Morfa Conwy, Sir Kyffin Williams
Here are the things I read and thought about in January.
Books I read that were very good: The Glass Castle (stunning) and Native Guard, Natasha Trethewey's collection of poetry that explores history and memory.
"The Fourth State of Matter," by Jo Ann Beard.
"The Art of Memoir," by Mary Clearman Brew. "I know that once I write about the past, I will have changed the past, in a sense set it in concrete, and I will never remember it in quite the same way. The experience itself is lost; like the old Sunday storytellers who told and retold their stories until what they remembered was the tale itself, what I will remember is what I have written."
Tavi interviews Lorde. Magic. (Here's Lorde's Pure Heroine in full.)
A poem.
"I read voraciously, across all genres, trying each time to recapture that feeling I had when I readHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the sensation of two doors opening inside my head—one leading into the outside world, huge and new and endlessly interesting; the other leading inward to myself, whole reserves of memory and emotion and sensation that I did not yet know about or understand. I’ve loved many books in the years since I first read Harry Potter, but I’ve never again had that curious, enveloping feeling, the feeling that the book loves me back." Katie Coyle.
Pacific Standard and artisanal toast.
"I loved all these women, admired the blunt way they rebuffed catcalls, their elaborate, full-bodied eyerolls to everyday indignities, and they way they asked for what they wanted, talked about their relationship troubles, money problems, admiring their shade of lip color, the way they openly and bluntly talked about things like their marriages dissolving, sexual assault, giving birth—the real-world shit that comes with being a woman that doesn’t come up unless you dig in and take root." Jenna Wortham writes an ode to a year of female friendships.
Rookie writer Hazel Cills on why she's sick of articles about teenage girls written by grown-up men. "When you applaud or critique a young girl’s taste based on how well or badly it aligns with yours, you are suggesting that your taste = THE RIGHT TASTE, because you are the one IN THE KNOW."
"A story is not like a road to follow … it's more like a house." This Alice Munro quote.
I loved Frances Ha. This bit was perfect.
And I love these songs (one, two) by Speck Mountain.
Jessica Stanley's wonderful, short reflection on new motherhood.
“My dad and uncles didn’t need to know about it. Neither did my teammates. But I could sense something happening inside of me: reading was making me whole.”
"WARNING: There are probably Dan Brown spoilers here, but come on, seriously." Marginalia!
Books I read that were very good: The Glass Castle (stunning) and Native Guard, Natasha Trethewey's collection of poetry that explores history and memory.
"The Fourth State of Matter," by Jo Ann Beard.
"The Art of Memoir," by Mary Clearman Brew. "I know that once I write about the past, I will have changed the past, in a sense set it in concrete, and I will never remember it in quite the same way. The experience itself is lost; like the old Sunday storytellers who told and retold their stories until what they remembered was the tale itself, what I will remember is what I have written."
Tavi interviews Lorde. Magic. (Here's Lorde's Pure Heroine in full.)
A poem.
"I read voraciously, across all genres, trying each time to recapture that feeling I had when I readHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the sensation of two doors opening inside my head—one leading into the outside world, huge and new and endlessly interesting; the other leading inward to myself, whole reserves of memory and emotion and sensation that I did not yet know about or understand. I’ve loved many books in the years since I first read Harry Potter, but I’ve never again had that curious, enveloping feeling, the feeling that the book loves me back." Katie Coyle.
Pacific Standard and artisanal toast.
"I loved all these women, admired the blunt way they rebuffed catcalls, their elaborate, full-bodied eyerolls to everyday indignities, and they way they asked for what they wanted, talked about their relationship troubles, money problems, admiring their shade of lip color, the way they openly and bluntly talked about things like their marriages dissolving, sexual assault, giving birth—the real-world shit that comes with being a woman that doesn’t come up unless you dig in and take root." Jenna Wortham writes an ode to a year of female friendships.
Rookie writer Hazel Cills on why she's sick of articles about teenage girls written by grown-up men. "When you applaud or critique a young girl’s taste based on how well or badly it aligns with yours, you are suggesting that your taste = THE RIGHT TASTE, because you are the one IN THE KNOW."
"A story is not like a road to follow … it's more like a house." This Alice Munro quote.
I loved Frances Ha. This bit was perfect.
And I love these songs (one, two) by Speck Mountain.
Jessica Stanley's wonderful, short reflection on new motherhood.
“My dad and uncles didn’t need to know about it. Neither did my teammates. But I could sense something happening inside of me: reading was making me whole.”
"WARNING: There are probably Dan Brown spoilers here, but come on, seriously." Marginalia!
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