like a burden, but part of that is not making public commitments about how I use this space or when.  As I was working on my favorite reads of 2021, I realized this space has them every year from 2009 through 2018. So what better time than to revisit this space with a wrap-up of a year's worth of reading? In 2021, I read 138 books. I try not to get too caught up in numbers. I read some short books and some long books, and I care more about enjoying reading than chasing an arbitrary goal.  Favorite Manifesto I Didn't Know How Badly I Needed:  T he Body Is Not An Ap...

The backstory: A Burning is the debut novel of Mega Majumdar, who was born and raised in Kolkata, India. She moved to the United States to attend college at Harvard University, followed by graduate school in social anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. She works as an editor at Catapult, and lives in New York City. The basics:  "An electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise--to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies--and find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe in contemporary India. Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely--an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of glory fill the ...