I’ve had Man’s Search for Meaning on my tbr for a long time so may get to it for mental health May. Was so wonderful to talk picture books with you, Lindy! 🤍🤍🤍
Ooo, Lindy, fellow rower here! I love it so much! Still waiting a bit for the weather to warm up and the river flow rate to settle down in the northeast here, but hope to be on the water very soon! I mostly row sweep, but sometimes scull too. I just finished James - I agree, it was excellent! I'm going to read along with one or two of the Graywolf books next month; don't think I can manage more than that - hard to fit in all the different themed reading among other books!
Hi Erin! 🚣♀️ We are so lucky to be able to row year-round in Victoria, although Canada’s official rowing season starts on April 1st. One evening the wind was gusting over 50 km/hr so we drilled on ergs indoors. Our coach plans to have us try sweep rowing in an 8 boat before the end of May. I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed James too. It’s true that there are so many readathons; I try to double-up, having two (or more) readathons applicable to every book I pick up. Doesn’t always work that way, however. 😊
Rowing! That sounds challenging and adventurous. I am planning to reread Their Eyes Were Watching God in May so I may grab Magnolia Flower as a go-along. I agree with all that you say about James; my best read of the year so far.
Hi Angelia! I hope you are back in good health. Rowing is fun exercise and has the added bonus of being on a waterway full of wildlife. Otters and seals in the gorge, herons and eagles above, deer on the shore… it’s easy to lose track of my stroke rhythm with all the nature! And speaking of nature, Springathon is happening again in May. You could count Magnolia Flower as a nature read, since it’s in the voice of a river. James could easily make it to my top books of the year. It’s a good thing I am still reading A Suitable Boy, because otherwise I would have a hard time finding another novel to match Everett’s high bar.
Seems like rowing is a lot of fun! I made dandelion syrup some years back and loved the taste. Have not used it in any other way yet but I'm always curious to learn of more ways to use wild flowers/plants etc in cooking. And I just saw someone using it for dyeing with lovely results. Since you have been talking about poetry month I have had it in my mind and picked up a Emily Dickinson collected volume that I'm planning to start this weekend.
I have got brilliant sunshine yellow results when dyeing with dandelions. It took a lot of experimentation though. At first it was always a dull yellow. The tricks: very gentle heat-never boiling -and adding chalk (calcium carbonate) to make the dye bath more alkaline. Enjoy your Emily Dickinson poems!
Oh goodness-I ordered James from Blackwells because I liked the UK cover better, but listening to that snippet, I may need to go the audio route instead. Or do both! 😅 I’ve jotted down all these books to hopefully get to later in the year. Right now I’m focusing on possible Pulitzer contenders until May 6th. Just finished listening to Chain-Gang All-Stars, and it’s one of the most powerful moving books I’ve read. 5 stars. Probably a long shot for the Pulitzer unless they go outside the box, but I think it’s amazing. I’ll finish North Woods tonight-another great read. And for poetry, I just started Bright Fear today, and already loving it. Rowing seems like it would be a very zen sport, once you find your rhythm. I hope you have fun. Happy Reading. 📚♥️
You are correct: rowing is pretty zen. And I love seeing the wildlife while I’m out on the water too. 🚣♀️ I’m sure you will enjoy James whether it’s on the page or audio or a combo. Pundits are saying it’ll be an award-winner. Have fun with the rest of your Pulitzer possibilities!
Hi Ros! It went up to 17 today. Definitely feels like summer! I got too hot while mowing the lawn. 😅 One day we rowed in the rain in singles because the water was so calm.
How lovely you've picked up rowing! I've never done it proper in a boat, but it used to be my favorite at the gym and I have a simple rower at home, but I sadly have to take care with my knees and not do it much. I love seeing the rowing club out at my nearby lake park. Amazing that you had luck of reading Magnolia Flower and James in proximity, I love all those enriching connections we find serendipitously in what we read.
