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Reader,
I was in Nairobi for a number of reasons over the weekend and one of the things I did was go for the Kenya Museum Society book sale. I walked away with one (1) book - Remember Ruben by Mongo Beti, translated from French by Gerald Moore - which I only remembered to throw into the fridge today. There were a number of AWS titles (the heart of a recent entry) but they were dear and I am on a budget so I took photos and walked away from them. I hope they found loving homes!
Today’s entry is going to be short because the thing I really want to do is read a bunch of these marriage drama books that have recently entered the discourse - specifically Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden and Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane by Lindy West, both discussed brilliantly here - and think here about how women write about marriage. On the other hand, I really don’t care for the material enough to put in the time (I’m being honest here!) and I wonder if writing around the books is sufficient. I’ve already put in some time; surely it should count for something.
Before a decision is made: it was jolting to read this newsletter entry about West’s marriage then read the newsletter entry it referenced (now deleted but forever in our hearts inboxes) right after.
One(‘s inbox) contains multitudes or something. And also— I’d missed book and book-adjacent discourse.
Plus— relationship discourse, which this commentator does so well. He makes a great point, which a lot of us millennials who wrote about our lives online learnt the hard way: If you don’t want your name in people’s mouths, don’t put your business on the streets. Sorry for the mixed expressions!
Please send me hot goss/ discourse/ literary news/ book-adjacent stuff. I’m nosy curious and want to be where the mess fun is.
Quick news/ things that may be of interest:
Ongoing:
Next weekend (tickets 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
Film folks: Solidarity Cinema, for your consideration
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!
The Queer Liberation Library 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️, which is free to join here
Digital Library of Korean Literature, which is free to join here
Film folks: Check out the Japan Foundation’s JFF Theater online streaming platform
How to Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the visually impaired
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 five books since I last wrote to you: The Heinemann Book of African Women’s Writing; compiled by Charlotte H. Bruner (e-book), Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang (audiobook narrated by Carolyn Kang), Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood (e-book & audiobook narrated by the author), The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions by Larry Mitchell with illustrations by Ned Asta (audiobook narrated by Morgan Bassichis & Tourmaline; PDF available here) and Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite (audiobook narrated by Weruche Opia, Diana Yekinni & Nnei Opia Clark). 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!