They say that writing is a solitary act and for the most part that is true. However, one of the best and most rewarding feelings is having your work validated by others. It helps you to realize that all the time and effort are worth it.
With that said, I’d like to announce that this blog has officially passed 1,000 views. I am so incredibly grateful to everyone who has given The Voracious Bibliophile a chance so far and want to let all of you know that there is way more to come in the future. Thank you so much!
Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please follow, like, comment, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at thevoraciousbibliophile@yahoo.com or catch me on Twitter @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.
The same hammer won’t tear down all of the walls. What keeps a poor child in Appalachia poor is not what keeps a poor child in Chicago poor, even if from a distance the outcomes look the same. And what keeps an able-bodied Black woman poor is not what keeps a disabled white man poor, even if the outcomes look the same.
Initially, it was my intention to create a playlist to share with readers of this blog via Apple Music. Either I’m not tech-savvy enough to figure out how to do this or it’s not possible. My vanity leads me to believe the latter. I really like the playlist though, so I’m going to share it the old-fashioned way: I’m sending each and every one of you a scrap of parchment arriving via carrier pigeon. Ha! Just kidding. Enjoy!
#1: the lakes (original version) by Taylor Swift
#2: Waiting by Alice Boman
#3: Bleecker Street by Simon & Garfunkel
#4: Faith of the Heart by Rod Stewart
#5: Venice Bitch by Lana Del Rey
#6: Hallelujah by k.d. lang
#7: Should Have Known Better by Sufjan Stevens
#8: Hometown Glory by Adele
#9: Passionfruit by Drake
#10: Speechless by Lady Gaga
#11: Twinkle Song by Miley Cyrus
#12: Gooey by Glass Animals
#13: A Change of Heart by The 1975
#14: Good Days by SZA
#15: Face Like Thunder by The Japanese House
#16: Still Learning by Halsey
#17: Grand Piano by Nicki Minaj
#18: Chandelier (Piano Version) by Sia
#19: The Riddle by Five for Fighting
Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please follow, like, comment, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at thevoraciousbibliophile@yahoo.com or catch me on Twitter @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.
For those of you who are new readers of this blog, I recently got a promotion. I finally crawled my way to the top of the scrap heap to become my store’s General Manager. Taking stock of my environs, I knew that one of the first things I wanted to do was clean house.
Many of us get so bogged down with everyday tasks in our work and home lives that big projects often get cast to the side. But a molehill quickly becomes a mountain, which becomes a mountain range. Forgive my very labored metaphor but you get the picture.
During the time I’ve worked at my store I’ve had to look at eyesores in our storage area in the form of boxes upon boxes of old paperwork. As anyone who’s ever worked in business can tell you, paper can pile up quickly. Sales reports, policy updates, action plans, etc. continue to accumulate long past the point at which they should’ve been pitched/recycled.
Now, one should exercise caution when beginning to pitch things as each organization has its own protocols regarding paperwork retention and disposal. Once you understand the correct process(es), though, you should grab a shovel and start chucking.
So that’s what I did. I’ve currently recycled more than ten boxes’ worth of paper from reports dating back as far as 2011 and I’m still not done. The pile of papers culled from my personnel files that needed shredding was a foot thick. Side note: I bought a paper shredder for my office and it’s the reason Marie Kondo came up with #SparkJoy because it brings me so much of it.
I bought a paper shredder for my office and it’s the reason Marie Kondo came up with #SparkJoy because it brings me so much of it.
Embarking on this process has been somewhat difficult because everything I’m doing runs contrary to the way I’ve operated my life thus far. Up until now, I’ve been a fan of the “keep it just in case” organizational schematic, which unfortunately is every hoarder’s Achilles heel.
Up until now, I’ve been a fan of the “keep it just in case” organizational schematic, which unfortunately is every hoarder’s Achilles heel.
Have you ever tackled a big cleaning project that you found daunting? How did you do it? Where did you start? Let me know in the comments or email me at thevoraciousbibliophile@yahoo.com.
Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please follow, like, comment, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at thevoraciousbibliophile@yahoo.com or catch me on Twitter @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.
Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America by Laila Lalami
If they cling to a mode of dress, a language, or habit that seems too conspicuous to the majority, they might be told that they are not assimilating, or not assimilating enough. They live their lives in the particular but find it reflected back to them in the generic whether in the speeches of ambitious politicians or in the plot lines of Hollywood movies.
I’ve spent the past eight years working in some capacity as a Professional Book Person, and one question I always hate getting asked is: What is your favorite book? My eyes are rolling just thinking about it. I always want to respond by saying something along the lines of: Really, Gretchen, why did you decide to wake up this morning and choose violence? It’s a really invasive question to just throw in someone’s face.
After all, there are infinite reasons why one person loves a book while another person hates it. It’s subjective. It’s about taste. It’s about someone’s cultural background and how it’s shaped their life experiences. It’s about their class status, money, and power. It’s about the way(s) in which people conceptualize God, their spirituality, and the After. It’s about the intersection of identities that determines the amount of social capital a person wields. It’s about race, language, and citizenship status. It’s the difference between who is considered an immigrant and who’s considered an expatriate. It’s about (dis)ability and access to basic social services. It’s about where everyone fits in the big soupy melting pot of humanity. Plus, there’s the whole issue surrounding which works get canonized and which works fall (are pushed) into obscurity, and how the reason for that most often corresponds to the ways the author’s identity(ies) are either marginalized or elevated.
I said all that as a preface to my own (subjective) list, which is always changing, because *I* am always changing. Without further ado, here it is:
The Hunger Games (trilogy) by Suzanne Collins
The Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Boy Erased: A Memoir by Garrard Conley
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Dear Mr. You by Mary-Louise Parker
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein
Truth & Beauty: [A Friendship] by Ann Patchett
Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems by Danez Smith
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change by Maggie Smith
Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please follow, like, comment, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at thevoraciousbibliophile@yahoo.com or catch me on Twitter @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.
***Note: I received a free digital review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. Anthony and the Gargoyle tells the story of Anthony, a little boy who lives with his parents in a house full of photographs. These pictures tell the story of his life and his parents’ lives before him. In the background of some of them, you can see Parisian landmarks beside the smiling happy couple.
In one of the photographs, Anthony can be seen holding a pet rock. One day, this rock breaks open and from it springs a gargoyle that teaches Anthony an important lesson: sometimes loving something means being willing to let it go. He also learns along the way that love doesn’t end at separation—it can break any boundary and traverse any distance.
Perfect for fans of Aaron Becker’s Journey trilogy and Molly Idle’s Flora and Her Feathered Friends series, Anthony and the Gargoyle is sure to delight readers of all ages. It is due to be released on October 5th, 2021, and is now available to preorder wherever books are sold.
Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please follow, like, comment, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at thevoraciousbibliophile@yahoo.com or catch me on Twitter @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.
The Voracious Bibliophile 