The Reasons That I Don't Use Goodreads or Storygraph To Track My Reading

Updated October 22, 2022

I've returned to Goodreads. They updated the user interface. I have a brand new account with no friends on it and it's set to private. I've found value in digitally keeping track of my books and having my kindle auto add to my list. I still don't set yearly goals, but I am enjoying it now that I am back. The clean slate feels good too.

It's an unpopular opinion for sure.

When I had a BookTube channel, I did an entire "Coffee Chat" about my reasons for deleting Goodreads, and it was one of my most viewed videos.

People were sandwiched between "that's ridiculous, it's a way to connect with other readers, you're missing out", and "I hate (either Goodreads or Storygraph)".

Source: Stock Photos

Here are my reasons for avoiding Goodreads:

1. Goodreads gave me anxiety. The interface of the website is claustrophobic. 
2. I despise advertisements. It's why I avoid Bookstagram and I PAY for YouTube premium. I will do most anything to avoid being manipulated all day by big corporations.
3. When I marked a book as "currently reading", no less than 2 people would say, "I read that... just WAIT until chapter 3" - or such other spoilery BS. 
4. The "pressure" to check if a bookish friend read a book I was considering. After seeing their hate review, even if I didn't want it to, it DID affect how I felt going into the book.

Here are my reasons for avoiding Storygraph:

1. With the exception (thank God) of the gross advertisements, Storygraph has the same "follow a friend" ... "comment on their choices" structure that I want to barf about
2. There are NO other reasons to avoid Storygraph. Great company. Wonderful bookish insights about your reading habits. 

What I do to keep track of my reading instead:

1. Paper
2. Pen
3. Good ol' memory
4. Stickers and maybe a highlighter or two
5. This blog. I will catalog most of what I read here. It's a diary of sorts and a place to organize my bookish thoughts 

I enjoyed the good old days. You know the ones that took place a mere 10+ years ago :) 

I used to enjoy going to the library, walking around, reading the back of a novel and deciding then and there to bring it home and read it!

I like browsing book stories and purchasing what called to me that time.

I didn't ever "log it" anywhere. I didn't check to see what others thought about it. I formulated my own opinions after I started reading it. 

I see the utility to keeping a record of what you read. Recording your thoughts about certain authors and novels, and of course I see the utility in sharing those thoughts.

THIS alone is the reason for the past few years I've gone through about 5 iterations of how to do so. BookTube channel. Lots of live streams for reading sprints and chatting about unpopular bookish topics. Bookstagram. A fancy blog and now this blog- where I'm staying forevermore :)

What makes me sad about bookish sharing

It's a sad shame when we realize that people don't talk about and share their love of the great works, and social media bookish corners of the internet are taken over by prize lists (no judgment) or YA fantasy (also no judgment). I'd just like to see an explosion of deep discussions on the GREAT works. The GREAT writers. There are a few channels I follow who do focus on this, but they are few and far between.

I think that a lot of greatness has come from the connections that social media can provide. Far more harm has come from them (my opinion), but I crave a more honest and deep connection to other readers, and I have had to accept that (for now) I won't get to experience that much. 

The things that people enjoy about the "connected feeling" that Goodreads and Storygraph provide, are not things that I enjoy. 

It doesn't feel socially connecting, it feels comparative and manipulative. 

I told you at the start this was an unpopular opinion. I've heard a zillion things about my theories and concepts, but they are true and valid to me. 

I'm aiming to read far less books, and I reread so many others that I can basically remember what I read. It's only when I go through phases of reading recommended novels or genre fiction that I "lose track" of what I've read.

I'm just a vinyl playing, analog kinda woman and I ain't ashamed of it.

I'll leave the digital spaces that foster bookish connectability to the cool kids. I'll just be thumbing through used copies of Proust on the outside looking in. And I don't mind it at all. 

Happy reading and analog tracking my slow living friends. 

The Power of Adding Short Stories To My Reading Plate

A palate cleanser.

Something that starts...ends... and has a sense of completion to it.

Short stories are bite-sized literary works that can be sandwiched between your longer more intense reads.

I find that I DNF with reckless abandon. Yes. I'm one of THOSE people.

