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AMY Amy has been reading books for a long time, always figured she'd end up working in a bookstore, figured right, and has been doing so for awhile now. She's hoping that's a sign of untapped clairvoyance. When not reading she enjoys going to local arts events, tending to her Animal Crossing town, and taking pictures of the stray cats in her neighborhood. When reading she likes books that tell her things she didn't know she needed to know, and books that hold magic between their pages. When she's lucky she finds ones that do both. |
St. Aubyn brilliantly captures the interior struggles of a man plagued by family trauma. Haunted by an emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive father, an emotionally absent mother, and the subsequent anger, drug abuse, alcoholism, and self-loathing that followed - Patrick Melrose is, perhaps surprisingly, one of the most sympathetic and relatable characters in modern literature. Underneath all of this horror and trauma, there is hope, and humor. Maybe because hope and humor are what help so many people navigate that terror, and that trauma. Patrick perseveres through many a stumbling block and relapse, through moments of extreme selfishness, through times of blindness to those in his life, but first and foremost he perseveres with the desire not to pass on the legacy of cruelty and abuse he inherited. This series is dark, and a rough read at times, but it’s also one of the most brilliantly written pieces of fiction I’ve ever read. It could be the way the words are woven together, the intense looks into Patrick’s interior narrative at his darkest moments, the humor peppered throughout the stories that is never inappropriate, but somehow always necessary and perfectly placed - or maybe it’s all of those things that makes this series one of the most impactful reads of my adult life.
Honey and Clover follows a group of friends in art school as they learn their trades, and about life as they cross the bridge into the adult world. Throughout the series I was frequently surprised by it's profundity. There are so many beautiful and insightful moments, from the deeply introspective to the existential. It may remind you of the coming of age years when everything seemed so full of possibility and purpose, or perhaps it will help you believe that everything still is.
Abdurraqib is expert at weaving together the personal and the pop-cultural. He shows his readers his pain through the lens of what he was listening to at that time, through what was going on in his hometown, what was going on in America at large. The whole collection is beautiful, but my favorite poem at the moment is DUDES WE DID NOT GO THROUGH THE HASSLE OF GETTING THESE FAKE IDS FOR THIS JUKEBOX TO NOT HAVE ANY SPRINGSTEEN.
Wicked + Diving tackles ideas of idolatry, especially modern idolatry, in such a fascinating way. Old gods are reincarnated as pop stars, parallels between religious and cultural idolatry are explored, and we're reminded of how often culture treats the rich and famous like gods among men. You may recognize some homages to familiar faces - Hello David Bowie and Daft Punk. This series is phenomenal, unputdownable, and full of surprises and sensory overload in the best possible way.
Just like Georgia's experiment, this book is Colorific! The illustrations are vibrant and stunning, and the story reminds us that art and science are not exclusive, but can often go together to create beautiful things.
This book is beautiful. It's a call for children to get to know their feelings, to not be afraid of their sadness, but rather to ask questions like why it's there and what it needs. A primer for dealing with an emotion that can be difficult, sometimes unexpected, and sometimes scary, especially for those just getting to know their varied emotions.
A surprisingly profound book. Cicada works very hard, harder than anyone, and yet Cicada is very mistreated by their boss and coworkers. An illustration for our times, for increasing corporate disregard for humanity, and for the sad reality that those seen as "other" are so frequently abused.
Lorena Alvarez enchants again. In HICOTEA absolutely magical illustrations accompany a story about curiosity and the natural world. We revisit Sandy and her creativity in this field-trip tale of nature and discovery.
