Five Books

[@Johanna_reads]

Hooray for ending the reading slump! The story you shared about Coates’s encounter with the book ban is unsettling. Sounds like an impactful read!

[@BookishTexan]

@@Johanna_reads it was indeed. But the think I’ll reread it.

[@myreadinglife8816]

You had a really great reading month! I am very much looking forward to reading The Message.

[@BookishTexan]

I have thank you

[@1book1review]

YAY, no more reading slump! I'm impressed that you can discard a biographer as you read more than one biography by them.

[@BookishTexan]

@@1book1review Two was enough in this case. Tomalin is not for me.

[@krc5210]

The Message sounds like a must read for me. I've seen it pop up here and there, as you do, and then someone reviews it, like this, and it pops out. TY. I read Bird by Bird shortly after it was published so I wasn't influenced/altered by social media at the time. I didn't enjoy it for reasons I don't remember now.

[@BookishTexan]

I think The Message is very good. I hope you like it if you get the chance to read it. Bird by Bird was disappointing, but for me it was partly a matter of expectations.

[@pennyg156]

I agree completely with your assessment of The Message. I just finished it but feel like I need to reread. Glad you had a good reading month already.

[@BookishTexan]

Thanks Penny. Glad I’m not alone.

[@EveningReader]

Putting The Message on my TBR. Have a great weekend, Brian.

[@BookishTexan]

It was good. Feels like I need to reread it soon.

[@readandre-read]

My nonfiction November took a mood hit but I'm trying to regroup. I'm adding Minor Feelings to my list - it sounds interesting and my library has it.

[@BookishTexan]

Its ideas are interesting even if sometimes I thought she spent too much time on her friendships.

[@BookwormAdventureGirl]

A good group of nonfiction. Bird by Bird and The Message are both on my tbr. 😊💙

[@BookishTexan]

I hope you enjoy both.

[@GemofBooks]

Minor Feelings sounds really interesting, I’m always on the look out for a good essay collection, so thanks for putting that on my radar 👍🏻

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you. She covers some really interesting things that I hadn’t thought about.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebooks]

Loved listening to you sounding so energised by your recent reading.

[@BookishTexan]

It has been a good start

[@alldbooks9165]

Really looking forward to the new Coates.

[@BookishTexan]

It’s good.

[@RaynorReadsStuff]

Some great books there. I really want to read some Ta-Nehisi Coates

[@BookishTexan]

The Coates book was really interesting and well written. I feel like I need to reread it.

[@CharlieBrookReads]

Such an interesting selection of books you have read recently. Sorry had a couple of disappointments. I hope you continue to find some more good books though 😊📚❤️

[@BookishTexan]

It’s been a good month even with the mildly disappointing books.

[@heathereads]

Good to hear your experience reading Tomalin. Hi Zelda!

[@BookishTexan]

Thanks

[@davidnovakreadspoetry]

I’m on the list at the Public Library for the Coates. He is the most admirable figure I can think of today among the Public Intellectual class. I don’t especially like his writing but that doesn’t in the least detract from him in my esteem - the sh*t which has happened to him (and even worse to Medhi Hasan) for stances taken in the media spotlight is abominable. His courage combined with insight is remarkable - as well as his inclination to dig deeper and not stay entrenched in fixed opinions.

[@BookishTexan]

@@davidnovakreadspoetry I agree with all except I do admire his writing.

[@joniheisenberg]

I agree with your assessment of Tomalin’s biography of Dickens. I found it dull. I think the best biographers give you a real sense of the person as well as their life and the time during which they lived. Both “Red Comet” by Heather Clark & “KING- A Life” by Jonathan Eig, succeed magnificently in that area. Just picked up David Greenberg’s biography of John Lewis.

[@BookishTexan]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who Tomalin’s Dickens bio bored. I’m about halfway through the Lewis bio and am really enjoying it.

