bookmulch

[bookmulch]

The First Review Wholly about One Infuriating Book.

When someone tells you who they are, believe them.

And indeed, this book was NOT for me.

After about a decade of staring at this book on my bookshelf, waiting to be read, I finally sat down and read House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. In point of fact, I sat down to read this book and decided it needed to be done in a weekend or else it was never getting done. And lo and behold I was right about that. Had I put this book down I never would have picked it back up again. The picture above is about 4 pages into House Of Leaves. Ooo. Edgy. Not for meee… Anyway.

So what the fuck is House of Leaves?

Well first, and objectively, it is about 2.5 narratives told using interesting and creative printing processes to emphasize feelings within the text. It’s experimental, it’s weird, and good God is it long.

The first narrative is about a spooky scary house. It doesn’t have ghosts or anything, just the house itself is a werewolf Bar mitzvah (that is to say; spooky scary). It is told through the lens of an academic paper being written about a documentary about this house. Neat. So many layers.

The second narrative is about a chaos goblin line cook (Johnny Truant) and his decent into madness.

The .5 narrative is about the Jonny’s mother’s decent into madness.

Had the book been published with these 2.5 parts being separate, I would have read the first narrative and enjoyed it and ignored the rest because man, I do not care about chaos goblin line cooks. I just don’t.

But Truly, this book is not for Me.

I think this book was written for teenagers, just learning about all the fun things you can do with writing. It’s an interesting compilation of writing styles and visual techniques. I genuinely think that that is cool and fun, and hey good job Danielewski. Also, the subject matter of objective reality, going insane, death, and impermanence are all written in ways that really speak to an adolescent just learning about the world. But as a full, grown-ass adult, I was mostly just rolling my eyes or thinking how cute it is that the author was trying to be dark and edgy and mlah. It’s too fucking long, man.

Part of what made this book exciting when it first came out was the aura around the book; that it was somehow underground, secret, only the cool kids knew about it. And then much like not talking about fight club, the super secret club skyrocketed in popularity.

Again, if i had read this right when it came out, I'm sure I would have absolutely drank this koolaid. I get the appeal. But I am not a sad white teenage boy. So this book is very emphatically not for me.

There are so many little bits of the story that I thought were so interesting and deserved to be explored more, but were left untouched and instead we followed this stupid decent into madness.

Also, listen, I am a scaredy-cat. I am a coward. I am horrendously anxious and everything scares me.

This horror book is not scary.

There was no point at which I was scared. Nor was there a point at which I was nervous about what might happen. And I'll tell you why; The obnoxious way in which it is written makes it damn near impossible to be completely absorbed by the story. You have to keep pulling yourself out to flip the book upside-down or inside out or shake it so the words fall out. There's not enough time spent sitting in the actual suspense. I get that the writing is used to make the reader also feel like they are going crazy. But mostly it just made me very aware that I was reading a very (literally) heavy book. (It's weighs like 4lbs and for what?)

I am also, a big dumb dummy. So maybe I "Just don't get it" Maybe if I "Got it" It would be scarier. But it did not scare me, and it did not change my life. I do not understand the airs around this book in it changing people's lives. I just don't. Did it change your life? How? Please tell me. If there is someone out there whose life was changed by this book, please for the love of all things literary, tell me how it did that.

AND ANOTHER THING There is a point near the end of the narrative (not the end of the book, which is an important distinction) at which the book starts referencing itself and becomes an ouroboros of pretension. Like, House of Leaves, and it's mythos, exist in the universe of this fictional narrative. Unacceptable.

Now the important distinction between the end of the narrative and the end of the book; this book goes on for another 100 pages after the story reaches a logical conclusion. As a result, House of Leaves doesn't actually end. Which I guess is like, the point? But you didn't need to use 700 pages to explain that life is suffering that never ends. Hey Look, I just did it in less than a sentence. Neat.

Anyway, MY point is that I managed to read this book, the biggest book I've ever read, in a weekend. The first narrative was compelling enough that I wanted to keep reading and was willing to ignore the rest of the nonsense that was going on around it. I really wish Danielewski had just written the story about the spooky ever-changing house. Which I imagine could have been done in like 300 pages or less. However the other 1.5 narratives are self-fellatio, and again, it's not for me.

So, should you read this book?

Well let me ask you this; are you a 15-25 year old white male who feels misunderstood and is probably depressed or have the mentality of the same? Then yes. You could probably read this book and enjoy it.

Are you not? Then read Piranesi instead. It's also a book about a labyrinth and a man's decent into madness, but it is almost a third of the length, is generally pleasant, and has an ending.

[bookmulch]

Best and Least-Best of 2021

It’s finally time to talk about my best and least-best from 2021, so BUCKLE UP, SLUTS!

