Currently Reading:
Fiction: Garth Greenwell's 'What Belongs To You', am making headway with the audio again. Nina MacLaughlin's 'Wake, Siren' still in progress; 'Three Daughters of Eve' still on furlough and I'm tempted to DNF it once and for all.
Non-Fiction for fun: Just started perusing Jack Monroe's 'Tin Can Cook'. The Queer Child remains out but I keep... not picking it up.
For work: I'm puttering through Ibn Battutah's Travels, that's fun (teaching related).
Recently Finished:
I'll Leave It to You - A Light Comedy in Three Acts by Noël Coward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Huh. I don't think I've actually read or seen any Noel Coward before. This was fun to read aloud, and I suspect it would be ENORMOUS fun to stage, but I suspect would have to be a brilliant production for me to love it as an *audience* member.
Also I couldn't help assimilating the uncle to GUM from Ballet Shoes, which was... wild.
When Someone You Love Is Polyamorous: Understanding Poly People and Relationships by Elisabeth Sheff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Clear and straightforward. VERY family-oriented, very heteronormative (straight up says that the poly community is straight people + bi women... without noting that lesbians and gay men often do non-monogamy, just in different circles). I think it may be useful to give to my psych, although in many respects ('solo' poly gets like, a sentence) it's WILDLY removed from my actual experience. No doubt good for reassuring parents, too.
The Monstrous Middle Ages by Bettina Bildhauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Really good intro; quite surprised to find how old it is.
Reflections on Exile and Other Essays by Edward W. Said
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Essay on exile is A++
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A delight! Also fascinating to read through, in that the only time I have *seen* this play it was staged as a two-man production, and I... had forgotten how many people there are (they all come in pairs, except Aunt Augusta)
Andreas Capellanus, Scholasticism, and the Courtly Tradition by Don A. Monson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
You know how sometimes you read a monograph and it's perfectly useful but you can't quite figure out what its deal is, and then you realise it's from a Catholic publisher? That. Nothing wrong with it, but it does make sense if you assume it either AIMED TO or was accepted BECAUSE IT steers a course between 'clerical irony' interpretations that assume clerics are no fun anti-sex theological martinets, and 'dirty jokes sex-positive' interpretations. It is, I think, not WRONG, but a little too lugubrious with what it *does* with its interpretation.
I also re-read Agbabi's Telling Tales - nothing to add to my review, there. Just finished Bergvall's 'Alisoun Speaks', which I will add to a later post. Right now I don't know what to make of it.
Short fiction:
Joshua Harmon (Electric Lit), Rope. This is chilling and weird and a fascinating use of 1st p plural.
Sarah Gailey (own blog), Reynard Is Coming. This is an EXPERIENCE.
Up Next: I've got a book on desire in Dante and Boccacio that I need to skim through for phd>book reasons, that's probably first on the agenda on Monday. Otherwise, huge library stack is huge! Personal reading wise, I'll just be happy to FINISH something.
Online essays
Fatima Measham (Meanjin), Time in the antipodes. Gains an added resonance if you set it alongside Nasrin Mahtouchi's The trace of the place.
Irina Dmitrescu (LARB), In praise of solitude. A review of Batchelor's 'The Art of Solitude', and more.
James Finn (own blog), Queer and Autistic: Think Coming Out As Queer Is Hard? ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
coriana appreciated the last link to an autistic blog, so I'm saving/sharing more of them than I had been before.
Alicia Elliot (MaisonNeuve), Final Sale. On lockdown shopping.
Abishek Gupta (own newsletter), On Walks Around the Block, Untranslatable Words and Illustrations for When You Are Stuck Indoors.... I saved this update in particular because it talks about the drive to identify things you feel but cannot name (in this case, through untranslatable words).
Sarah Cavar (Electric Lit), We get to resist old narratives of what it means to be trans
Leslie Kern (LitHub), The rise of the feminized city. On the link between gender and gentrification.
Laura Bogart (BuzzFeed Sex Week), Quitting Sex Was the Best Thing I Ever Did For Myself (weight / fat stigma / self respect related)
Fiction: Garth Greenwell's 'What Belongs To You', am making headway with the audio again. Nina MacLaughlin's 'Wake, Siren' still in progress; 'Three Daughters of Eve' still on furlough and I'm tempted to DNF it once and for all.
Non-Fiction for fun: Just started perusing Jack Monroe's 'Tin Can Cook'. The Queer Child remains out but I keep... not picking it up.
For work: I'm puttering through Ibn Battutah's Travels, that's fun (teaching related).
Recently Finished:
I'll Leave It to You - A Light Comedy in Three Acts by Noël CowardMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Huh. I don't think I've actually read or seen any Noel Coward before. This was fun to read aloud, and I suspect it would be ENORMOUS fun to stage, but I suspect would have to be a brilliant production for me to love it as an *audience* member.
Also I couldn't help assimilating the uncle to GUM from Ballet Shoes, which was... wild.
When Someone You Love Is Polyamorous: Understanding Poly People and Relationships by Elisabeth SheffMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Clear and straightforward. VERY family-oriented, very heteronormative (straight up says that the poly community is straight people + bi women... without noting that lesbians and gay men often do non-monogamy, just in different circles). I think it may be useful to give to my psych, although in many respects ('solo' poly gets like, a sentence) it's WILDLY removed from my actual experience. No doubt good for reassuring parents, too.
The Monstrous Middle Ages by Bettina BildhauerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Really good intro; quite surprised to find how old it is.
Reflections on Exile and Other Essays by Edward W. SaidMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Essay on exile is A++
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar WildeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A delight! Also fascinating to read through, in that the only time I have *seen* this play it was staged as a two-man production, and I... had forgotten how many people there are (they all come in pairs, except Aunt Augusta)
Andreas Capellanus, Scholasticism, and the Courtly Tradition by Don A. MonsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
You know how sometimes you read a monograph and it's perfectly useful but you can't quite figure out what its deal is, and then you realise it's from a Catholic publisher? That. Nothing wrong with it, but it does make sense if you assume it either AIMED TO or was accepted BECAUSE IT steers a course between 'clerical irony' interpretations that assume clerics are no fun anti-sex theological martinets, and 'dirty jokes sex-positive' interpretations. It is, I think, not WRONG, but a little too lugubrious with what it *does* with its interpretation.
I also re-read Agbabi's Telling Tales - nothing to add to my review, there. Just finished Bergvall's 'Alisoun Speaks', which I will add to a later post. Right now I don't know what to make of it.
Short fiction:
Up Next: I've got a book on desire in Dante and Boccacio that I need to skim through for phd>book reasons, that's probably first on the agenda on Monday. Otherwise, huge library stack is huge! Personal reading wise, I'll just be happy to FINISH something.
Online essays
coriana appreciated the last link to an autistic blog, so I'm saving/sharing more of them than I had been before.