Rose > Recent Status Updates

I had to take a bit of a break to focus on work but I'm back to reading this and it continues to be great! I'm very amused to see that Arthurian legends were known in Spain back in the 16th century and as someone who has never read them despite their large presence in my life, I am learning a lot, haha.

Finally I have read both the introduction to Sancho and the ever-famous windmill scene! Enjoying the addition of Sancho so far, who adds an extra dynamic to Don Quixote's antics.

I feel like I'm constantly surprised while reading Don Quixote. I didn't realise how old the use of cardboard is and somehow the phrase "with knobs on" made an appearance which got a laugh out of me. It's also surprising just how well the comedy has held up and I find myself telling my husband all about what happened every few pages. I'm making slow progress but this is such a joy to read!

I'm a couple of short chapters in and I already feel confident in saying that this is an excellent book. It has already genuinely made me laugh multiple times, including the footnotes! I'm really looking forward to reading more.

My reservation for Don Quixote came in! And oh boy, I did not realise just how big the book is (~1k pages!). Still, I read the prologue this afternoon and if that is anything to go on, I think this is going to be a lot of fun to read.

Fascinating - Meursault felt somewhat relatable with his discomfort at the wake but quickly became less so when he felt nothing about animal or domestic abuse. I know some basic spoilers about what's to come and I can see the foreshadowing, slight though it is - constant discomfort around bright light and his third-hand connection to his neighbour's victim's slighted Arabic relatives. Lots still to read though.

Wow, it's been a while since I last enjoyed a book this much. I originally found out about Earthsea through the author's notes from The Faraway Paladin; he listed it as one of his main inspirations for the story and I took it as a recommendation. I'm glad I did as this has been an excellent read so far - definitely a must-read for Faraway Paladin fans.

Attempt #3 at participating in work's book club! A project kept me too busy to join in again until now but I'm honestly glad I'm trying again as this book is a light-hearted murder mystery and a fair amount of fun. Really different to the last two reads, thankfully. The last book was good but the dread was too much and the one before that was just aggravating...

Looking forward to finishing this one. :)

It just struck me that I've only been reading about the young Elwood for ~20 pages but I'm more invested in him and his wellbeing than I was for any of the characters in Girl, Woman, Other, haha.

This book is going to devastate me going forward. The prologue already shows where this story is headed and it gives the story this undercurrent of dread. It's all inevitable but I already keenly wish it wasn't.

The Nickel Boys is this month's book club book! I had to wait for it to be transferred between libraries so I've only got half a week to read it but as long as things don't get too bad, it should be doable.

The prologue sure was something and I have a feeling this book is going to be rather upsetting and raw in places - eek. I am definitely intrigued though!

Well, for the first time in a long while, I'm giving up on finishing a book! This book has been kind of frustrating for me and has been a bit of a chore to pick up (although it's not so bad I actively dislike reading it). There's just not enough drawing me in and there's a new book to read for the book club so it's time to give up and move on.

We had our book club meeting today! I was nervous to begin with but actually everyone was friendly and nice and I was able to calm down and open up a bit which was good. Even though this book hasn't particularly clicked with me, I'm going to keep joining in. :)

I feel like this chapter is trying to say that all the men are at fault and true worth is found from bootstrapping but I wish LaTisha took greater responsibility for her own actions. Her upset and hurt as a teen are pretty understandable but after the first unplanned pregnancy..? I can't understand the mindset of just leaving the responsibility to the men or wanting sex enough not to care. A frustrating chapter!

With my first book club meeting next week, I'm back to reading this!

Bummi's chapter had her finding happiness by moving past traditional views. Not a bad message but it gets a little muddied when a key part of her transformation is prostituting herself to finance a start-up business.

The end of the chapter reveals Bummi to be another queer woman into open relationships. Maybe it's just me but... really?

This was a dark chapter. Following her rape as a girl, Caroline desperately works to remove herself from her lot. She ends up successfully gaining access to an upper middle class lifestyle but ends up changing herself to fit in with rich whites in the process. It is implied her constant aspiration is a distraction but ultimately I think it ends on a hopeful note. Still, uncomfortable reading, that.

Honestly, I expected rape would end up featuring in a book like this. Expecting it didn't make it any easier to read though and I ended up skimming the scene and feeling a bit sick afterwards. It's one thing I really struggle with in media. Just... urgh.

Dominique's chapter was surprisingly engaging. Now I understand why the reveal of her leaving was left out of Amma's chapter - it has far more impact as the starting point of Dominique's own tale. It was harrowing to see her manipulated and relieving to see her move on and find strength again. I think the more traditional story set-up helped to make this a stronger chapter compared to the previous chapters.

I finished Yazz's chapter yesterday and ended up chatting with a friend who works in academia about the book. The first thing he said? "I wonder if that's a reference to Woman, Native, Other". I bet he's right! It's an academic book about feminism from a poc perspective so very fitting, considering this book.

Despite some of the cringey language used in this section, I am enjoying Yazz's story far more than Amma's. Amusingly, this is more because of her 3 friends than Yazz herself but the characters are overall far more interesting than the "looney left" caricatures that Amma dealt with. You still have to suspend your disbelief with them but at least they're interesting.

While the writing goes to great pains to make Yazz cringeworthy, the content of her complaint about the future isn't exactly wrong. You can't lay the state of the world solely down to boomers but the future does look bleak for younger generations and framing it this way to make the argument look bratty and childish is questionable at best.

It's a little infuriating, to be honest.

Gosh, only page 26 and that's a lot of elements introduced to the protagonist! It's so fast it seems hard to accept, although that could be an issue with me. Maybe it's the polyamory - it just seems like a bit much.

Amma's recollections are all tied strongly to Dominique. The story has skirted round the issue of her leaving - a reveal in the making, perhaps?

I've joined a real-life book club! It turns out my workplace had one all along. It's going to be an interesting endeavour as the other active members appear to be quintessential middle class women and the books they read really reflect that. I'm a very different person but I'm game for trying something new and I love to read. That, and I want to try and make some real-life friends.

So, here we go. Good luck, me.