[@reflectiverambling1148]

I highly dislike when things aren't told in order either unless there's some other structural element that helps you see why. Say at least being consistent in time period before X then after to maybe relate to how that event effected the later. Even still, it's hard for me to grasp. The last four sound very interesting. So far this month I've checked of Spirals in Time, a look at shells and the biology of their inhabitants as well as the social-economical and historical uses/influences. Mixed experiences. Then an Indigenous People's History of the US, and then got an early release of the audio version of Twenty Years: Hope, War, and the Betrayal of an Afghan Generation Twenty Years: Hope, War, and the Betrayal of an Afghan Generation really enjoyed that, surprised at how empathetic it could be in giving perspective of even some people that otherwise you might find to be horrible. Not justifying, but giving the perspective, not pointing a blame finger in any direction just showing this whole messy spiral.

[@BookishTexan]

@@reflectiverambling1148 Glad to know that it’s not just me. An Indigenous People’s History of the US was a book I enjoyed. That book about Afghanistan sounds great. I’ll have to add it to my never ending TBR.

[@LaurieInTexas]

I read the Jane Austen biography by Tomalin in March and I wasn't overly impressed. She took 10 chapters to give the background of the family and the neighbors which seemed overly long to me. I know family and friends matter in biographies, but it took too long to focus on Jane herself. I have a biography of Dickens by another author on my shelf and it sounds like I should stick with it and not read Tomalin's book. I need to read more by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I've only read Between the World and me, but I have The Beautiful Struggle on my shelves and have meant to read it for so long.

[@BookishTexan]

I had almost the exact same reaction to the Austen biography. I think you are wise to stick with the other Dickens bio.

[@MarcNash]

You're having a far more successful Non-Fic November than I am. Not finished either of the 2 I've started. Picking up another one today which self-identifies as an anti-memoir. Seems like if my non-fic coats itself as fiction, I have a better chance!

[@BookishTexan]

Nonfiction just seems to be landing just right with me right now.

[@MarcNash]

@@BookishTexan Think I'm just too much of a fiction junky with collapsed veins to find a receptive site in which to inject non-fic.

[@HannahsBooks]

I too dislike Claire Tomalin as a biographer. In fact, I hated Tomalin’s biography The Young HG Wells more than any book I have ever read-and wrote a scathing review for the Washington Independent Review of Books.

[@BookishTexan]

I read and enjoyed your review. This is probably unfair, but she seems like she thinks a bit too highly of herself.

[@TimeTravelReads]

I'm glad you found some books you liked.

[@BookishTexan]

Me too!

[@eyesonindie]

AH! I felt the exact same way when I read Bird by Bird several years ago. Totally underwhelmed. I felt the same way about On Writing by Stephen King - went into it with really high expectations because of how much it is talked about and revered. But mostly it just got on my nerves.

[@BookishTexan]

I read the King book long enough ago to be impressed by the no adverb thing, Not much else stuck.

[@eyesonindie]

The adverb tip makes it hard to read middle grade books with my kiddo. They are ALL riddled with adverbs.

[@ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

I always confuse Claire Tomalin with Claire Harman and can never remember which I like. I had been thinking about picking up that Dickens bio but maybe I’ll pass on it. I also don’t like non chronological bios or author judgements.

[@BookishTexan]

I definitely think there are better Dickens bios out there. There have to be.

[@user-iz6cc6lz3j-Vickie]

I have 3 biographies on dickens and am glad it’s not that one.

[@BookishTexan]

@@user-iz6cc6lz3j-Vickie Ha! I’m glad for you.

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

⚛❤

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

I’m sorry you were disappointed by Bird by Bird I loved it. But it’s been around for a long time, so no, you wouldn’t find anything new in it. I liked The Message but not as much as I liked Between the World and Me. I was much less moved than you were by the third essay.

[@BookishTexan]

I feel the same about The Message. I think my expectations for Bird by Bird were too high so it’s my fault.