I don't always put the book away forever, but I don't ever push or force myself through any work. Ever. It's a part of why I almost never do buddy reads. But, I digress.

Short stories make DNFing feel quite easy.

For example, if I'm reading a collection by Maupassant, and one of the stories just isn't connecting with me, I can quit it- go on to the next story (with little to no effort)- NOT feel that I'm abandoning the entire work, and either return to it later or just enjoy the other short stories that the collection has to offer.

It's like going to a museum. You may not enjoy every exhibit, and you certainly wouldn't remain in a wing of the museum with the exhibition that isn't speaking to your soul. You'd move along and spend extra time in the wing that has pieces in the collection or exhibits that offer you that sublime feeling.

That's at least how I approach my books. 

It's hard to remember what I've talked about on this new blog vs ALL the gorgeous content from my other blog, but I spoke before about how much I demand from my literature.

I know that at each phase of life we change and grow and therefore the way the literature lands on us is different, but I DEMAND to be transformed by what I read.

I demand that my soul be stirred in some way.

Source: Stock Photos

Now, in our days of doom scrolling and NY best seller's lists... I get people's desires to grab that latest published work that will entertain into the night. I however, stray far away from that- at least 95% of the time. 

There is NOTHING wrong with it, but for me I am only here for the fiction that transforms me. The deep soul shaking, borderline existential, character driven novels that offer me something deep and delicious. I won't be shamed for it either. (Okay calm down here. No one even shamed me and look at how defensive I became! :)

Some of my favorite short story writers:

1. Anton Chekov
2. Clarice Lispector 
3. The Victorians
4. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
5. Elena Savage
6. Guy de Maupassant
7. Claire Keegan
8. Audre Lorde
9. Jorge Borges

The point I'm making here is that if you want to read just a bit more without adding heavy weight to your plate, always have a few collections on the go.

I do sincerely loathe the concept of "reading more for some number collection's sake", but I'd be willing to argue that most lovers of literature desire to have MORE great literature in their hearts and minds.

THIS is a sure way of doing so with low stakes on your time.

You can devour the clever and emotional writings of Clarice Lispector in manageable bite-sized doses if you aren't in the space or have the time to dedicate to her intense novels. 

I hope I've convinced you (if you don't already) to pick up a few short story collections and enjoy one over your next cup of coffee. Bask in that feeling of completion at being either utterly entertained by the short work, or moved by it.

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

Quick Quotes: Proust and Emotions

Source: Stock Photos

 

They must always have an opinion about everything. And as they have no opinions of their own, they spend the first half of their lives asking us ours and the second half serving them up to us again.  

___________________________________________________________ 

She felt a sort of pang and as it were an itching in all her limbs at the thought of this happiness being snatched behind her back, unbeknown to her, and it made her irritated and jealous. 

From The Guermantes Way Volume III (In Search of Lost Time) 

 

 

Finishing The Guermantes Way: Thoughts So Far on Proust

It's always a good time for a vegan gluten-free donut

First things first, I adored this novel. 

In Search of Lost Time is the most fascinating study of human character that I've ever read.

I am NOT a literary critic, nor are any of my degrees in Literature, but as a lover of the classics, I have been truly enjoying myself while reading Proust.

I've mentioned before that I believe there is NO one way to read The Search. There is NO one way to read any of Proust.

The Search will reveal to you how it should be read. 

You may think, "I have time this weekend. I will read 6 hours of Proust on Saturday." Then, Saturday comes and you read for an hour and have the physically close the book and stare at the wall for another 45 minutes to process what just happened, or to deal with what the writing has conjured up within you.

Other times you may think, "I'll just spend an hour or so with Proust." Then, 4 hours later you emerge from the novel and feel like a completely different person.

Both approaches are VALID and valuable. I've experienced both.

If people spent half as much time actually reading or rereading Proust as they do telling others how to do it, it'd be a better bookish world. All jokes aside, I understand people's passion for Proust and their intense desire to share what has worked for them. It can come off as preachy and dictatorial, but I know it's mostly born of a fiery desire to get others to experience him.

I finished The Guermantes Way late last night and I closed the book and just sat there with my mouth agape. Marcel how dare you! 

