May 2024 Books and Reading Notes

May was a pretty good month for reading. I had some down time and managed to fill it with books, like I did regularly when I was much younger.

Acquisitions

New books arrived in May 2024

  1. Eva Baltasar (Julia Sanches, translator), Mammoth (And Other Stories) [2024.05.07] – This is the most recent addition to my collection from my subscription to And Other Stories.
  2. Vanessa Angélica Villareal, Magical Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders [2024.05.18] – This was an impulse buy I made after seeing the title mentioned favorably by Jeff VanderMeer on one social media account or another.
  3. Zig Zag Claybourne, Breath, Warmth, & Dream (Obsidian Sky Books) [2024.05.20] – This was a Kickstarter reward from a recently-completed campaign. I met Zig Zag at ConFusion, back in, I think, 2016. He is a superb writer and overall a most excellent human being.
  4. Dinara Mirtalipova, Russian Tales: Traditional Stories of Quests and Enchantments [2024.05.28] – This was a birthday gift from my partner. It is gorgeous!

Reading List

Books I read in May 2024

Books

  1. Ian Monk and Daniel Levin Becker (editors), All that is Evident is Suspect: Readings from the Oulipo 1963 – 2018 [2024.05.08]
  2. Daniel Suarez, Kill Decision (e-book, re-read) [2024.05.10]
  3. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Mexican Gothic [2024.05.13]
  4. João Gilberto Noll (Adam Morris, translator), Atlantic Hotel [2024.05.16]
  5. Sarah Hans, An Ideal Vessel [2024.05.18]
  6. César Aira, The Proof [2024.05.20]
  7. Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind [2024.5.28]
  8. Glen Cook, The Black Company (e-book, re-read) [2024.05.31]

Short Prose

  1. Oskar Pastior, “Rules of the Game”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.01]
  2. Hervé Le Tellier, “A Few Musketeers”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.02]
  3. Pierre Rosenstiehl, “Frieze of the Paris Métro”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.02]
  4. Jacques Jouet, “Poem of the Paris Métro”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.02]
  5. Harry Mathews, “Sainte Catherina”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.02]
  6. Jacques Jouet, “The Republic of Beau-Locks”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.03]
  7. Ian Monk, “We Did Everything”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.03]
  8. François Caradec, “On the End of Time”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.03]
  9. Paul Fournel, “Novels”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.03]
  10. Anne F. Garréta, “N-evol”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.04]
  11. Olivier Salon, “Invisible Cities: Lille”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.04]
  12. Jacques Roubaud, “Arrangements”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.04]
  13. Frédéric Forte, “99 Preparatory Notes to 99 Preparatory Notes”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.04]
  14. Pablo Martín Sánchez, “Metric Poetry”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.05]
  15. Étienne Lécroart, “Eodermdromes”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.05]
  16. Harry Mathews, “Narrative Sestinas”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.05]
  17. Étienne Lécroart, “Counting On You”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.05]
  18. Hervé Le Tellier, “Liquid Tales”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.05]
  19. Bernard Cerquiglini, “A Very Busy Year”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.05]
  20. Olivier Salon, “Shark Poem”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.06]
  21. Ross Chambers, “Brief Encounter”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.06]
  22. Daniel Levin Becker, “Writer’s Block”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.06]
  23. Jacques Roubaud, “⊂”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.06]
  24. Marcel Bénabou, “Our Beautiful Zeroine”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.06]
  25. Paul Fournel, “The Beautiful Appetite”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.06]
  26. Valérie Beaudouin, “Northern Line”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.07]
  27. Michèle Audin, “Caroline, October 21, 1935”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.07]
  28. E. Berti & P. Martin Sánchez, “Microfictions”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.07]
  29. Daniel Levin Becker, “Epithalamia”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.07]
  30. Frédéric Forte, “The Pitch-Drop Experiment”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.07]
  31. Clémentine Mélois, “Louise”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.07]
  32. Michèle Audin, “No One Remembers”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.08]
  33. Ian Monk, “Return(s)”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.08]
  34. Eduardo Berti, “An Ideal Presence”, All that is Evident is Suspect [2024.05.08]
  35. Jim C. Hines, “Daddy’s Little Girl”, Patreon [2024.05.29]
  36. Jim C. Hines, “Gift of the Kites”, Patreon [2024.05.29]

March 2024 Books and Reading Notes

After reading one gigantic book (Demons, Dostoevsky), and well over a dozen shorter books and journals, I have settled into a more sedate reading pace, with a few novels and nonfiction titles for this month. Feels like I have found my reading groove after a chaotic reading start to the reading year. Also, reading would be a good adjective modifier, like “fucking” or “smurfing.”

Acquisitions

Books acquired in March 2024.

  1. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Mexican Gothic [2024.03.13] – Purchased from Books and Mortar bookstore in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
  2. Jason McBride, Eat Your Mind: The Radical Life and Work of Kathy Acker [2024.03.23] – Ordered and purchased from Books and Mortar bookstore.
  3. Edward W. Said, Orientalism [2024.03.23] – Ordered and purchased from Books and Mortar bookstore.
  4. Nikole Hannah-Jones (creator), The 1619 Project [2024.03.23] – Purchased at Harmony Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Books and Mortar had a popup sale of banned books in the bar, and this one caught my eye. It had been on my radar for a while, and this seemed like a good opportunity to add it to the library.

Reading List

Book Read in March 2024

Books and Journals

  1. R.F. Kuang, Babel [2024.03.11]
  2. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment [2024.03.16]
  3. Kai Ashante Wilson, The Devil in America [2024.03.17]
  4. Jazmina Barrera (Christina MacSweeney, translator), Linea Nigra [2024.03.18]
  5. Bjørn Rasmussen (Martin Aitken, translator), The Skin is the Elastic Covering That Encases the Entire Body [2024.03.20]
  6. Herman Melville, Bartleby [2024.03.23]
  7. William Meikle, The Plasm [2024.03.24]
  8. Wolfgang Hilbig, The Females [2024.03.26]
  9. Jung Young Moon (Jung Yewon, translator), Seven Samurai Swept Away in a River [2024.03.29]

Short Prose

  1. Herman Melville, “Bartleby”, Bartleby [2024.03.23]
  2. Herman Melville, “The Lightning-Rod Man”, Bartleby [2024.03.23]
  3. Jim C. Hines, “In the Line of Duty”, Patreon post [2024.03.31]