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BookerTalk,
Sorry I missed this comment until now.
You are absolutely right, I need to re-assess stuff much more frequently than I do. I don't actually deal with change very well but as I find myself running out of time--daily and in the larger sense--I'm getting the idea that my lack of interest in changing needs to change.
Yeah, Medium. Basically another blogging platform where you can "monetize" articles, but you really only make sufficient money if you write about tech, sex, or self-help. If you subscribe for $5 a month, you can read unlimited articles; otherwise I think they limit you to a few per month. Now they are running a thing where they want people who write on the platform to sell subscriptions...you get a kickback if someone subscribes through your link. Which really turned me off. Let's face it, if I wanted to be in sales, I would just go do that for a job and actually make money.
Except I am terrible at sales and we all know it.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for the good luck wishes!
Changes Coming to Citizen Reader.
Hello, dearest Citizen Reader readers and lovers of all things nonfiction and books! It's been a summer of change after a year of change and I'm looking forward to some more change this fall and winter. I hope that change does not involve the CRjrs picking up Covid now that they're back in schoo...
I just thought you were very organized, shopping already for next August!
What are the odds you would have family from New Auburn, WI? Small world.
Yeah, the book recommendations thing is funny. I think I'm bad at it at least partially because the way most books are recommended to me are not the way I like to get recommendations. So, although I do tend to like strong characters and follow other "appeal factors," mostly I DO NOT want something like something I just read and enjoyed. If I've just read a romance, then I want something different. And if someone I know thought a book was great, even if it's not my type of book usually--I'll always give it a try. I always like to hear about "good" or high quality books, even though I know we're not supposed to make such judgments anymore.
What's your favorite genre and what's a good book from it? Do share!
Discretionary Spending, CR-style.
Disclaimer: I have probably never done enough charitable giving.* Disclaimer Explainer: This is largely for two reasons: 1. We don't have a lot of spare cash. Mr. CR and I are united in our desire to cover our own bills and to help the CRjrs cover theirs, and that pretty much takes what we earn....
Bybee!
So sorry, your comment went to spam and I just found it.
Random Family holds up. I'm dying to hear what you think of it.
Hope you and yours are having as healthy a summer as can be expected--
How did it get to be July 30, 2021?
It seems like just yesterday I was posting about July 30 as National Whistleblower Day, and here we are again. Happy National Whistleblower Day! I wish I could report better news on the "let's be more humane as a society to the people who tell us about all the illegal and immoral secret shit goi...
Sarah,
Thank you for the comment.
I think "The Corner" should be required reading everywhere, period. Even more so than "Homicide" or watching "The Wire." I felt so many things reading "The Corner." An understanding of how hard drug addicts actually do work (hustling up cash for a fix every day is work, let's face it) to feed their habit, and also how such beautiful roots of community are present in the urge many people have to sit on their stoops or stand at the corners and watch their neighborhoods, and how that has all been twisted by drugs and violence and money and guns. So sad. So human and so sad.
Now I'm reading books about "The Wire."
If you knew how much of my mental energy in the past few years has gone to thinking about the collected works of David Simon (including his fantastic True Crime classic Homicide, his more personal and sociological book The Corner, and of course, the TV show he wrote and produced, The Wire) you w...
Such a cruel world. What other people don't do to us our bodies do to us. Brutal.
Wow, a series about Alzheimer's Disease. That would be a tough one to watch too.
Now I'm reading books about "The Wire."
If you knew how much of my mental energy in the past few years has gone to thinking about the collected works of David Simon (including his fantastic True Crime classic Homicide, his more personal and sociological book The Corner, and of course, the TV show he wrote and produced, The Wire) you w...
Ruthiella!
It's actually a little wrong how much I love TV and how much it feeds my soul. I console myself for being such a TV addict by trying to read a lot too. :)
In another part of this book one of the actors (I think it was the guy who played Bubble, who is a great actor) talks about how, between the two creators of Ed Burns and David Simon, he was actually a little afraid of Ed Burns, because evidently Burns just totally believes that the current system needs to be blown up. The end. (Burns worked as both a cop and a teacher in Baltimore, which is part of why The Wire is so great, and also part of why I trust and agree with Burns. I always respect the people who have done the real work.) Even Simon, with his insistence that systems can't be reformed, although maybe individuals can, was not as disturbing to the actor.
Your opinion on The New Jim Crow title, please?
Now I'm reading books about "The Wire."
