i can't really sing, so

Perhaps I've been putting off writing this blog because I am disappointed in myself with the number of books I actually wound up completing during February. I could defend myself-- it's a short month; I was busy working three jobs and mailing GS out to the world; it was one of my saddest and most stressful months in a while-- but the one very noticeable thing is that I didn't read much poetry. And there is no defense for that. I read poems online. I read submissions for GS . But I didn't pick up a book of poetry and commit to it. Here's what I did read: BOOKS READ FEBRUARY 2015 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami I started this back in January as my "long" winter reading, and it took me into mid-February to finish. Sometimes, when I take awhile to read a book, I silently berate myself over it. With this book, I didn't want it to end. In fact, I was disappointed when it ended. Not with the ending itself, which works, but with the fact that so much-- as, I sup...

As Goodreads keeps track of my "2015 Book Challenge", I won't be doing so here. Instead, I'll just be writing about the books I read each month. Note that I don't really consider what I write here to be "reviews" on what I've read, but more like notes and thoughts. Anyway, I spent most of the month reading a novel that I am still not done with: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. It's excellent, and I can't wait to tell you more about it when I'm through. Though I am so enveloped in its world, I am not necessarily looking forward to being finished with it. That's how I know I am really loving a book. Here's what I DID finish reading last month: BOOKS READ JANUARY 2015 The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Little Brown, 2002) I was nearly done with this towards the end of December, but the holidays kind of got in the way with  finishing. I didn't want to rush just to finish it by a specific calendar date. I loved the narrator in this b...

Back in 2012, I last posted a blog titled "Exciting Things in the Mail", and since then, there have been many times when I have wanted to resurrect the impetus behind this repeated post. So, less-than-but-almost three years later, I bring to you three things I got in the mail: one I bought, one I contributed to, and one sent unprompted--all wonderful. EXCITING THINGS IN THE MAIL, V This is a Twin Peaks Pin-ups calendar that I bought off the internet because how can you see this and not buy it? I'm not sure. You yourself can and should get one here . The art and product is from Emma Munger, who spends her time transforming many of your favorite characters from cult and popular shows alike into pin-ups. If you explore her website/social media, you'll find characters from Broad City, OITNB, Parks & Rec, and more . Go follow her on every website she is followable on. Meanwhile, I am sitting here staring at my favorite log lady, whilst also knowing what day of ...

 I wanted to do a series "best of" lists for 2014, and I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do, really. On the GS tumblr , Ian put together the top books read by all participating editors, so check out my list there . Other than books, I don't heavily rely on any other genre of culture to get me through the year-- though I do imbibe on all sorts of culture. So rather than doing a "top three movies seen" or a "top 1 cooking shows watched" series of lists, I decided to do something like Marcus Greil's " Real Life Rock Top Ten "--but for my 2014. Special note: It goes without saying that I probably cried at a number of these experiences. So here goes: REAL LIFE 2014 TOP TEN: 10.  ICA Philadelphia  trip (March 2014) For my birthday, Geoff and I took a trip around the city. Everywhere we went I told everyone, "It's my birthday!" because that's the kind of person I am. We went to White Dog Cafe, Penn Book Center, Phi...

REMEMBER THAT TIME that I cheated for my Goodreads challenge because blah blah blah and this and that and this? Well, it happened. And I only KIND OF CHEATED because Goodreads in & of itself is a cheater.  I SAID IT. So here's what happened: I was so close. But then I realized I wasn't going to make it. The turtle was going to beat me. So I ran fast, and I found chapbooks that had listings on Goodreads THAT I OWNED and SHOULD HAVE READ BY NOW ANYWAY, and I made a small stack of them, and I read a number of them. I read four of them. Then, it was nearly midnight. There I sat, at my stepsister and her husband's house. Evie, their daughter, was headed to bed. It was storytime. So I read THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle and also THE DANGEROUS ALPHABET by Neil Gaiman. So that's what happened. I'm not ashamed. But I made it. I read 52 books (+) in 2014. And for 2015 my challenge is 50. I plan on cheating again if I must. So there. BOOKS READ IN DECEMBER, ...

I think I read a lot more than usual this semester? My Goodreads "progress" doesn't indicate this for a few reasons-- some books I read don't have Goodreads entries, three books I read are registered on there as one book, since I downloaded it as one on my Kindle, etc. But yeah: books read so far in 2014, according to my Goodreads account: 43/52 OCTOBER The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery I read this at kind of the same time as my friend Kathleen, and we both felt similarly about it. She was more excited about it at first and then her attention waned. My attention felt lackluster at the beginning, but as I am a "patient completist" I powered through. The ending of this book is one of those wait-I-take-it-back-now-I-want-more sorts of phenomenal. Barbery's ability to make you feel for and connect with her characters is unbearably good in the second half of this novel. I only wish I hadn't read an explanation of what the book is about...

Ah, the true beginning of the semester. I was teaching 6 classes for a majority of September, 2 of which ended as September dwindled away. I still managed to get some reading in. Here's how I did. Books Read in 2014: 35/52, according to GoodReads (I also sort of abandonned the other challenge I had been doing, of prompts for each month, though I was enjoying it. I just forgot one month to check for the prompt. Maybe I'll pick it up again now that it's October? Who knows) Want for Lion by Paige Taggart -- I needed a book of poetry that sort of roared at me and this one did the trick. So much poetry feels passive or detached, not in a bad way, but this book comes at you like, "what?!" It's jazzy and spazzy and not always punctuated and worth reading if that's your thing. I'm glad it's mine. The Self Unstable by Elisa Gabbert -- I very seriously had trouble not dog-earing every page or every other page of this collection of poems/lyric essay...