I am not taking breaks (but for a few days) between the volumes, but I HAVE TO start Volume IV very very very soon. 

I am waiting with breath that is bated. My goodness Marcel. 

I really enjoyed The Guermantes Way. So far it's one of my favorites. Okay okay I've only read 3, but you get it. 

Thoughts on Proust so far:

1. He is hilarious. The amount of times that I have honestly laughed out loud through the 3 volumes that I've read so far, are more than I can count.
2. There is a real plot to this novel. People have said there isn't and you can't see the plot until you finish the last volume, I don't agree. You can sense plot in volume I. Perhaps I won't know exactly what Marcel is trying to say (I agree) until the novel is done, but there are real things happening to these very real people.
3. I don't need a schedule to read Proust. He dictates the speed with which I read certain parts of the novel. I love this. Being at his mercy so to speak (well, so to write).
4. Reading him feels like very akin to meditating. I sink deeply down into the work. So much so, every time I emerge from reading him for any extended length of time (45 minutes+) I have to stumble back into the world and remember my place in things.
5. I'll reread some or all of this novel repeated through my life. I know that I won't have that "beginner's eye" the next time, but that's okay. I'll be able to grasp things I may not be anchoring down right now and that's reason enough for me.
6. He's decadent. We talk about NOT holding books up against other works (just debated this yesterday with someone bookish) and I think that without comparing books, Prousts' work is in a league of its own. You can't help but stand before it in awe... to feel the sublime while reading it.
7. If Swann's Way is "boring" to you... perhaps this isn't the right time in your life for Proust. It's okay NOT to read him. I'm so glad that I waited until I was older. Until I'd really processed strife, pain, loss, grief, longing, long, despair, jealousy, loneliness... before diving into The Search.

I'm humbled by my experience so far with Proust. I've already been changing so much of how, when, and why I read, but Proust has catapulted that process to another level.

If a work is going to move and inspire me THIS much, why would I ever want to bite off works that don't nourish or feed my soul? 

Why would I want to "pass my time" with something that doesn't move me?

I mainly steer clear of the recently published and prize list stuff (with few exceptions), but at this time of year, I join others I know in reading a few holiday romance novels. I may do so this year as well, but they will be in far less quantity so that I can keep the big, meaty, intense books on my schedule forevermore.

I'm off to think about my life and start my day. 

I'm continuing on with Charlotte Brontë's Shirley and Bram Stoker's Dracula before picking up Volume IV of Proust.

Exciting times are head.

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

Victorian October 2022

This October (as always) I will be participating very loosely in Victober. 

My list of novels have been chosen very very loosely from the prompts. I am not a real prompt following readathon kind of reader.

I read by mood, by time of year, atmospherically and by being called to what my soul feels it needs from literature at that phase of life. 

THIS can't be dictated by readathon schedules and prompt schedules. I do find joy in reading or watching other people's book lists centering around Victober particularly.

Source: List Challenges

What I'll be reading:

1. Tess of the D'Urbervilles (a reread for me)
2. Jane Eyre (a reread for me)- sensing a theme here? And I'll be watching the screen adaptation
3. Dracula by Bram Stoker. This will be my first read of this! I recently finished Shelley's Frankenstein and LOVED it so so so much.
4. A Gentle Creature by Fyodor Dostoevsky (short story) I know. He wasn't a Victorian over in Russia, but he wrote at the same time as the Victorian period and therefore it counts to me :) I may not get to this one with my other reads during October, but it is on the list

I basically read Victorian literature all year long, but I just love the idea of reading atmospheric Victorian or gothic novels at this time of year. 

I'm excited by my choice of novels for my loose participation in Victober alongside Volume III of In Search of Lost Time- The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust, and Lispector and Brookner reads.

How glorious it is to have my kindle and bookshelf full of fantastic reads and rereads as Autumn comes!

Do you have any reads or rereads that you are looking forward to?

Happy reading my slow living friends.

Consciously Building My Small Physical Library- Only Repeated Rereads

I'm a digital book reader. 

But not only a digital book lover. The new world wants us to be ALL one thing or another. We are more complex than that.