If you knew how much of my mental energy in the past few years has gone to thinking about the collected works of David Simon (including his fantastic True Crime classic Homicide, his more personal and sociological book The Corner, and of course, the TV show he wrote and produced, The Wire) you w...
Hi Care!
What did the other reviewer say about this one? I actually thought I'd have seen more press of this one, considering the author's mother is Barbara Ehrenreich and it's on a very timely topic.
Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City, by Rosa Brooks.
I'm a total sucker for police procedurals, in both book and TV form (hello The Wire, best TV program ever), so it should come as no surprise that I found Rosa Brooks's new book Tangled Up In Blue: Policing the American City, to be a fascinating read. Brooks, a journalist and Georgetown Univer...
No worries! If it bothers you I can fix it up next time I log in to Typepad. :) Just too lazy to do it tonight.
It's not everyone's cuppa for comfort reading, I'll grant you.
Over this past weekend, being completely out of Agatha Raisins, I turned my attention back to nonfiction. On Friday night I watched a documentary titled We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, which was about WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. Bonus points: I learned that Assange is actually an Aus...
Mr. CR thinks it's nuts. Weirdly it helps me not worry about my own little world here, which I tend to do too much.
I've read LOTS of British escapism, including having my homepage set to YahooUK! (meaning I haven't actually seen an American news headline for a long time, it's AWESOME). So I totally support that reading. Might have to look into "The Diana Chronicles."
Always nice to chat with you too, thanks for commenting!
It's not everyone's cuppa for comfort reading, I'll grant you.
Over this past weekend, being completely out of Agatha Raisins, I turned my attention back to nonfiction. On Friday night I watched a documentary titled We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, which was about WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. Bonus points: I learned that Assange is actually an Aus...
Circle back round anytime, with wine, without wine, with snowy champagne, without...
I firmly believe every high school in the world should have a one-semester class called "My Lai." There will be units on inappropriate use of the military, colonialism, how not to treat women, how not to treat humans of any kind, how not to obey authority, why you don't put a bunch of teenage guys together and expect good things to happen, and also units on the importance of not shooting people who weren't personally bothering you, the importance of talking about what you've seen, and how to try and heal trauma and PTSD and oh yes, actual wounds. Actually it might need to be a year-long course.
Like vampires are even scary compared to My Lai. Garlic is widely available.
It's not everyone's cuppa for comfort reading, I'll grant you.
Over this past weekend, being completely out of Agatha Raisins, I turned my attention back to nonfiction. On Friday night I watched a documentary titled We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, which was about WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. Bonus points: I learned that Assange is actually an Aus...
Ugh is right on the prostitution, particularly child prostitution, following "peacekeeping" troops. For God's sake, people.
On the heels of that understanding, yup, more comfort reading is def in order. I might have to go big and just hammer the jeeves and wooster (or just give up and watch the TV version starring Fry and Laurie). Thanks for the Amelia Peabody reminder...might have to try that...although I have memories of trying the McCall Smith series and it just wasn't my cuppa. Then again I used to think that about Agatha Raisin. Might have to revisit Mma Ramotswe. Thanks!
Evolution of a reading obsession.
I'm still reading everything I can find about whistleblowers. When I finally finished every Agatha Raisin cozy mystery I could get (yes, the whole series, 31 titles, although I see there's a new one expected at the end of next year*) over the holiday season, I celebrated by going back to my typi...
Yeah, I just don't like him. Didn't know he is in fact a big pot smoker. Huh. You learn something every day.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/11/elon-musks-totally-awful-batshit-crazy-most-excellent-year?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Also, he's a real shithead to whistleblowers:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-13/when-elon-musk-tried-to-destroy-tesla-whistleblower-martin-tripp
Your Friday Giggle: Welcome to the Future.
My most fervent desire for Elon Musk is that he eventually shoots himself into space and we never have to hear about him ever again. Seriously, I hate him. And all his kind. So when I saw there was an entire parody book titled Welcome to the Future: Which Is Mine, by "Not Elon Musk," well, you...
But would he smoke a joint with you? He doesn't really seem like the laidback type.
I don't know, I just don't like him. I don't like the way we reward these tech "geniuses" with all our money and adulation. I don't even understand the basic appeal of the Tesla brand. For one thing, I think it's un-democratic that they can only ever go to Tesla-approved repair shops (with stories like this one, https://www.sfgate.com/cars/article/tesla-repair-wait-time-complaints-electric-car-13796037.php).
Ugh. Born rich, came up with a stupid car to sell other rich people, will die rich. What an absolute zero.