Last year I definitely tried reading more, and then somewhere in summer I forgot that books were a thing. So, I really fell off the wagon there. I think my goal for the year was to read 30 books, which I thought was a reasonable goal given that I had read 28 the previous year. What was 2 more? Turns out, it's hubris. I only ended up reading 27 books last year. They were mostly from 2 series; Flavia de Luce Mysteries by Alan Bradley, and Discworld by Terry Pratchett. I am a woman of simple tastes. But aside from those two series I did read a couple other things. Here is a, not at all comprehensive, list of the best and least best books I read in 2021.

Best of the best MVP, now-in-my top 3 favorite books of all time:

The fabric of Civilization; How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel

This is a non-fiction, brief history of textiles and how they came to be. It is wild to think about how surrounded we are by fabric and textiles all day everyday, and take it for granted. Personally, I love textile history and this is something I think about a lot, so it was really wonderful to see things that I’ve been meditating on for so long being elucidated. Even if you’re not a big ol’ textile nerd like me, this is a really enjoyable read, well written, and endlessly fascinating. My mind was being blown like, every 3 pages, so even if you don’t care about textiles your mind will be blown at the VERY LEAST twice. Which I think is a pretty good mind-blown-per-book rate. 10/10 highly recommend everyone read because it’s good to think about the clothes that you wear every day.

Best Fiction:

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

This is a stand alone (as far as I know) fantasy story about a family of witches in Salem, Massachusetts. Around the early to mid- 19th century. The author writes the story from each sisters’ perspective and it is so powerful to feel the motivations of each of these women. It’s got everything: Witches, Demons, Lesbians, little spells you can do yourself, fairy tales, everything! I really enjoyed reading it and It’s definitely one of those books I would like to read again for the first time, but I just can’t. So hopefully you will read it for the first time and I can watch you read the whole thing and get second-hand love from that. 10/10 do recommend to a friend (Kammy, Specifically).

Best Poetry:

Songs of a Sourdough by Robert W. Service

This is required reading in Northern Canada and presumably Alaska. It’s a collection of poems about the north and the gold rush and wow. You want to see what poetry can be? Read this sucker. It’s a classic for a reason. Anyway, it made me cry more than once, but that might have to do with missing the mountains and the midnight sun. I assure you though, the writing is good enough that there’s a 50% chance you’ll cry too, even if you’ve never been. It is an excellent little snapshot of the north. A good time had by most.

Least Best:

The Rose that Blooms in the Night by Allie Michelle

I don’t really have a review for this one because I have no memory of reading this. I just saw that my rating for it was 1 star. I never give things 1 star! It must have been pretty bad. Or at the very least, not even remotely my taste. 1 star.

Honorable mentions:

Second Best Fiction:

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder)

Both a heart breaking and heart-warming story about an old math Professor with crippling short-term memory loss and the life he shares with his new house keeper and her young son. As she takes care of him, he teaches her and her son the wonderful world of math. It is told in such a beautiful way that it can make anyone at least appreciate math. (I love math so this was just double yummy for me) It’s a short little read so I recommend it for anyone who needs to feel like they’re being wrapped in a warm blanket and eating their favorite pastry while having a little cry (just a little one, tho). 10/10. It’s all or nothin’ for me bayBEE.

Right place at the right time:

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett.

One of the aforementioned Discworld books. This book came to me when I was doing a lot of deep soul searching about what I wanted to do with my time, and whether what I was doing at the time was it. The premise of the book is that the Grim reaper is forced to retire, and therefore die. But as a result, he is finally given time to actually live before he goes. As someone going through a big transition, this story meant a lot to me. It was really beautiful to watch a character so supremely important go through a big life change as well. (Also, I love terry Pratchett and I always feel like he’s speaking directly to me even though his books are well over 20 years old now and there’s no way I could have possibly appreciated them when they were written. But I have them now. And what a treasure they are.) Life is just an accumulation of time, so what do you do when you finally have time? You spend it. So there you have it, a mostly spoiler free collection of reviews of books that I mostly picked at random. What I think is particularly neat about this year of reading is that I didn't have to buy any new books in 2021. All the books I read were either borrowed or from the library, and that feels like a fun little accomplishment all on it's own. Go me. Anyway, It's time to go ok bye, love you!

[bookmulch]

Where the writing down of things all began...

2021 was really the first time I ever tried writing down my thoughts about reading. And since this blog wasn’t here in 2021, I thought I’d share those thoughts with you now. Here’s a little tasty-taste of what you’re in for with my nonsense. Please enjoy.

