26
Reader,
First, the Disk Horse. There was a plagiarism scandal in the literary world last week and the way it was like an ouroboros - the article also contained plagiarism! - was something to behold. It incorporated mental health and the culture of literary production that makes such incidents possible and it was intriguing to see how people responded to it on the internet. On one hand, we want to extend grace (as always!). On the other, we want to know that nobody's work has been stolen for our entertainment.
Heh. Anyway.
I've taken to running and more walking lately and that has meant more audiobooks which — thank goodness because I only finished one (1) physical book last week - Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton (alongside listening to the audiobook, read by Tavia Gilbert). I'm going to talk about the ones I listened to in this week's video (here's last week's) but I don't know quite how to get back into the reading groove. Wage work didn't help - back to back meetings and so on - but I'll read yet!
I started on a beautiful, queer, graphic novel last week in the spirit of graphic novels being my only digital reading - On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden - and maybe my Pride Month reading has began (did it ever end?) already. I was having so much fun reading what a once-dear friend called ‘picture books’ I went ahead and borrowed a few more off of NPR’s Books We Love (which some of us may remember as Book Concierge) comics and graphic novels selection and I’m excited for all the colourful and picture-full days ahead.
Something I’m looking forward to this week - listening to the BBC Radio 4 serialisation of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe, one of my favourite books from last year. It’s just the sort of non-fiction I love - a mix of deep reading, documentation, research, profiles, history and everything in between. Something I enjoyed listening to on Saturday as I walked in a supermarket (yes, I know Ury said to make ourselves open to new connections by putting our headphones away but—) was 'Home' by Zhang Yueran, a short story from The Sound of Salt Forming: Short Stories by the Post-'80s Generation in China which I first heard on China Radio International (CRI, 91.9 FM in Nairobi) as I was channel surfing. I used to be a huge podcast listener but now it’s all audiobooks (and now stories on the radio) so maybe that - a selection of podcasts that feature folks reading stories - might be the way to get back into that world.
My TBR list this coming week is unchanged from last week’s so I hope that I’ll be able to speak about physical books when next I write to you. Wish me luck!
I hope you have a great week and a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!