Mid-Month Reading Update: Everything Everywhere All At Once, Apparently
Plus all the links that I've bookmarked for you over the past month.
Hi, friends.
Life is chaos, and chaos is life.
(Back in 2021, I took an advanced grammar course with Rufi Thorpe via Catapult, and that was my submission when she asked us to write a chiasmus. She told me it was the best one she’d ever received. Is this my proudest accomplishment? Not no.)
Returning to work from parental leave these past four weeks has been even more mentally exhausting than I expected (and oh, I expected). Plus, I somehow kicked off the month by starting five different books at once. They all had a purpose — one chapter-a-day project, one for the treadmill, one for a buddy read, one audiobook, and one “normal” book — but it took me forever to finish any of them.
But I HAVE been reading! Even between lovely social plans, like hosting one of my closest friends (and fellow bookstagrammer) Danielle this past weekend, and my trip to NYC for the National Book Award after party in just a few days (!).
Speaking of which: I couldn’t decide if I wanted next week’s newsletter to be an NBA party recap or the gift guide I’ve been planning, so you’re going to get both (fingers crossed). Hopefully those are both sufficiently exciting for you to forgive me barging into your inbox more frequently than usual. <3
Anyway, on to the mid-month check-in!
What I’ve read so far this month
What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson† 🎧: I can’t shut up about this book. It was so good. Johnson is the writer who gave us All We Can Save, and this was just as hopeful and optimistic without being fluffy or feeling wrong for this particular moment in time. Just what I’ve needed the past few weeks. I highly recommend the audio — the book is 100% composed of interviews, and so she just plays the actual interviews. It kind of feels more like a podcast series than a book. Please download this and listen to it!!!
Fevered Star (Between Earth and Sky, #2) by Rebecca Roanhorse 📖🎧: I’m SO glad that I decided to reread these before picking up Mirrored Heavens next month. I had forgotten…literally everything, lol. Roanhorse is just so good, and now I can’t wait to finish the trilogy.
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood 📖: This was my last read from the Booker shortlist! Not my favorite, but this year’s list is so strong that that’s definitely not a knock — it was great. That said, content warning for an absolutely unhinged infestation/plague of mice. 🤢
Currently reading
Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, #1) by Robin Hobb 📖🎧
Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts* 📖 — this is the one where I’m reading a chapter a day
Still on my November TBR
Will I get to all of these before December comes? Chances are slim to none. The adventure will be seeing which ones and how many.
The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman† — this is up next because I simply CANNOT carry it over to next month’s TBR even one more time
The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1) by Samantha Shannon
The Voyage Home by Pat Barker*†
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang*†
Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst*†
*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher
A Thanksgiving feast of links
In case you missed it, I wrote a guest post for
’s newsletter! It’s all about how my TBR system helps me get the most out of my reading. I hope you like it!In prize news:
Orbital by Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize. I’m so pleased; I loved this one. We’re reading it in December for Booker of the Month!
It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken won the Ursula K Le Guin Prize. It hadn’t really been on my radar, but now I have it on hold at the library.
The Aspen Words Literary Prize longlist has been announced, and there are three (!) Booker crossovers.
Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, NY is transitioning from a co-op to a nonprofit business model in order to create a sustainable future for the store. To pull it off, they need to raise $100,000 by the end of the year, and they’re halfway there. They’re selling $100 annual memberships that get you 5% off every purchase (and warm-and-fuzzies for supporting such a phenomenal entity). Buy one if you can, or donate any amount to help!
Also read anything Saeed Jones writes.
The New York Times wrote about how “Librarians Face a Crisis of Violence and Abuse” — and this is such a problem here in rural upstate New York. That’s a gift link; please read it.
Ann Patchett and her publisher are selling an annotated edition of Bel Canto, and I’ll take 14 of them right now. Here’s a little thing she wrote about the process for LitHub, including a preview of the first few pages.
I’m probably late to the party, but this guy is my new favorite Instagram follow. I am fascinated and entertained! Just trust me.
From
, which you should absolutely subscribe to: “Five Things You Can Do Right Now: How to Protect Yourself and Each Other.”
As always, thanks for sharing your corner of the internet with me! It would mean a lot if you were to take a second to like this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, too.
Finally, if you like this newsletter, please send a few friends my way.
See you on Instagram!
— Deedi (she/her)
Our Evenings is my current obsession.
That unhinged plague of mice actually happened in Queensland in (I think) 2021. It doesn't bare thinking about!