Mark Solarski

Hindsight this week

It’s been kind of a crazy few weeks.  Food poisoning threw me off my game.  Then the sub-supervisor under me went into labor six weeks early, doubling my work load six weeks earlier than anticipated (she and baby are fine).  I thought I’d get a chance to write more while I was visiting my parents this week but, thanks to early baby, wound up working more than I would have liked and didn’t get to bank any posts.

I did, however, buy an absolute ton of books, as per usual when I visit my parents.  I specifically timed my visit with the Green Valley Book Fair, which is wonderful if you’ve never been.  Between the usual Goodwill hopping, the book fair, and a visit to the Midlothian Book Exchange I picked up Refuge (Terry Tempest Williams), Unaccustomed Earth, A Visit from the Goon Squad, two Joshilyn Jacksons, Behold the Dreamers, The Bean Trees, NW (Zadie Smith), The Circle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Among the Ten Thousand Things, Carry On Warrior, a Gloria Naylor, two Laini Taylors, Cloud Atlas, and A Brief History of Seven Killings.  I also went through my mother’s eight hundred books (I come by my book hoarding honestly) and picked out several to borrow.  Of course, those wouldn’t fit in my suitcase so my mother is shipping them–I think we are literally going to have to buy another book case before they arrive.  Oops?

While home I did get to get some reading in, finishing The Power, American Fire, and The Floating World.  I also finished Hum If You Don’t Know the Words and Forward by Abby Wambach on audio.  I started but abandoned Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang.  I got through the first two stories but couldn’t push any farther.  Zhang’s stories had details that seemed only to shock–while I can do gross when it adds to the story, the fecal matter and vaginal explorations here were pointless except to show that millennial women can apparently be edgy too.  I can see why Lena Dunham thought it was great and wanted it on her imprint–that probably should have tipped me off that it wasn’t for me.

Foresight for the coming week

The next several weeks are going to be nuts at work, so we’ll see how that goes for my reading.  I’m currently in the middle of The Music of the Ghosts for Diverse Book Club and not sure I’ll manage to do more than finish that this week.  It’s good, but slow going.  If I do, I’ve got So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed for MMD Book Club discussion next week to finish so that’s probably next.  I read and really enjoyed The Power and Forward so one of those will be on the blog this week along with The Floating World.

Are you reading anything good? I’d love to hear in the comments.

Mark Solarski

Hindsight this week

It was the end of the fiscal year at work plus one of the women on my team had a baby shower (…in Houston…which is not where I live) so last week felt like a lost week at work.  Combine that with the general malaise I feel a few days after rain in the fall (Thanks, Leaf Mold!) and I chose self-care over a Thursday post.  My apologies but sometimes life happens, you know?

Last week I finished The Best Kind of People and The Blinds and started on A Kind of Freedom which, for the record, looked like it would be a quick read but has tiny font.  Here’s hoping I don’t acquire more library fines while finishing.  I’m currently in the middle of Hum If You Don’t Know the Words and am much more engaged this time.

The only library pick up was Young Jane Young for MMD book club.  Kindle buys this week were The Negative Trait Thesaurus (for when I like to pretend like I might write something myself in the future), The Last Days of Cafe Leila, and The Beautiful Mystery (the eighth book in the Inspector Gamache series–which everyone says is amazing so I have bought eight of them without having actually ready any of them).  This is the faith I have in my fellow book worms, particularly Anne Bogel and Madeleine Riley.

Book of the Month picks were posted this week–everyone else seemed disappointed but two books I was dying to read were among the choices–it was the first time I didn’t feel like I needed to do any research before snapping up my picks.  My library doesn’t seem to own The Power and the wait list for Manhattan Beach was a million years long.  Done and done.  (If you’re interested in checking out BOTM, my affiliate link is above and code “REV3” will get you four books plus a tote bag for the price of the three month membership–this is how I got hooked.  Three months gave me a good idea of my options and y’all, that tote bag is my new favorite tote bag.  It’s the perfect size.  If you have questions, please–reach out to me.)

Foresight for the coming week

Because I’ve blown past the deadlines on some Kindle library books, it’s currently in airplane mode and staying that way.  This also means there is a little less rush to read those–I’m taking a week off in two weeks and the last time I went to my parents averaged a book a day, so those will be handled then.  As I noted above, I’ve got to finish A Kind of Freedom here in the next three days with Young Jane Young probably next up.  It’s due back at the library in the middle of my trip so I should really finish that before I leave.  The MMD book club is chatting with Gabrielle Zevin at the end of the month so that should be fun.  I enjoyed The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry but thought it was a tad over-hyped.  Definitely still worth reading her next offering though!

I’ve  also got something fun coming soon with a guest post on another blog–I’m finishing my info for that tonight and can’t wait to link over to it.

Are you reading anything good? I’d love to hear in the comments.

Mark Solarski

Hindsight this week

I finished You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead this week.  It was a slow reading week for me, with a lot going on at work, unfortunately, that kept me out of my book.  I’m almost done with Emma in the Night but wound up being glutened last night so my plan to finish it last night was derailed and I wound up going to bed super early.