Hi Rebecca! The fluid full-body movement of rowing is very pleasant, isn’t it? I have arthritis in my knees and I find that when I get back to the dock after rowing for 2 hours, my knees and thighs are uncertain about their ability to bring me up to a standing position. 😏 Have you got an anecdote about your latest biblio-serendipity?
@@lindysmagpiereads Yes, I definitely remember those moments of just sort of finding your lower body has turned to a liquid and sliding off the rower 🤣 Biblio-serendipity is rampant! Man's Search for Meaning came up in the book I was reading right after this. More of a connection between books though, I just finished Doppleganger for the Booktube Prize, and I spent a lengthy vlog clip talking through connections I was drawing to Sarah Kendzior's book They Knew... only to have the book itself talk about Kendzior's book and make similar connections in the second half! 😆
Awesome that you loved James! I'm currently rereading Huck Finn in preparation for reading James. It's been a good half a century since I read Huck, so I've really forgotten it entirely! I also just finished a reread of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring in a fantastic audio version read by the actor Andy Serkis. Brilliant. The hours flew by!.
Hi Barbara! A good audiobook can be truly transporting. I’m sure you will love James when you get to it. It will be nice to have Huck fresh in your mind when you do.
I think it's so cool that you try so many new hobbies. Rowing looks great! I want to read James so badly, but there are so many books that are "at the top" of my list!
Hi Karen! I think you are more adventurous than I am. I haven’t seen the WSJ article but I’m confident that your fabulous self shines there. I know what you mean about books on the top of the TBR. I ordered a copy of Reservoir from Blackwells and it’s been patiently waiting on my bookshelf for over a month now.
@@lindysmagpiereads OMG I hope you like it! I think the last book I highly recommended to you was a bust ha! Thank you so so much! The spin isn't good, but I'm proud of that video and my comments to people to stop asking me medical questions and ask their freaking doctor! Plus, I sent it to all my doctors and I've gotten "good job" sort of comments from all of them. They all think what I said was appropriate and helpful.
@@RovingReader People are so weird. Why would they think it’s a good idea to ask you medical questions? They should ask you about ghosts instead. 😉 I am optimistic about Reservoir. I will let you know how it goes. 😊
So glad you liked Brotherless Night as well. Since she is Tamil, I assumed she would have a pro-Tamil slant to her book. I was surprised to see pretty quickly that was not the case and all of the militants get equal criticism. I also thought she did she a great job humanizing characters whose actions were abhorrent. I also thought her choice to use second person was effective. Agreed with the choice to short list this book. Thanks for plugging Graywolf May!
Hi Sarah! It’s my pleasure to plug Graywolf May. Lots of great books in their catalog. Brotherless Night exceeded my expectations. The narrator, Sashi, embodies the physician’s creed: do no harm. Another thing I loved is how the novel transported me back to being 18 and living with a family in Sri Lanka. In the book, a nursery rhyme about mangoes is mentioned and that was enough for a Sinhalese nursery rhyme about oranges to pop into my head, 44 years after I learned it.
I finished the audio of Brotherless Night I agree & hope it gets shortlisted for the Womens Prize. James is a possible winner of the Pulitzer this year.
Hello Jacqueline! Did you also read Song of the Sun God? There’s another important similarity between it and Brotherless Night: women studying to be doctors and working in clinics for the Tigers.
@@jacquelinemcmenamin8204 Ah. Perhaps you have heard of a different novel by Chandran: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens? It won the Miles Franklin award in 2023.
I’ve had Man’s Search for Meaning on my tbr for a long time so may get to it for mental health May. Was so wonderful to talk picture books with you, Lindy! 🤍🤍🤍
Ooo, Lindy, fellow rower here! I love it so much! Still waiting a bit for the weather to warm up and the river flow rate to settle down in the northeast here, but hope to be on the water very soon! I mostly row sweep, but sometimes scull too.