As a slight minimalist and someone who struggles with visual clutter, I don't currently desire a vast (even neatly done) physical library.

There are a few books that call to me. They demand that I pick them up and thumb through them often.

I have a slightly different opinion on rereading. TL;DR: reread ANY part of a work, and that IS rereading.

While yes, I do full rereads of several novels every single year- it's my favorite way to read ... to reread, but I also thumb through different novels on a daily basis. Most of those being my favorite novels.

It feels partially addictive... I am compelled to pick it up and page through what Bathsheba says when she first meets Farmer Gabriel Oak (a love of mine). 

I oftentimes likes to break my own heart repeatedly by reading what Anna Karenina does towards the very end of the novel. (I seek to avoid anything that even seems like a spoiler when I can).

Weekly, I need to page through something by Jane Austen. Right now, it's a slow full reread of Northanger Abbey. (I normally reread this one every Autumn).

Jane Eyre is another that I HAVE to pick up at this time of year. Just seeing Jane on her journey away from Thornfield in the dead of night... sleeping outside... I glance out at the Autumnal leaves and I am right there with her. 

Recent Additions to My Physical Library

Additions (all used) to my physical library

I have been spending time combining some of my life philosophies (consuming less + supporting charitable organizations) and I decided to only buy my physical books from Better World Books.

I loathe that I have to say this, but NOTHING I put here is ever sponsored by ANY company. EVER. 

I had a coupon for savings on used books and I grabbed myself 5 new additions to my library! All paperbacks and with the exception of the last two, all are being replaced after giving away the others to fellow readers who were anxious to get into classics. 

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
2. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy 
3. Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
4. Soulstorm: Stories by Clarice Lispector
5. The Illustrated Dracula by Bram Stoker; Illustrated by Jae Lee

I am so excited for these titles. They will come over the course of the next 3-4 weeks. I don't mind.

I work on having a more analog way of looking at life (as I type on the internet :), and it's perfectly fine if it takes longer than 2 days for a book to arrive. 

Wishing you a great start to the Autumn season filled with pumpkin spiced candles, comfy pajamas, and plenty of time to sink down into a good novel. 

I'm off to read about 45 minutes of Proust and carry on with Dracula and Shirley.

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

My Love of Moll Flanders Died At 62% + My Current Literary Plate

I added Moll Flanders to my stack of reads the other day and gave it an honest and strong effort. 

I know that sometimes 18th century literature can be meandering and repetitive, but I'm a sucker for stories about a young woman in desperate circumstances.

Well... this is no Tess of the D'Urbervilles. 

I felt bogged down. Claustrophobic. Sad. Overwhelmed.

The truth is that on a better day this would be the symbol of a great story and lovely writing, but this period in my life, Moll's constant misfortune (yet somehow simultaneously landing on good luck), lack of consequences (as it relates to the children), and repeated marriages (and vows of TRUE love with THIS one), was too much for me to bear.

I felt that I was closed in a small space with a tiny dusty window that refused to open. 

I did NOT like the experience of it. 

It's made me think twice about my plan to read Samuel Richardson's Clarissa. I will definitely still read it, but it will have to be next year's "behind the scenes slow deep read".

A trusted book friend said to read Clarissa quickly is the best way to experience it. While I take trusted bookish friends' advice, I read at my own pace and according to my own inclinations.

So... as with life, I will put Moll Flanders aside and move onto the next novel that I want to accompany me alongside my reading of In Search of Lost Time.

On my literary plate:

I should perhaps write about my ideas of a literary plate. A dining experience that I can take bites out of. It doesn't seem that clever now that I'm reading Dracula... the concept of "bites out of"... hmm

Reminders:

1. Read what calls to you
2. Read it in whatever manner you choose
3. Savor or devour the text according to your own inclinations
4. Accept suggestions, but use YOUR own judgement about works

Happy reading my slow living friends.

Adding Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe to My Current Reading

As the season prepares to shift to Autumn, I get more reflective and introspective.

I made an impulse buy of a kindle edition by Alma Classics of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders.

This is my first read of this 300 year old classic. Publication date 1722.

