Library Haul

I’m back in the United States which means I’ve checked out an inappropriate amount of books and movies from the library.

Here’s what they are:

Books:

• White Negroes: When Cornrows were in Vogue… and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation, Lauren Michele Jackson
• Women who Run with Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, Clarissa Pinkola Estes
• Fantastic Women: 18 Tales of the Surreal and Sublime from Tin House
• Forty Stories, Donald Barthelme
• In the Gloaming: Stories, Alice Elliott Dark
• The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations, Toni Morrison
• A Village in a Valley, Beverley Nichols

 

Movies:

• Pick of the Litter
• Becoming Astrid
• Cold War
• Good Manners
• Land of Mine
• Room 237
• Maria by Callas
• Mandy
• Night Comes On
• Shadow (the one from last year)
• You Were Never Really Here
• Miss Hokusai
• Prospect
• November
• L’Amant Double

Library Haul

I meant to write this post up yesterday, but I was in a bad, not very companionable mood.  I’m feeling better today, having, among other things, cooked some beautiful dal and finished watching Mother!, which was much better than last autumn’s reviews had led me to believe it would be.

Other news? I’m looking forward to seeing Deadpool 2, probably this weekend, hoping to go out for  meal or ice cream (or both), my chocolate quinoa pancakes continue to be excellent, and Solo is getting some pretty mediocre reviews. Oh, and I’m falling behind on reading Travels with Charley.

Here’s what else I have checked out:

Books:

• Travels with Charley
• How to Break Up with Your Phone
• The Little Book of Lykke: The followup to the widely acclaimed Little Book of Hygge. I’ve actually already finished it, just not ready to return it yet.
• Lolly Willowes
• Ripley’s Game: Wondering if this third installment will be the one that puts me off the Ripley series
• The Wings of the Dove: I really fear the day when I have no more big Henry James. This and The Golden Bowl. That’s all I’ve got left, I think.
• The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

Movies:

• Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood is bae.
• Lady Snowblood: Miss Havisham goes violent samurai.
• Mother!
• Enter the Dragon: Triggered by a youtube video pointing out a very extra extra.
• The Furies: Barbara Stanwyck is also bae.
• My Name is Nobody
• The Old Gun: Yay westerns!
• Prisoners
• Frenzy: One of the chronologically last Hitchcock films and one of the last ones I haven’t seen yet.
• Amarcord: The first movie of Fellini’s that I’ve liked.

Books from the Library 7/13

I’m in a weird place with books, in that while I’m physically finished with the last one I read, I’m still lingering over it mentally and emotionally.
That would be The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather. It was really amazing. I think I go too long between reading Willa Cather because they do leave you (me) with pretty deep feelings and they take a bit of time (but not if you swallow them in one weekend like I just did).  But I guess I’m saying they’re books you need to bring something to.

Library Haul

Sometimes I run low on books and go overboard with hold requests the next time I’m on the library’s website.  This was one of those times.
But after the relative famine of lean book times, when three books in sequence weren’t what I wanted, searching for new material on the library is such a simple happiness.  There are so many options and then within a week you have a comparative feast, a two foot high pile of books on the desk in your room.

I’ve already finished the first of this hall- Diana Athill’s Somewhere Towards the End.  Very much recommended.

Obviously I won’t be going into details about these, because I haven’t read them yet! They’re still mysteries to me.  It’s always kind of exciting, every time you have a new book to read.  You never know when you’re going to find a new favorite, or an author you have to learn more about.

• The Lady Vanishes, Ethel Lina White
• Ripley Under Ground, Patricia Highsmith
• The Day of the Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
• The Unmade Bed, Francoise Sagan
• Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, Daniel Ladinsky
• The Song of the Lark, Willa Cather
• Innocents Abroad and Roughing It, Mark Twain
• Books for Living, Will Schwalbe
• The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore, Tennessee Williams

That should hold me for a little while! ^.^

Wellness on a $0 Budget

I talk about wellness way too frequently.  It’s getting to be one of my favorite topics, along with the inexhaustible lists of books and movies.  Partly it’s me (what kind of millennial yoga-loving anorexia-surviving introspective vegan would I be if I didn’t?) and part of it is the current craze for wellness, mindfulness, and all of the associated paraphernalia (rose quartz lamps).

Interrupting this broadcast: I HEAR THUNDER THANK GOD FINALLY

Anyway…

I have ambivalent feeling about the current cultural boom being experienced by wellness.  On the positive side, it’s helped me find more people who share my interests and brought my niche interests to a much wider audience.  Yay! An opportunity for new friends with new shared interests!
Additionally, as society and the market adapts to appeal more to this current cultural climate, it also suits me better.  There are increased vegan dining options, more articles around that I find compelling…. more things are available that resonate with my lifestyle and mindset.