Book Lists, Reviews, and Recommendations February 23rd 2023 Vol. 2 #1
But first an article you should read by Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Who's Afraid of Black History
If you havenât yet and you care about history, truth, and the freedom of debate and inquiryâread the opinion piece by Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. on the New York Times website. Gatesâ opinion piece, Whoâs Afraid of Black History? Â is aimed squarely at the policies of Ron DeSantis around education. Dr. Gates is the Director of the Hutchens Center for African and African American Research at Harvard who also writes books such as Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow as well as hosts the PBS television show âFinding Your Roots.â If you take a look at the comments, many readers would love to see a debate between Dr. Gates and DeSantis. That might be the kind of debate we need right now in this country!
Books I Finished
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
The Assassinâs Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Books Iâm Currently Reading
Middlemarch by George Eliott
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The 8th Habit by Stephen R. Covey
The Child That Books Built by Francis Spufford
Year of Wonder by Clemency Burton-Hill
Willa Cather: Stories, Poems, & Other Writings
The Madwoman and the Roomba by Sandra Tsing Loh
PssstttâŠwhen available Iâve linked the books to Bookshop.org. One way to support Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum is to buy books through the Folio bookshop.org page. Sure it isnât as cheap as Amazon but you are supporting Folio and independent bookshops and you can feel good about that.
Books I Bought
I had a crown replaced so to reward myself I visited The Kingston Bookery and bought way too many books to offset my dental experience. It looks like someone dumped a pristine collection of Easton Press books.
Silas Marner by George Eliot (Signet Classic)
Dubliners by James Joyce (Signet Classic)
Cheaper By the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Again, Dangerous Visions, Volume 2 Edited by Harlan Ellison
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West
The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
My Mistressâs Sparrow is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro and edited by Jeffrey Eugenides
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (The Easton Press edition)
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (The Easton Press Edition)
Sandra Tsing Loh
Do you have an author that seems to have you dialed inâwhen they write about themselves, they are also writing about you. Well, for me that author is Sandra Tsing Loh who Iâve been reading for years and is always, and I MEAN ALWAYS one to two years ahead of me. Whatever article she writes for The Atlantic, whatever new book she has out I feel like she wrote it just for me. It started with her article from 2009, Letâs Call the Whole Thing Off: The author is ending her marriage. Isnât it time you did the same? which predates my own divorce by a year. I still think about that article. Then it was her piece about caring for her father as I was also beginning to wrestle with my momâs health and mental decline. Then we became perimenopause sisters through her book, The Madwoman in the Volvo. Which if that is the phase of like you are heading for, please read it because I know you need a laugh or two. And then remember how I mentioned I had a crown replaced this week? This was the second time in the past few months that this molar fell out of my mouth as I was eating something soft. Loh has her latest book out, The Madwoman and the Roomba. I havenât finished it yet, but I picked it up the day of my crown replacement and what is Loh writing about in the first part? Standing in front of her fridge snacking when one of her teeth falls out. Seriously, this book was published in 2020.
Folio Events Iâm Attending
Middlemarch Book Club
Colson Whitehead Book Club
SEISMIC: Seattle City of Literature Happy Hour
Drinks, Drugs & Debauchery: A History of Seattleâs Prohibition with Brad Holden
I hope to see you there! Check out all upcoming Folio events.