Alma Classics Edition

Interestingly enough, this kindle version doesn't have indented paragraphs. It's a bit weird, but I've adjusted.

I'm about 20% into this novel and I am IN LOVE with this story and Defoe's writing.

Most know Defoe from Robin Crusoe, but I've read anything by him since middle school.

This picking up of Moll Flanders is a good reminder to me of why I love being a mood reader. I really enjoy just letting the wind blow and following my intuition about what I want to pick up.  

Currently, I'm only focusing on The Guermantes Way (Volume III of In Search of Lost Time by Proust) and Moll Flanders. This is a delightful combination.

I am always in awe of how great literature can shift and shape me at certain points of my life. 

Have you picked up anything in the spur of the moment?

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

Austen All The Time: Rereading Bits and Pieces

I challenge you to see rereading not in terms of completing the novel in its totality- though this is how I reread most novels.

However, when it comes to Austen, I rearead certain passages of Pride and Prejudice (my most reread novel) and Persuasion, is that I reread certain chapters (Mr. Collins at the dinner table anyone?) over and over to just feel better. 

Source: Jane Austen's World

Mr. Collins was not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society; the greatest part of his life having been spent under the guidance of an illiterate and miserly father; and though he belonged to one of the universities, he had merely kept the necessary terms, without forming at it any useful acquaintance.

There's something to be said for loving a work of literature so much that you have it in multiple forms and can't go too long without picking it up and thumbing through it, or opening the ebook and scrolling through your highlights.

That is how I approach Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I also do this with Captain Wentworth letter to Anne Elliot in Persuasion.

 I can't help but reading Chapter 15 of Pride and Prejudice when I am having a bad day.

Listening to the painfully dull Mr. Collin go on about "excellent boiled potatoes",  I can't help but to feel my mood lighten.

Source: IMBD

I urge you to pick up your favorite great novel and read and reread certain passages without the pressure to read the entire novel.

I'll continue to do this and I hope you'll join me.

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

 

Interview With Clarice Lispector: I Love Her

I watched this Clarice Lispector interview and my love for her grows and grows.

I will forever be grateful to my local librarian, who after speaking with me for about 15 minutes about my bookish interests said, "You seem like the type of young lady (I'm not that young) who would love the deep writing of this woman."

I picked up The Hour of The Star.. flipped through... read a few lines and walked out of the library. It was the pandemic and I wasn't ready for Lispector, but I got her.

I have read The Passion According to G.H. now and I purchased ALL of her novels. Watch this documentary if you want to learn a little bit about how she is as an author.... not who, but how. 
 

Happy viewing my slow living friends.

My Upcoming Weekend With One Read: The Guermantes Way (Volume III)

I'll be taking this weekend easy starting Saturday night. 

We have a few simple plans for Saturday, but they will take me away from home. I will be doing something I don't normally do, and focusing on ONE novel.

I'm about 100 pages into the 820 page volume, and quickly finishing it is NOT a goal of mine, but I am finding myself really enjoying that hypnotic trance like state I go into when reading Proust at night.

I've already mentioned that I loathe people telling other people how/when/why to read books with a definitive air of elitism, but it is good to listen to those who have mounted the beast that is In Search of Lost Time.

Commonly, people mention NOT reading Proust quickly.

"Quickly" is relative, but I think we get the point.. inhaling the novel is seemingly frowned upon.

The Guermantes Way (Volume III)- Vintage Classics Edition

I do love that feeling of a free set of hours and deeply going into the novel with some light classical music in my background and then emerging hours later and stumbling back into reality.

I won't let anyone tell me this isn't a great way to read Proust! I love those experiences.

I fondly remember reading Swann's Way on an airplane on the way to New Orleans. The passengers were mostly asleep and the plane was pin drop quiet.

I was so deeply immersed for those 3 hours that when the plane landed, I felt that I needed to wake up although I wasn't asleep. 

I will report back at the end of the weekend about my experience with The Guermantes Way and let y'all know if I added anything from my Autumn TBR as a concurrent read. Rarely am I working on one book at a time so this will be great.

OH... my physical editions of In Search of Lost Time may come today from the UK as well! I got the Vintage Classics edition. I am so excited. I'll be adding these 6 novels to my 25 book physical book collection. 

