you got a way with words/you got away with murder

[boxofdelights]

• What are you reading?

Whose Story Is This? Old Conflicts, New Chapters, by Rebecca Solnit.

• What did you recently finish reading?

Trust Exercise, by Susan Choi. While I was in the middle of this book, I happened to listen to a podcast with Philip Pullman, who offered some of his criteria for not reading books: he doesn't like reading novels in the present tense, and he doesn't like novels that begin with a pronoun.

Trust Exercise's first sentence is, "Neither can drive."

Those are good rules, I decided.

But then I really liked the second part of the book, which is told from a different point of view. Was it worth slogging through those miserable high school years to get to the second part? I can't decide.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Witchmark, by C.L. Polk, for SF book group.

• What are you watching?

Going slowly through season 4 of The Good Place with Neal. How does Jason suddenly get handsome just by combing his hair different? I failed at that trick so much!

And I saw Dessa! I missed her opening act to go to the first half of book group for Parable of the Sower. I like living in a city small enough that you can see Dessa in a room with 200 people, and musical enough that she'll come. While the string quartet was leaving the stage and being replaced by a drummer and guitarist, Dessa wanted to read a poem, but she didn't want to hold the mic. She tried filling the room with her voice, and the people in back said that worked, but she decided to stand on a chair in the middle of the room instead.

Comments

[enemyofperfect]

I'm so glad you got to see Dessa and part of the book group too!

[boxofdelights]

Thanks!

[bibliofile]

Standing on a chair in the middle of the room? Makes too much sense, almost.

re: Trust Exercise
I'm kinda done with reading about other people's high school miseries. Are you allowed to skip that part and go directly to the adult section? But that's a different conversation.

I have more than one Rebecca Solnit book on my mental to-read list. I haven't seen that one, I think, but it still sounds interesting.

[boxofdelights]

Each part of Trust Exercise depends on the others, so you gotta wade through the misery or don't go at all.

Whose Story? is the newest Solnit. All the ones I've sampled are worth reading.

[lunabee34]

I'm glad you enjoyed the Dessa concert. It sounds awesome.

[boxofdelights]

Thanks!

[jesse_the_k]

Oh! Love that photo of Dessa streaming energy.

Do you do audiobooks? I have her memoir-of-a-decade-long-heart break My Own Devices which she does an excellent job narrating.

[boxofdelights]

She's so lovely.

I use audiobooks to help me go to bed. I'll see if my library has Dessa's.

[maribou]

I'm so happy for you re: Dessa.

[boxofdelights]

Thank you!