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Or, Do You Remember?
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Reader,
The Noname Book Club selection for September was Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde and I realised, in looking it up on Storygraph and Goodreads, that I had read it multiple times. I remembered nothing from each of those instances. I went ahead and borrowed the e-book and audiobook from the library but the meeting day came and went with the book unread.
It got me wondering what makes a book memorable while some books are the text equivalent of information coming in through one ear and out through the other. Folks who’ve known me since 2021 will remember how The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw was once a part of my personality (I still love that book; even got Mama Mike a copy during this year’s Nairobi LitFest) and I’m curious about why Lorde didn’t stick. All the books on my wishlist are books I still think about yet there are hundreds I’ll only remember because I’ll see them logged on Goodreads/ Storygraph/ Fable or because they’ll be listed as previously borrowed on Libby.
Part of the overconsumption chat in the bookish world has to do with folks who read (and usually have bought) hundreds of books a year. Often there’s some criticism that folks who read lots of books generally remember little of what they read. I’m traditionally defensive about these claims but after this book I might have to agree with my haters. I will say that books come to us at different points and sometimes we’re not ready or there are circumstances that mean we are not in a position to receive them. Either way, memory is a curious thing.
Thanks to being unemployed (please send me links to jobs in communications, research, and digital policy!) and therefore working with limited funds, I decided to make 2025 a No Buy Year on the book front. I’ll usually hold off on buying books till I’ve read them via the library unless there’s a book fair or literary festival happening. This year, I’ve been strict; I think the only book I’ve bought is the gift I got Mama Mike. Outside of free downloads, ARCs and review copies, I have not acquired new books. And, seeing as I can barely remember most books, maybe it’s not a bad thing *shrug*.
Something that’s helped with memorable reads? The 1000 Nights Challenge Discord server I’m part of (I wrote about it in this blog post, the first of a series about my daily reads) — I’ve read something stunning every week since it began. I’m tempted to maintain the practice once the 1000 Nights are up just to keep the good vibes going. Maybe at the very end I’ll look back at the texts I read and have added some more titles to my memory bank.
So, I’d like to ask YOU what makes books memorable for you, which books you remember, and why. I hope that, in hearing from you, I’ll be able to filter for memorable reads.
Quick news/ things that may be of interest:
Ending Thursday: RIKA25: Generations & Memories. More info here and the programme here
Love for the People: Honoring the Revolutionary Life and Legacy of Assata Shakura; a three-part collective study circle honoring the revolutionary life and legacy of Assata Olugbala Shakur continues this and next Sunday | Register here
Treat someone you like (me, for instance, I have a Switch) to the Tiny Bookshop Game (which is also on Discord)
Subscribe to my WhatsApp channel for texts I find while I spend time online
Add me to your New York Times Crossword leaderboard!
If you’re in the Global North and would be open to engaging in the North-South solidarity that is sharing a library card, please email or message me so we can figure things out. Thank you!
Join us for these Laps & Livres meet ups this month (sign up here, feel free to reach out for more information via lapsandlivres@proton.me)
Film folks: The Japan Foundation has newly launched the JFF Theater online streaming platform
A bunch of (mostly American) short stories if that’s your jam
Software resources for audiobook management. Especially Audible-centric, including organization and removing DRM from Audible files
A thread for folks looking to support Usikimye’s work
The Queer Liberation Library 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️, which is free to join here
Digital Library of Korean Literature, which is free to join here
How to Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the visually impaired
Links to Reading Lists, Free Books, Book Recs, Book-related Items, and Calls for Submissions in this document (most recent links at the top)
Since Elon seems to want (some of) us gone, I’m trying to post more often on Bluesky. Follow me there if you’re on it!
You can send me books, postcards, letters, and assorted items via PO Box 102439, Jamia Posta 00101, Nairobi, Kenya (I write back!)
I have finished the following books since I last wrote to you: Nothing to Fear: Demystifying Death to Live More Fully by Julie McFadden RN (e-book and audiobook narrated by the author), The Payback: A Novel by Kashana Cauley (e-book), Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer by Maya Angelou (e-book and audiobook narrated by the author), What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 6 by Fumi Yoshinaga [きのう何食べた? 6 | translated from Japanese by Yoshito Hinton] (e-book), Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su (e-book and audiobook narrated by Eunice Wong), The Darkness Outside Us (The Darkness Outside Us #1) by Eliot Schrefer (e-book and audiobook narrated by James Fouhey), No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria by Rania Abouzeid (e-book and audiobook narrated by Susan Nezami), Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age by Amanda Hess (e-book and audiobook narrated by the author), On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder (e-book and audiobook narrated by the author), Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (e-book and audiobook narrated by the author), Unfit Parent: A Disabled Mother Challenges an Inaccessible World by Jessica Slice (e-book and audiobook narrated by Finlay Stevenson) and War on Gaza by Joe Sacco (e-book). I’m primarily using Storygraph now (passively updating Goodreads as I read most e-books on Kindle via the library) and I hope to get back to making videos soon.
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.
Thank you for reading 🙂
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Enjoy the week ahead and have a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!