#20booksofsummer23 — Public Fediverse posts

Yeah, summer’s long gone but I haven’t finished my reviews yet! More coming, I guess, as I did manage to read a few more!

Some books start off as one thing and then become something else and it’s ok — as I wrote about in my previous update, that happened in Dan Holloway’s Our Dreams Make Different Shapes, which morphed from coaching you in memory techniques to boost creativity into a manifesto for diversity in society and the workplace, but it all made sense.

For other books, that transformation from one thing to another doesn’t quite work. Justin Jacobs’ Indiana Jones in History should really just have dropped that last section about the space race. That’s pretty much my only quibble with the book, and once you know that’s coming, you can maybe decide to skip that section and move ahead to the final chapter which is just👌🏻

I taught a course on material culture of China, and we touched on the ethics of archaeology. I tried to ensure that one thing students would get comfortable with by the end of the course was to ask the question “How did this thing end up in this museum?” It’s common sense enough and yet few people seem to ask! This book and the excellent accompanying little YouTube videos go a long way to answering those questions. Fair warning: you may want to watch the Spielberg Indie movies before diving into all of this, because the adventurer’s story won’t be the same again.

Jacobs’ writing is geared towards the curious non-specialist, and not weighted down with notes but still based on thorough research, I can confirm for the China chapters. Definitely worth reading!

Connect with me on Bookwyrm, where I am adding details about my book reading adventures.

https://polifinario.net/ten-books-of-summer-update-book-3/

#10BooksOfSummer23 #20BooksOfSummer23 #archaeology #history #reading

I read 16 out of 20 books in my list for #20booksofsummer23 challenge and an additional 16 books for a total of 42 books read from June 1 to September 1. @bookstodon #bookstodon

Yesterday I finished my 10th book of summer. I was aiming to read 10 books off my longstanding TBR, or for various challenges, and I succeeded!

Here's my list:
https://enterenchanted.com/10-books-of-summer-summer-in-other-languages/

The second half of my list:
📖 The Black Count
📖 Voyage au centre de la Terre
📖 The Island of Missing Trees
📖 When We Were Birds
📖 Krabat

I loved them all. Have you read any of these? What were your summer reading highlights?

#20BooksOfSummer23 #Books #Bookstodon
@bookstodon

I've finished five of my 10 books of summer, so that challenge is going well!

Here's my updated list:
https://enterenchanted.com/10-books-of-summer-summer-in-other-languages/

Completed books:
📖 Auntie Lee's Deadly Specials
📖 Thomasina
📖 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
📖 The Salt Path
📖 The Count of Monte Cristo

In progress (other languages):
📖 Voyage au centre de la Terre
📖 Krabat

#20BooksOfSummer23 #Books #Bookstodon
@bookstodon

I've read nine of my #20BooksOfSummer23 list but only just managed to write the first review.

Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang:
https://www.curiositykilledthebookworm.net/2023/07/yellowface/

#books #bookstodon

My #review of The Salt Path

https://enterenchanted.com/20booksofsummer23-the-salt-path/

#20booksofsummer23
#spiritual #memoir
#nature #homelessness
#wild #camping #england

@bookstodon

@bookstodon Book Six of my #20BooksOfSummer23 challenge is Kaleidoscope, by Brian Selznick. These are delicate tales woven with gossamer thread. At the heart of these very short sequences is the feeling when the burden of one's grief is lightened by the tender care of another. It is this care which nourishes hope, healing, and restoration.

The author repeats symbols and elements, but each story belongs only to itself, and overall, what it all means is up to you. For me, it means that we might just be saved by imagination and kindness.

@bookstodon I originally misidentified the correct clown title in my #20BooksOfSummer23 list. Book Five is therefore not King Clown (Mark Lages) but rather: There Was Histrionic Laughter at the Clown's Cadaver, by Alexsander Sidriov.

This collection, beyond the obviously provocative title, is described by the author himself as parts poetry, dream journal, and autobiography, concerning identity, existence, and meaning. Sidirov has a poetry--through--process approach which emphasizes experience, expression, and reflection, as well as the myriad of ways a thing observed is a thing changed, even if that object is oneself.

The writing is fun, kicky, and gay without being cute, and idiomatic without being clichéd. The kinetic and percussive feel of the writing adds to the energy of each piece. 

@bookstodon Book Four of my #20BooksOfSummer23 is SOMEONE WHO WILL LOVE YOU IN ALL YOUR DAMAGED GLORY, by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. Extremely imaginative and very funny stories, poking at human foibles. A few of the stories went on a touch too long, but overall, this is a marvelous collection. The author truly understands what can go wrong in relationships of all kinds. You've probably never read a collection quite like this.

Bravo, Bojack Horseman!

@bookstodon Book Three of my #20BooksOfSummer23 is A BLUE SKY, by Natasha Jennings. Trigger/Content Warning: graphic descriptions of trauma and abuse.

These short stories were written by a psychiatric nurse, and depict heartbreaking narrative descriptions of what some children, teens, and young adults go through, and how they express their trauma.

Some of the stories were gut-wrenching, and two made me physically nauseous. Still, I think it's important, especially for adults who do not have PTSD, to help them understand the ways in which nightmarish episodes are revealed in behavioral and physical changes in victims.

@bookstodon Book Two of the #20BooksOfSummer23 TBR challenge: DELICATE EDIBLE BIRDS AND OTHER STORIES, by Lauren Groff.

Holy Moly! I was already a fan of Groff's short stories, but I didn't expect the author's very earliest work to be so good! Groff has a way of introducing fully-formed flawed characters who fit into a particular time, place, and circumstances, unfolding perfectly in small spaces.

For me, the challenge of #20BooksOfSummer23 is reviewing all the 20 books. I used to review everything I read but that has fallen by the wayside in recent years. I like using Cathy's challenge as a kick up the backside to review more.
#books #bookstodon

There's no way I'm joining #20BooksOfSummer23 (I tend to read long #books and read slowly (I blame HD Thoreau), so there's no way I'm getting 20 done over the summer), but I'm curious if it's following "summer" or just "warm weather"? Or everyone just uses whatever dates they want? Summer this year is June 21 to September 22, so still a few weeks until the start. (And what about the southern hemisphere? Are they going for #20BooksOfWinter23 ?)

#bookstodon @bookstodon

I've joined the #20booksofsummer23 challenge! Here are my 20! https://jillsreads.com/20-books-of-summer-challenge/ #bookstodon