Your Friday Giggle: Welcome to the Future.
My most fervent desire for Elon Musk is that he eventually shoots himself into space and we never have to hear about him ever again. Seriously, I hate him. And all his kind. So when I saw there was an entire parody book titled Welcome to the Future: Which Is Mine, by "Not Elon Musk," well, you...
DREW!!
So glad you picked up "Fist Stick Knife Gun." Was that a mindblower or what? Talk about a book that should be required high school reading--equal parts honest, realistic, scary, yet hopeful, and all in a not-too-many pages package.
Well, I have two modes of book recommendation. "I loved this," which doesn't happen real often, and "I didn't get any dumber reading it," which, with nonfiction, luckily happens quite a bit. That's actually one of the highest compliments I can give--I hate small talk encounters and (sadly, because I'm an introvert) meeting new people, but if I come away feeling like I picked up an interesting tidbit/s to think about, then I feel better about how I spent the time. If that makes any sense. I had to use it here because I get the feeling I wouldn't actually care much for this guy in person but WOW...what a story.
Doing Time Like a Spy by John Kiriakou.
I really should not have read John Kiriakou's memoir Doing Time Like a Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison. The minute I saw the word "prison" in this book's subtitle, I should have known to return it, unread, to the library. I have a wide variety of fears, and a fear of...
Jenny,
I'm not gonna lie. This book is deeply, deeply unsettling. It also makes you think about unsavory topics: torture, corrections officers who are COs because they don't have any other good choices and are therefore unpleasant people, the truly appalling number of criminal pedophiles around, and what the "drug war" has wrought on jail and society. Whether or not you want to think about that stuff might be a different story.
Doing Time Like a Spy by John Kiriakou.
I really should not have read John Kiriakou's memoir Doing Time Like a Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison. The minute I saw the word "prison" in this book's subtitle, I should have known to return it, unread, to the library. I have a wide variety of fears, and a fear of...
LAURA!
Always glad to meet a fellow CD fan. I just re-watched the movie and it's so gorgeous, New York looks dirty (but not scary dirty, just kinda of old infrastructure dirty) and cityish and in the 90s people still sold book first editions on the sidewalk (and other people bought them) and I wish I could BE THERE.
I adore rom coms and often I don't even care if they're terrible, I still enjoy them. It doesn't get any worse than "Leap Year" and yet still I enjoyed it, mainly because who couldn't listen to Matthew Goode speak all year long (not to mention he's extremely easy on the eyes).
Now---list me some more of your favorites? Let's see where else we converge. I would add these to the list: When Harry Met Sally (for Carrie Fisher alone); the John Cusack triumvirate of very strange teen rom coms, Better Off Dead, Hot Pursuit, and The Sure Thing; Return to Me; Ten Things I Hate About You.
I still like Meghan Daum.
I've said it before, Meghan Daum is one of my favorite essayists. I like her because she's smart but not pointlessly intellectual (I'm looking at you, David Shields), thoughtful but not sentimental. As per usual, I enjoyed her latest collection, The Problem with Everything: My Journey through ...
VIVIAN!
I like your post-it idea...very uplifting...especially seeing as how any post-its I currently have stuck up say things like "buy can opener" and "call re: Mom's pills" or "el reloj" (we're trying to learn Spanish because Korean is beyond us).
And thank you for recognizing the understated romance of the golden raisin. I'd like to be the kind of renegade who could put kiwi in our oatmeal, but we're from the Midwest.
Citizen Reader in the New York Times!
I wouldn't say that Mr. CR and I are living in a romance novel, but sometimes we have the same thought, and that's always nice. So I wrote about it for the "Tiny Love Stories" feature in The New York Times (it's the last story on the page*): Tiny Love Stories Hope you are doing well, and that yo...
Oh, thank you, Drew, you are always so supportive, which this (actually not very resilient, but I'm trying) person thanks you!
I'll say this for health issues, they make you recalibrate your definition of a great day. Am I, or anyone I love, in the hospital today? No? GREAT DAY!
Citizen Reader in the New York Times!
I wouldn't say that Mr. CR and I are living in a romance novel, but sometimes we have the same thought, and that's always nice. So I wrote about it for the "Tiny Love Stories" feature in The New York Times (it's the last story on the page*): Tiny Love Stories Hope you are doing well, and that yo...
Janet,
John Prine does kind of get under your skin like that.
I hope you and yours are healthy and stay that way.
I learn by going where I have to go.
