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Or, Birthday of Books The Second

Reader,

For a newsletter that was originally about what I was reading, this is the first such entry in a while. Fitting that it’s at the beginning of a new (personal) year. So let’s talk about birthday getaway reading, as we did last year.

This time, I took a bus to my destination after getting little sleep. The trip took on that fine balance between slipping into the Land of Nod and making sure I didn’t miss my stop so almost no reading was done. The moral here may be to get adequate sleep; more on that later. When I was awake and reading, I either listened to If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (narrated by Torian Brackett) or read The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World by Kehinde Andrews.

I’d been wanting to finish If I Survive You for a while but scheduling issues (as in: I need to do a better job of scheduling my loans and holds) and *waves hands around* life meant this trip marked the most significant progress yet. This is no comment on the book as it’s heartbreakingly propulsive in the way last year’s Abundance by Jakob Guanzon (narrated by George Newbern) was. Why, Michael, do you choose these precious leave days to read such books??? I went on to finish it during the trip and now I want to listen to the author everywhere because the family he drew a portrait of is going to stay with me for a long time.

I was compelled to check out Kehinde Andrews’ work by his appearance in Harry & Meghan on Netflix. The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World can get repetitive, especially if one knows how the world works for what he calls “The Rest” (versus his imagined audience, “The West”), but it makes for insightful reading. Finishing it in an arboretum that featured a tree planted by a Unilever chair felt like a full circle moment; capitalism and empire being such bedfellows.

I chose the day I arrived to visit a family I know in town. It was a delight to spend time with them and especially their preteen child, who had many things to tell me about the way adults talk to kids about books. I’ve been having Big Feelings about the idea of being a parent (when am I not? And will I dither for so long that I never become one? &c &c) and it was something to hear a kid say something akin to “You lot can be mildly obsessive about this reading stuff” as a person who has been a Reader™ all their life and would love a Reader™ for a child. Here’s a kid who is precious to me, forcing me to confront (once again!) the possibility that anything less than voracious reading still leads to a wonderful child. I’ll be sitting with that for a while yet.

As with last year, Aunt Flo chose this time to visit and I understood folks who lean into pharmaceutical methods to delay it because it was a bummer. We (I went on this trip with YB) were staying at a short-term rental that had a massive TV and Netflix for our consideration. And consider it we did; especially as my period-related exhaustion meant all I wanted to do was vegetate. My Serializd saw a lot of action as I finished Selling Tampa and worked my way through the first 2 seasons of Good Girls. My Letterboxd, not as much, as I made the mistake of watching Netflix’s top suggestion - You People (2023) - before checking out reviews (it’s horrible but I stuck it out in the hopes that something would change. Alas). Now that I think about it, this would have been a great time to work my way through the Kenyan films on Netflix (we’re in February and still no season) but hey vegetating will take whatever form when it hits.

When things stopped feeling like they were falling apart (chill, Chicken Little), I started on The Wall by Marlen Haushofer (translated by Shaun Whiteside, narrated by Käthe Mazur) whose post-apocalyptic setting and chapterlessness were captivating company as I knitted for the first time in a long time (it had be so long since I did it I couldn’t remember how to cast on) and pottered about the place. I can’t quite remember how I came upon it but I will definitely be checking out more such books.

Despite starting on You've Been Played by Adrian Hon and thinking about gamification and streaks a little more, I have been caught up in the Kindle New Year Challenge after restoring my access to my account. I didn’t think I was immune but seeing myself read a chapter before bed so I wouldn’t lose my streak was something to behold. And then finding myself borrowing certain books to earn rewards while planning to incorporate it into my reading plans— who am I???

To keep my streak going, and because Shawn the Book Maniac had mentioned it on his channel, I started reading Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors by Aravind Jayan and what a ride I’m on. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed being in India on the reading front (related: I’m contemplating visiting the country in 2024) till I started reading it and I’ll definitely be reading a few more chapters (maybe finishing it?) before the next entry.

On my return trip, I started on 2 books because I had slept quite well and could look outside, listen, read, and even snack. One because I remember it being buzzy when it came out - Hell of a Book by Jason Mott (narrated by J.D. Jackson & Ronald Peet) - and the other as a hybrid (formerly parallel) read - Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde (narrated by Arit Okpo, Atta Otigba, Eloghosa Osunde, Ifeyinwa Unachukwu, Obongjayar & Sheila Chukwulozie) - because of my buddy read with MJ. The former is, as the youth say, giving what it was supposed to gave. The latter, which you may recall marks my nth attempt to finish this book, continues to be…an odd experience. Its oddity is why I was excited when MJ suggested this buddy read so I'm looking forward to our chat tomorrow.

That’s it from the getaway. I may be back but the birthday wishlist and break is still on. I return to wage work on Monday so there’s still what’s left of today and the weekend to put in more reading though with the swimming group meeting tomorrow and post-travel exhaustion I won’t be putting any pressure on myself.

As ever, please write back to me and tell me what books you’re reading or looking forward to reading this week — it’s always a great time talking about books.

Enjoy the rest of the week and have a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!