I just finished James - I agree, it was excellent! I'm going to read along with one or two of the Graywolf books next month; don't think I can manage more than that - hard to fit in all the different themed reading among other books!
Hi Erin! 🚣♀️ We are so lucky to be able to row year-round in Victoria, although Canada’s official rowing season starts on April 1st. One evening the wind was gusting over 50 km/hr so we drilled on ergs indoors. Our coach plans to have us try sweep rowing in an 8 boat before the end of May.
I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed James too. It’s true that there are so many readathons; I try to double-up, having two (or more) readathons applicable to every book I pick up. Doesn’t always work that way, however. 😊
Rowing! That sounds challenging and adventurous. I am planning to reread Their Eyes Were Watching God in May so I may grab Magnolia Flower as a go-along. I agree with all that you say about James; my best read of the year so far.
Hi Angelia! I hope you are back in good health.
Rowing is fun exercise and has the added bonus of being on a waterway full of wildlife. Otters and seals in the gorge, herons and eagles above, deer on the shore… it’s easy to lose track of my stroke rhythm with all the nature! And speaking of nature, Springathon is happening again in May. You could count Magnolia Flower as a nature read, since it’s in the voice of a river.
James could easily make it to my top books of the year. It’s a good thing I am still reading A Suitable Boy, because otherwise I would have a hard time finding another novel to match Everett’s high bar.
@@lindysmagpiereads That sounds like a beautiful setting and thank you, yes, I'm improving.
Seems like rowing is a lot of fun! I made dandelion syrup some years back and loved the taste. Have not used it in any other way yet but I'm always curious to learn of more ways to use wild flowers/plants etc in cooking. And I just saw someone using it for dyeing with lovely results. Since you have been talking about poetry month I have had it in my mind and picked up a Emily Dickinson collected volume that I'm planning to start this weekend.
I have got brilliant sunshine yellow results when dyeing with dandelions. It took a lot of experimentation though. At first it was always a dull yellow. The tricks: very gentle heat-never boiling -and adding chalk (calcium carbonate) to make the dye bath more alkaline.
Enjoy your Emily Dickinson poems!
Oh goodness-I ordered James from Blackwells because I liked the UK cover better, but listening to that snippet, I may need to go the audio route instead. Or do both! 😅
I’ve jotted down all these books to hopefully get to later in the year. Right now I’m focusing on possible Pulitzer contenders until May 6th. Just finished listening to Chain-Gang All-Stars, and it’s one of the most powerful moving books I’ve read. 5 stars. Probably a long shot for the Pulitzer unless they go outside the box, but I think it’s amazing. I’ll finish North Woods tonight-another great read. And for poetry, I just started Bright Fear today, and already loving it.
Rowing seems like it would be a very zen sport, once you find your rhythm. I hope you have fun. Happy Reading. 📚♥️
You are correct: rowing is pretty zen. And I love seeing the wildlife while I’m out on the water too. 🚣♀️
I’m sure you will enjoy James whether it’s on the page or audio or a combo. Pundits are saying it’ll be an award-winner. Have fun with the rest of your Pulitzer possibilities!
It almost looks like summer for you notwithstanding the breeze. Just right for rowing 😮
Hi Ros! It went up to 17 today. Definitely feels like summer! I got too hot while mowing the lawn. 😅
One day we rowed in the rain in singles because the water was so calm.
How lovely you've picked up rowing! I've never done it proper in a boat, but it used to be my favorite at the gym and I have a simple rower at home, but I sadly have to take care with my knees and not do it much. I love seeing the rowing club out at my nearby lake park.
Amazing that you had luck of reading Magnolia Flower and James in proximity, I love all those enriching connections we find serendipitously in what we read.
Hi Rebecca! The fluid full-body movement of rowing is very pleasant, isn’t it? I have arthritis in my knees and I find that when I get back to the dock after rowing for 2 hours, my knees and thighs are uncertain about their ability to bring me up to a standing position. 😏
Have you got an anecdote about your latest biblio-serendipity?
