WWW Wednesday – August 19, 2020

Since I’m really enjoying checking in here weekly, I’m going to continue doing the WWW Wednesday tag hosted by Taking on a World of Words. I like having a chance mid-week to share what I’m reading and see what you guys are up to, as well.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m still currently in the middle of three books. The fear and anxiety of having to walk back into a college classroom and teach face to face is really getting to me, but I might write a short blog post about that later. I’m still reading a short story a day out of The Complete Stories by Zora Neale Hurston. I appreciate the atmosphere and how immersive each story is. Sometimes big things happen and sometimes it seems like not much happens but there’s still something to think about. I am getting a bit faster with being able to read the dialects so that helps!

I’m also listening to the audiobook for The Marvelous Land of Oz while I’m working this week. I am basically picking up any available audiobook for physical books I own so that I can get through more of my backlog. This sequel to the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is much less iconic, much more goofy, but still really magical. I’m having a good time listening to this as it’s been a long time since I’ve read it or watched the 1987 animated film (it’s on Youtube and I am really tempted to watch it).

Lastly, I’m reading The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan. I’m still working through the Percy Jackson series for the very first time and even though I’ve just started the third book, I am already hooked! The beginning is so dark and intense and I’m so excited to see where Riordan takes us next. This is the lightness I need during such a stressful time for me.

Thanks to audiobooks, I’ve been able to actually get through a lot of books this week. First, I made the call to DNF Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan with only 100 pages to go. I just did not care; I’d accidentally spoiled myself but I didn’t really care that much to begin with so I decided to move on.

I listened to The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller this week, as well. I did not like this book. It follows a short affair between Francesca, who is largely unsatisfied with her life and husband, and a long-haired photographer who comes to town. Everything felt rushed since it was less than 200 pages and I just felt like she should have had a conversation with her husband or something. Not a fan.

I also listened to two productions of Arthur Miller plays this week. I listened to both After the Fall and The Man Who Had All the Luck. I found After the Fall to be really pretentious and self-serving. It’s semi-autobiographical and really made Marilyn Monroe look awful. The Man Who Had All the Luck, on the other hand, was really enjoyable. It’s about a man who has so much good luck and he’s just waiting for the luck to run out. I definitely recommend listening to this if you have the chance.

Next, I finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I did have some time to actually hold a book and read and I used that time to finish this book. I LOVED it. Ishiguro’s writing is so atmospheric and beautiful while he tells a haunting story of childhood friends whose lives are aren’t exactly normal. Everything in this world is *almost* normal but something is a little bit off. The answers are slowly revealed in such a matter-of-fact way; it doesn’t feel like you’re reading major plot twists but you are. I highly recommend this one and I want to check out the film especially now that I know Carey Mulligan is Kathy.

Lastly, I listened to the audiobook for a memoir called My Lobotomy by Howard Dully. Dully get a lobotomy in 1960 at the age of 12 and his memoir follows his life both before and after this happens. This is a horrifying story and gives a look at what a life after a lobotomy can look like and the systems that allowed this to happen. That being said, I don’t know that this needed to be told in a written format or it just didn’t work for me. The story was a bit slow in places and the way Howard talks about the other people in the asylum he lived in for a while was not the best. Dully originally told his story on NPR and if you’re interested in what happened, this might be the way to go. I might eventually check it out myself.

Up next for me, I can’t predict what audiobooks will be available from my library but I do only have one book left on my official TBR for the month and that’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I’ve only read parts of it and am excited to read the whole thing.

Have you read any of these books? What are you reading? If you participate in WWW Wednesday, link me your posts!