In a time of epidemic and crashing economic systems and human's unkindnesses to humans, I think the thing I read today that made me feel the worst was that the news that singer-songwriter John Prine has died, aged 73. I am not sad because John Prine didn't lead a full life. I think he did. I'm ...
Kacey,
Very nice to meet you and thanks for stopping by!
Actually, I can never quite decide on Glennon Doyle. I think she's very, VERY good at catchy phrases and excellent, even sometimes very funny prose. On the other hand, I believe very strongly that nobody should be warriors (even "love warriors"--very clever co-opting, that, but still not a deeper sentiment with which I agree)--that we should aim higher. I haven't tried "Untamed" yet but will probably try it--I've been through "Carry On, Warrior," a couple of times because honestly, I'd like to learn how to replicate her (inarguably very successful) style.
Let us know what fiction you're reading too! I just finished Edward Snowden's memoir "Permanent Record" and enjoyed the hell out of it--mainly because he is one weird dude in a completely enjoyable (to me, anyway) way, and it was a pleasure to feel like I was spending time with him. I don't often do "deep dives"--reading on one subject obsessively--but I seem to be on a whistleblower kick and am reading all sorts of strange stuff connected with that.
No fiction holds my interest whatsoever right now. Don't know if it's something wrong with me or something wrong with the fiction I'm trying. The test would be to see if I have any patience for Agatha Christie, which is usually my go-to comfort reading.
Let's all just keep reading.
Everyone still there? How are you hanging in? I read my first "introvert advantage backlash" article yesterday, so I'm glad to see people staying positive. Those stories go a little bit like this: 1. Introverts everywhere, to varying degrees (and also depending on how many extroverts they're stu...
Drew,
Nice to be sharing anything with friends these days, even if it is pleasure/pain and an ever-so-slightly pissy attitude!
Hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself!
Let's all just keep reading.
Everyone still there? How are you hanging in? I read my first "introvert advantage backlash" article yesterday, so I'm glad to see people staying positive. Those stories go a little bit like this: 1. Introverts everywhere, to varying degrees (and also depending on how many extroverts they're stu...
Vivian--totally agree on changing POV, by the way. I enjoyed the whole production.
A fun fiction wintertime read: An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good.
I'm not sure where I heard about it, but I just picked up Helene Tursten's tiny little An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good, a collection of linked short stories about feisty octogenarian Maud. It's dark and the protagonist Maud is mostly unlikable, but, God love her, you're not going to push her ar...
Well, you never know about hobbit-seed, this book is so tiny and so cute, if you plant it, you might actually grow little Hobbitses. Mean little hobbitses, if they take after dear Maud.
I totally enjoyed the stories in the book, and I really prefer fiction that I can blow through in a couple of hours and be done with. Fiction is my flighty mistress that I mainly need to look good and make me feel good. Nonfiction is my workhorse life partner for whom I save most of my energy and deep love.
Is she mean? Well, usually, if she is, there's a reason. I can respect that. She is emphatically not Miss Marple, who believed in justice but still always had a twinkle. There is no twinkle to Maud. Don't get in Maud's way. Period.
Maybe that's my hope for all us women as we age. Something between Miss Marple and Maud, only with fewer outright criminal acts.
A fun fiction wintertime read: An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good.
I'm not sure where I heard about it, but I just picked up Helene Tursten's tiny little An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good, a collection of linked short stories about feisty octogenarian Maud. It's dark and the protagonist Maud is mostly unlikable, but, God love her, you're not going to push her ar...
BookerTalk--There have been a ton of pretty successful farm and "back to the land" books. I should get my act together and make a list. I'm interested in the subject but I struggle to find books I like--can't remember enjoying any since Michael Perry's "Coop" or Jeanne Marie Laskas's "Fifty Acres and a Poodle."
I'm not going to finish "A Farm Dies Once a Year."
So I got to page 200 of Arlo Crawford's memoir A Farm Dies Once a Year before I admitted to myself that I just don't like this Arlo kid or his book, and I'm going to stop reading it now. I know. I really have to get both more efficient and honest with myself and stop reading things that I dislik...
You're not doing any plundering, Brandon? Get on that. It's the warrior way.
How are you doing, buddy?
We're drowning in the printed word and Legos over here.
And we're loving it! Okay, so I feel like a soulless husk now that both my CRjrs are in school, but on the bright side, I now have more time to pursue freelance work, make a decade's worth of personal health appointments and catch up on home repairs, and also, let's face it, putter around the ho...
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