Here's hoping that you have the time and space to sink into a great novel this weekend.

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

The Passion According to G.H. - I'll Never Be The Same

Well... there you have it.

Some authors have the ability to pull the veil back on the lived experience of being a human and craft (via language) expressions that call forth something we didn't even know was inside of us.

Clarice Lispector is such an author.

The Passion According to G.H. is the first novel that I've finished by her and it will not be the last.

I savored this work.

I literally saturated myself with every word.

--- To otherwise is to do yourself a disservice. Like Proust, Lispector HAS to be slowly digested. Instantly paragraphs must be reread. You have to allow your subconscious and conscious mind time enough to understand what is happening. 

I oftentimes shy away from telling anyone how they should do anything (especially reading), but I feel compelled to say it.

Lispector's work gives one the sense that if you just read the words, somehow at the end of the paragraph you'll grasp it. This isn't true.

It's that mystical element to her writing that transfixes you.

hot organic coffee everyday of my life

In The Passion According to G.H., Lispector helps us to contemplate our our existence as we ponder with G.H. her own place in the balance of things.

We are confronted with the awareness of the "I" in which we present ourselves to the world may be an unreflected upon self and therefore invalid. False. 

I know that this is a work I will be rereading for the rest of my life.

I LOVE that about great literature. It helps me to remember one of my favorite things to remind readers, "If it isn't worth reading twice, it isn't worth reading once".

I pray that you will pick up Lispector's work. I am sure to buy every one of her translated works for my kindle and then for my physical library.

THIS is a bold statement. I only own 25 books, so the digital plus physical editions of her novels tell you dear reader, just how special and infinitely rereadable Lispector is.

I'm off to further contemplate the meaning of my existence. Thank you Clarice for putting your work into the world. And bless the translators all of whom (after decades of only being available in Portuguese) have provided them for English readers.

With a grateful heart.

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

 

Providence by Anita Brookner: Another Personal Exploration

It's no secret, I love Anita Brookner. I have dedicated myself to reading every novel of hers.

Providence was my fourth novel by Brookner, and I was delighted to find that once again she swept me in her subtle and quiet way into the world of Kitty Maule and those deep longing observations we all make about life.

This story of love, desire, acceptance, loss, family, belonging, loneliness and despair really leaned into the dark spaces at some points.

Providence by Anita Bookner

In the character of Caroline - Kitty's gorgeous yet lonely neighbor, we learn that Caroline has accepted this state of loneliness

‘Well, now that I’m divorced they don’t want to know me. You know how it is with a woman on her own. The wives close ranks. A woman on her own is a threat, Kitty.’

 These thoughts of independence combined with thoughts of being imprisoned by one's life circumstances, created so much depth in this novel.

No one is able to write about the ordinary and mundane the way that Brookner can. 

Our protagonist Kitty deals with loss, ideas about living a full life, and she questions her connection to and love for her colleague and friend Maurice.

For two days she sat in the garden or walked about the streets, and she would remember those two days as a curious interval, when all things seemed possible, an almost mystical time of promise and anticipated fulfillment. 

We learn towards the end of the novel that Kitty realizes

I want it to be different now. I don’t want to be alone any more.

 I can only say that Providence (like every Brookner novel I've read so far) is worth the time. It's worth the reflection. It's world the pondering it insights.

I now know better how I feel about myself after having read Kitty's experiences. When I was considering a career and life inside of academia, I spent a great deal of time in academic circles, and I could almost feel myself there. This melodic way she writes is entrancing and I adore it.

I'll be finishing up The Passion According to G.H. by my other favorite author Clarice Lispector before picking up my next Anita Brookner novel.

Happy reading my slow living friends

Clarice Lispector Peering Into My Soul: Quick Quote

Because, you see, I knew I was entering the crude and raw glory of nature. Seduced, I was still fighting as best I could against the quicksand that was swallowing me: and each movement I was making toward "no, no!", each movement pushed me inevitably on; not having the strength to fight was my only forgiveness.

Anita Brookner and The Quiet Novels I Adore

Source: bbc.com

I am not sure how I stumbled upon the English novelist Anita Brookner, but I am so glad that I did.