@@lindysmagpiereads Yes, I definitely remember those moments of just sort of finding your lower body has turned to a liquid and sliding off the rower 🤣
Biblio-serendipity is rampant! Man's Search for Meaning came up in the book I was reading right after this. More of a connection between books though, I just finished Doppleganger for the Booktube Prize, and I spent a lengthy vlog clip talking through connections I was drawing to Sarah Kendzior's book They Knew... only to have the book itself talk about Kendzior's book and make similar connections in the second half! 😆
@@ReadBecca Hooray for serendipity! 😁
Lovely recommendations once again! My library doesn’t have James, but I want to check out other Perceval Everett titles.
Enjoy your rowing! 💜
Hi Zan! The other two that I read by Everett are Trees and Erasure. Based on what I have heard, Everett’s entire oeuvre is worth checking out.
I keep checking my library to see if James has gotten in yet. I definitely want to read it.
It will be worth the wait. 😁
Awesome that you loved James! I'm currently rereading Huck Finn in preparation for reading James. It's been a good half a century since I read Huck, so I've really forgotten it entirely! I also just finished a reread of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring in a fantastic audio version read by the actor Andy Serkis. Brilliant. The hours flew by!.
Hi Barbara! A good audiobook can be truly transporting. I’m sure you will love James when you get to it. It will be nice to have Huck fresh in your mind when you do.
I think it's so cool that you try so many new hobbies. Rowing looks great!
I want to read James so badly, but there are so many books that are "at the top" of my list!
Hi Karen! I think you are more adventurous than I am. I haven’t seen the WSJ article but I’m confident that your fabulous self shines there.
I know what you mean about books on the top of the TBR. I ordered a copy of Reservoir from Blackwells and it’s been patiently waiting on my bookshelf for over a month now.
@@lindysmagpiereads OMG I hope you like it! I think the last book I highly recommended to you was a bust ha!
Thank you so so much! The spin isn't good, but I'm proud of that video and my comments to people to stop asking me medical questions and ask their freaking doctor! Plus, I sent it to all my doctors and I've gotten "good job" sort of comments from all of them. They all think what I said was appropriate and helpful.
@@RovingReader People are so weird. Why would they think it’s a good idea to ask you medical questions? They should ask you about ghosts instead. 😉
I am optimistic about Reservoir. I will let you know how it goes. 😊
@@lindysmagpiereads lol!
So glad you liked Brotherless Night as well. Since she is Tamil, I assumed she would have a pro-Tamil slant to her book. I was surprised to see pretty quickly that was not the case and all of the militants get equal criticism. I also thought she did she a great job humanizing characters whose actions were abhorrent. I also thought her choice to use second person was effective. Agreed with the choice to short list this book. Thanks for plugging Graywolf May!
Hi Sarah! It’s my pleasure to plug Graywolf May. Lots of great books in their catalog.
Brotherless Night exceeded my expectations. The narrator, Sashi, embodies the physician’s creed: do no harm. Another thing I loved is how the novel transported me back to being 18 and living with a family in Sri Lanka. In the book, a nursery rhyme about mangoes is mentioned and that was enough for a Sinhalese nursery rhyme about oranges to pop into my head, 44 years after I learned it.
I finished the audio of
Brotherless Night
I agree & hope it gets shortlisted for the Womens Prize.
James is a possible winner of the Pulitzer this year.
Hello Jacqueline! Did you also read Song of the Sun God? There’s another important similarity between it and Brotherless Night: women studying to be doctors and working in clinics for the Tigers.
@@lindysmagpiereads no, I had not heard of that book till you mentioned it
@@jacquelinemcmenamin8204 Ah. Perhaps you have heard of a different novel by Chandran: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens? It won the Miles Franklin award in 2023.
@@lindysmagpiereads yes, but I haven’t read it
Dandelion jam is so delicious!
Yay! Another dandelion blossom fan! 💛