I was also remarkably restrained with my kindle books and only bought So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, an MMD flight pick for October.  At the library I picked up The Blinds, a BOTM pick last month, and A Kind of Freedom–right before it received its National Book Award Nomination.   I got Crossing to Safety and American Fire on Kindle from the library as well, but those due dates are sort of flexible.  (Thanks Airplane Mode).

Foresight this week

I should finish Emma in the Night today and then I really need to decide what to read.  I’ve got Fraulein M. (can’t renew again), Crossing to Safety (being discussed at MMD book club in less than two weeks), The Blinds (not due for two weeks but has holds so can’t renew), and A Kind of Freedom (same).   #FirstWorldProblems.

Have opinions on what I should read next?  I’d love to hear them.

Mark Solarski

Hindsight this week

Reading picked up the pace this week with some deadlines coming.  I finished Sing, Unburied, Sing (out tomorrow and a Book of the Month selection); The Color Purple, Stella by Starlight (a Diverse Books Club pick for September), Trell (out September 12), and American Street (recommended by Jennifer Latham, author of Dreamland Burning).  Some of that was simply finishing an audiobook around the same time and some of that is Stella by Starlight is a short middle-grade book (though I don’t read them as fast as you’d think since they don’t hold my attention as well).

If you didn’t catch it, there’s a strong underlying theme of race and the impact of racism in all of those books.  Between people doing drugs, black people dying, black men being wrongly convicted of crimes, and the Klan coming to threaten black voters, I needed to change pace in my reading.  It was an unintentional heavy theme for my last several books.  (For the record–I recognize that sentence is dripping in privilege.  I get to take a break because it’s not my life and for some people it is.)  With all that said, I’m currently listening to You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me (Sherman Alexi’s memoir of his mother) and reading Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane.  Alexi’s memoir isn’t at all “light,” but I’m back to being beholden to my library TBR and I really wanted to listen to him read it since his voice gives his work a cadence you miss otherwise.

With that backlog of finished books, I’m finally doing what I said I was going to do and sitting down to knock out several drafts so I’m not left writing the day before a post.  I’m at my usual Starbucks where I had a weird interaction with a guy that I’m choosing to interpret as funny and not analyzing too hard, though we could certainly go there.  I was sitting here on Wednesday, finishing my post on Sing, Unburied, Sing for Thursday and wearing my GIANT noise-cancelling headphones that I always wear (I’m here for the pumpkin spice not the 80s Madonna and MJ mix) when this guy tries to talk to me.  Well, one, that makes me remove my headphones–something I wouldn’t normally do to someone unless I need to tell them something important…like, their fly is down or the building is on fire.  Otherwise, GIANT headphones are usually code for “I would like to be left alone pleaseandthankyou.”  So I remove my headphones so he can comment that my leopard-print sweater doesn’t match my shoes today.  I laugh, say “yeah” and put my headphones back on.  It took me a minute to figure out he was referring to my leopard print rain boots (the only other leopard print I own, FTR) I wore on Monday after the hurricane delayed everything and turned everyone’s yard into a mudpits.  So, okay dude, you’ve noticed me more than once.

He then tries to talk to me again, so AGAIN I have to remove my big ass headphones so he can ask me what I do.  To which I respond that I have a different job but what I’m working on in that moment is a review for my book blog.  “Blog” apparently was the magic word because suddenly looking like he smells something awful.  “Oh.  You blog?”  and with that he turns back around to wait for his drink.

Books and blogs.  Saving women from douche-canoes since at least 2000.

Acquisition wise, there were some good Kindle sales so I picked up a couple cookbooks that were on sale, Radium Girls (I’d had my eye on this one!), Hello Sunshine (from the MMD Summer Reading Guide), and A Trick of the Light from the Inspector Gamache series.

Foresight this week

Coming up this week, I’d like to finish Since We Fell and Underground Railroad.  It’s the last of the three books for Diverse Books Club since I’ve already read The Hate U Give and finished Stella by Starlight last week.  After that, I probably need to jump on Crossing to Safety for the MMD book club.  I’ve also got a new thriller that was a Book of the Month pick–Emma in the Night, picked by guest judge Krysten Ritter that is calling my name and that I won’t be able to renew because I suspect the hold list is going to quickly become a mile long at the library.  I lucked into finding it when I did.

I also need to go ahead and select my book of the month–I’m leaning towards Little Fires Everywhere, though I asked for an ARC on that so I’m holding off confirming my box in case that longshot request is granted before tomorrow.  I didn’t love Ng’s Everything I Never Told You, though my dislike of that wasn’t the writing or characters but the way she chose to explain the main character’s death (how it happened).  Since she can’t possibly make that same choice in this book (since no one drowns from what I can see ) and it’s been favorably reviewed, I want to give this one a chance.

Have suggestions for what I should read next? I’d love to hear them in the comments!