“A thing I did this year that I'd like to share: I read! I read a bunch of books!This is new and exciting. I wasn't a big reader until about 2 years ago when I put in a concerted effort to read more. 2019 I read 10 books in the last quarter, so I decided that in 2020 I would try to read 40! It did not work out. My math was off. But! I did read 28, which is pretty impressive for me, I'd say.I mostly read fantasy, poetry and kids books. And from that group here are some of my best and least-best choices.

Best of the best, MVP, now-in-my-top 3 favorite books of all time:

Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner.

This is a stand alone murder mystery fantasy novel. It's got a wholly unique setting, complete with fashions that I NEED the author to publish some art of, please. It's got a strong female protagonist with her own personality (wow!), female friendships, age appropriate relationships, the subversion and re-imagining of gender roles, and some gayness, too! The magic system is very similar to physics and I love how it's presented. I love this book so much 10/10 highly recommend.

Best Poetry:

When the World Didn't End, by Caroline Kaufman.

Generally pleasant and well written thoughts and poems about the (cis)woman's experience. I have read a lot of poetry about women healing from bad breakups and abusive relationships, and although the author was pretty young when she wrote these, they felt more mature than a lot of other poetry on the subject. Very nice read if you're doing some healing of your own.

Weirdest:

Lanny by Max Porter

I thought this was a kids book. THIS IS NOT A KIDS BOOK. I REPEAT:DO NOT GIVE THIS BOOK TO CHILDREN. It's the story of a British family moving out to a small village and the adventures that Lanny has now that he's closer to nature. It is told from the perspectives of the adults in his life. There is a magical/fairy tale aspect to the book so I think it's considered Magical Realism (?)CW: there is discussion of child abuse. The child in the book is not actually abused, but the topic does come up.It's a very compelling read, and I still think about it a lot.

Least Best:

The Winter of the Witch, by Katherine Arden.

The third in a trilogy. Set in medieval Russia, it's got the vibe of a folklore fairy tale. However, the main character is very much a Mary-Sue, which was mostly forgivable in the first two books because of the amount of world building and lore that was presented. This last book was more character driven, so it fell flat (much like her personality!). I got so frustrated and bored I put it down multiple times and picked up other books and finished them in it's place. I only finished it because it was my last book of 2020 and I wanted to finish it, damn it!If you're into, like, horses or whatever you might like reading this one, but also, don't.

Overall I managed to read some pretty cool books last year. Here's to more good ones this year!Honorable mentions:

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Second favorite book of the year. KNITTERS: There is knitting magic in this book and it is fabulous.  Truly could not put this book down. It explained how math looks like witchcraft! Cannot recommend enough.”

And there you have it, some pretty spoiler free reviews of some things I read an eternity ago. What a time to be alive.

In conclusion, it probably doesn’t get any better than this, but it might! who knows, I don’t! stick around to find out.

[bookmulch]

Hey Kammy! Hey Zack! And everyone else who has stopped by!

I think it was back in 2012 when I started my journey towards learning how to read. It feels like just yesterday....that's not true. It feels like 20 lifetimes ago. Anyway. To be clear, I was (and still am) completely literate. I just couldn't bring myself to sit and read.

I loved books! I wanted to illustrate books! Become a comic book artist! But sitting down to read felt like pulling my teeth out. I would honestly rather go to the dentist, past Katie would say.

In 2010 I found out that my childhood full of stomping of feet and gnashing of teeth anytime it came to assigned reading was due, in part, to an undiagnosed learning and reading disability. Turns out, I'm hella ADHD. On top of other things. So for me, that looked like enjoying stories, enjoying the tactile sensation of books, but never actually reading them. Not really.

So like I said, in 2012 I decided I would start training to read books. Kind of. I started with comics and audiobooks, and wouldn't you know it, it worked! I read more books! Ingested more literature! Practiced tracking my eyes across a page and paying attention for extended periods of time! And I got better at it.

Over time I was able to sit with actual novels, and enjoy them. It took time. A lot of time. I am NOT a fast reader, you guys. But I did it.

Eventually I started making new years resolutions not just to read more, but to read a specific number of more. And the craziest thing happened; I read the specific number of more!

I've done this for about 5 years in a row now, with varying levels of difficulty, so I thought this year I would add a little spice to the mix; a reading journal-blog-thing!

Come along with me and find out what I'm reading this year and whether it's worth your time to maybe read along, too!

And hey, if you're ADHD and wish you could care to read more, maybe I can help. If you're ADHD and wish you would read less and go to bed at a reasonable hour, I could offer suggestions, but I doubt it will help. We can just talk about books in the wee hours of the morning together, that's cool too.

I hope you stick around to see how badly I review books,

Hugs and kisses,

your pal,

Katie.