I kept seeking out novelist and novels that just felt like me. 

When I learned that she was an unmarried dedicated novelist who didn't publish until her early 50s, I was like, YES YES YES all the things YES.

She started publishing her novels at age 53 and pretty much wrote one a year until she died.

My Love of Rereading: A Personal Reading Philosophy

 I have been quoted repeatedly as having said, "If it isn't worth reading twice, it isn't worth reading at all."

I return over and over to one of my favorite Victorian novelists, and honestly one of my favorite novelists of all time: Thomas Hardy.

Source: Brittanica.com

Reasons that I love rereading:

1. I realize things I didn't read on the previous read
2. I allow myself to reread paragraphs and sentences in a slow and deep way
3. I can compare my thoughts/ feelings to my previous read

Novels on my rereading radar:

1. Tess of the D'Urbevilles by Thomas Hardy (will be my third read)
2. Jane Eyre by Charolette Brontë (a constant reread)
3. Macbeth by Shakespeare (planning to consume it via audio play at the river on a frosty day)
4. Shirley by Charolette Brontë

Those are the novels I want to deeply reread and see what all can be revealed to me about who I am now that I am at a new phase of my life.

That's the true point of rereading to me. I want to wring my literature dry. I want to pull as much as I possibly can out of each work.

This only works if your literature is dense and meaningful. You'll know the novels worth rereading on the first read.

Do you reread? If so, what's your latest or upcoming reread? I am fascinated by fellow bibliophiles who reread.

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

Read As Much Or As Little of Proust As You Like

I have read numerous articles about how to approach Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

Now that I am into Volume III, I wanted to add something.

I honestly feel that there is NO right or wrong way to read Proust's masterpiece.

my digital copy of Volume III by Modern Library

Whether one inhales each volume and then goes back slowly through thumbing along the chapters and pulling out more of the essence. Or, whether one goes so slowly that the melodic trance like way Proust writes lulls you to sleep each night. Each is valid. Each is fine.

I believe that more people don't approach Proust (or most of the great works of literature) is because of the "this is the ONLY and RIGHT way" to do so. It excludes large groups of people, and I'd like to be a part of that change.

Rereading is a gift and I am a huge fan of returning to text that moved and inspired me. I am a fan of letting literature provide insights into the great human condition.

With that in mind, it's fine if someone spends 6 hours straight reading Swann's Way only to emerge from the text and stumble into a bright reality. It will take the person some time to adjust to the current world and that experience seems like a glorious one.

Simultaneously, I can see the benefit in the reader who after a few pages, stops to remember their childhood bedtime routine. The reader who reflects on how their mother's presence was a constant comfort at bedtime and how dismal it was to be forced to fall asleep on one's own.

Proust's great work has room for every type of reader.

I honestly believe when it comes to In Search of Lost Time a reader can

1. Read it one page or 10 pages at a time
2. Inhale it over the course of 5 hour stretches
3. Read each volume back to back
4. Reach each volume and then take a break to let it digest
5. Journal throughout in a reflective manner
6. Skip journaling and sit and contemplate each section read over coffee
7. Read it digitally or physically (I am not a fan of audio personally)
8. Do it with a group or in a solitary manner as I am doing it

There's no right or wrong way to consume this massive tome. 

This work is so powerful that readers feel the need to share how THEY read it and offer that up as THE way to read it. While some do so from an elitist "this is the absolute only way" standpoint, most just want to share the way that worked for them.

I only want to add that it's okay to ignore ALL of it- and ignore me if that helps.

Just don't stay away from this novel because of all the directives on how it is to be read.

Start with volume I- Swann's Way. 

Approach it at a time in your life when you could benefit from reflection. From "me time". From a slowing down of sorts. 

Don't expect anything. Make a cup of hot coffee. Let the text take you away. Let it help you remember what it's like to truly remember. 

Clarice Lispector- My New Love

 

Source: Wikipedia

I adore Clarice Lispector.

The Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist has stolen my heart.

I am having my first reading experience, but suffice it to say it is love at first word.

I started The Passion According to G.H. and much like Proust, I realized that Lispector doesn't allow you to rush through her words.

