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Reader,
In the world of exercise - and life, more broadly - consistency is advised. It’s something I’ve sought to practise in writing this newsletter but I missed a week last week, caught up in an anxious fugue, and it feels odd to be back. But back I am, with no triathlon dreams, just a list of films about Palestine thanks to the inimitable Rosie Olang’ (check them out here).
This year, I’ve bought quite a number of books but haven’t really gotten round to reading them (as anyone who reads the updates section might have observed) so I found this piece by Isaac Fitzgerald on his love of paperbacks quite interesting. In this part of the world, the books I buy will more often than not be paperbacks but I don’t know if I share his ability to cede ownership of books. Part of it is that they’re not inexpensive (a new paperback will easily be upwards of 10 USD, for instance, in a country where average folks earn under $200 a month) and part of it is that I have a sentimental attachment to books as objects. That’s something that would be useful to interrogate, especially as one considers some big future shifts.
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Quick news/ things that may be of interest:
Happening tomorrow (tickets here):
Free Palestine: A Verso Reading List (includes some free ebooks)
I was in a video with Shawn the Book Maniac talking about The Extremely Long Paragraph in fiction
Free copy of this book with the code FORGAZA
Free to download: a new Brittle Paper anthology on the theme of AI
Dracula Daily continues apace. Jump on if you’re keen
You can send me books, postcards, letters, and assorted items via PO Box 102439, Jamia Posta 00101, Nairobi, Kenya
I have finished four books since I last wrote to you, all e-book titles: Happiness Falls by Angie Kim, "You Should Be Grateful": Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption by Angela Tucker, The Change by Kirsten Miller and The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland. My latest video is of some recently borrowed books. To catch the videos I’m working on when they’re done, subscribe to the channel if you haven’t yet!
As ever, please write back to me and tell me what books you’re reading or looking forward to reading — it’s always a great time talking about books.
Enjoy the week ahead and have a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!