I am lulled into a mystical experience with her work. I am meeting with a new and different part of myself. 

Her words allow you to sink so deeply into a version of your lived experience that is almost unreachable. 

I emerge from a paragraph only finding myself needing to read it again to see if I can recreate what I felt when I first read it. 

There was a great article in The New Yorker about Clarice Lispector in 2015. Here's a quote from the article that felt very fitting:

What matters is the magnetic love she inspires in those susceptible to her. For them, reading Clarice Lispector is one of the great emotional experiences of their lives. But her glamour is dangerous. “Be careful with Clarice,” a friend told a reader decades ago, using the single name by which she is universally known. “It’s not literature. It’s witchcraft.”

This is how I feel while reading her... spellbound. Entranced.

I feel like I am privy to some secret knowing.

It's like I am aware that a bewitching is taking place and I am here for the journey.

Her oeuvre is extensive if you include her short stories, but I am dedicated to reading every word that she ever wrote.

I will be purchasing most in digital format (true to my minimalist style), but I couldn't help but order the 100 year anniversary edition (of Clarice's birth) of The Hour of the Star. 

I will surely blog my experience while reading it.

100 year edition of The Hour of the Star in hardback

Lispector Novels on my "will purchase soon list"

1. Near to the Wild Heart
2. Aqua Viva
3. The Besieged City
4. The Chandelier
5. The Complete Stories

I am going to get them all digitally and take my time with each one. I want to keep a Lispector novel going in the background of my reading. She provides something to my literary life that I didn't know that I needed.

Consider adding her to your reading life if you are reading to plunge deeply into yourself.

Happy reading my slow living friends.

As a Digital Reader, I Bought Proust in Paperback

I started my journey with In Search of Lost Time in December of 2021. I bought all of the Moncrieff, Kilmartin, Enright translations in digital form for my kindle, but I did purchase the Penguin Classics edition of Swann's Way in paperback translated by Lydia Davis. 

After reading A Budding Grove both on my kindle and some in the paperback I purchased by Modern Library, I knew that I needed the entire series in physical form.

This statement probably doesn't mean anything to most people, but as someone who only owns 25 books, adding another 6 to my collection is a big deal. 

I headed over to Book Depository and ordered the entire set from Vintage Classics. These are also the Moncrieff, Kilmartin, Enright translations.

I am anxiously awaiting their arrival.

I adore reading digitally and will defend doing so until the end of time, but there are just some novels that demand a deep savoring. Some novels that demand being marked up within an inch of their existence.

So it is with the writings slash dialogue slash philosophy that is The Search.

I'll document here my journey with In Search of Lost Time (A la recherche du temps perdu). I have been taking my time with it, but as I slow my reading down, I anticipate that I can delve more deeply into the work this Autumn and Winter.

I will photograph them and display them here as soon as they arrive hopefully by next week!

Happy reading my slow living friends.

I Can't Stop Talking About Books

I love books.

I love reading.

I had another website that I spent way too much money to upkeep, so I let it go, but that love of sharing my reading didn't lessen.

Hence... this blog. Nice and free. Nice and easy. All in keeping with my life philosophy.

Welcome. Welcome.

If you've migrated from my other site, welcome here, if you're new- hello!

I love literature. None of my degrees are in English or Literature, but I enjoy classics, translated fiction by women authors, and a few (here and there) contemporary literary fiction novels.

BookTube Days...

I used to have a BookTube channel. I have a few hundred subscribers and a consistent viewer base. It was exhausting work for me.

I'm a busy mom and cancer caretaker and it started to feel like a job. I did love love love talking about books. 

Now I can do it in pajamas with my hot cup of coffee :)

What you can expect here...

I'm a digital book reader (mainly- about 85%).

I love organic coffee. Aeropress. Pour overs.

You can expect long and drawn out thoughts as I make my way through In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust, my love of deep introspection with Clarice Lispector, and my journey through all of Anita Brookner's novels

Coffee. Books. Slow living. That's what I want to share on this blog.

The pressure already feels like it is off now that I've chosen free hosting. Why didn't I do this lasts year!?!?

Happy reading my slow living friends