Dear bookworms, grab a cup of hot tea, coffee, chocolate or what-have-you and sit down for today in #booksandhotdrinkstuesday hosted by @katha_logisch, we are talking about our favourite literary period / movement / style.
.
It so appears that I actually thought this question in terms of genre. I read novels. A long, immersive, chunky novel will always be a favourite. I have two favourite periods: from what I’ve seen on those who’ve already posted, the 19th century is a big star! I love it for its detailed descriptions of daily life, from the rich societies and splendours of Jane Austen’s universe to the very poor people of Les Misérables. The omniscient narrator, though a bit overrated today, is sure to get all my attention, especially if it has a witty, ironic or humorous voice like Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, #Dickens... Accurate scrutiny of society’s quirks also deeply fascinate me: #Wharton (late 19th-beginning it the 20th) is an expert and on the French side, I’m thinking of #Zola & #Flaubert, whom I should read more.
.
And because I love it when reading carries me somewhere else, be it temporally or geographically, I fell in love with #writersofcolor. With #ChinuaAchebe, Mongo Beti, Emmanuel Dongala, Alain Mabanckou, Adichie of course, I discovered writers who spoke of my world, but through the mirror: suddenly whiteness isn’t at the centre, and how different is the world to you when you’re not white... Only through novels could I appreciate the depths of these differences, thanks to the magic of identification & empathy. So contemporary novels dealing with #race, migration & #belonging have become an obsession because here is a literature that speaks to me directly, that, by placing me on the margins (white characters are peripheral, if they exist at all) teaches me lessons that I can learn and put to use in my direct environment, that aims at raising awareness on #structuralracism and can have practical results. .
.
What are your favourite literary movement, periods etc...?
.
.
——
#bookblogger #bookreviewers #bloggingforbooks #thelitbooks #bookfeatures #literaryfiction #bookflatlay #readwomen #blackliterature #chimamandangoziadichie #janeausten
Hey bookworms! Are you asleep? I hope it’s not too late to post some #feministfriday thoughts. I am #currentlyreading Pride and Prejudice with @ripley.from.bookland (I can’t even begin to tell you how she’s LOVING it!), and ever since @carlacastanos mentioned the Bechdel test, I’m yet to find a conversation where women do not talk about men.
.
Of course I find it extremely relevant to demand that women be represented differently than in their relationships to men. I have wondered if some topics might be more expected than others & if frivolous topics would debase women. Then I asked myself: what is a frivolous topic? Make-up? Shopping? Sport? Girl friends relations? Nail polishes? And why would it be frivolous if these things make us happy? (It so happened that the word “frivolous” came to my mind when I entered my bathroom, where I saw my 40 shades of @zoyanailpolish, and, well, yes, they make me happy!). Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said that qualifying some topics as frivolous was yet another patriarchal attempt at controlling what women should think and say (I think that was the line of argument). So I concluded that all right, women should be able to talk of anything but men without being judged.
.
Now, what’s interesting in P&P, is that they don’t talk only of men: men represent their career, their exit, even escape, from the family house, their possible introduction into higher society. Women have nothing else to focus on if they want to get a position in their society. And that’s when I came to question the limits of the #bechdeltest: can we apply it to a literature that belongs to another century where the social model was very different than ours? Is it fair to say that because Austen’s characters chiefly speak marriage (especially in P&P!), Austen is not a #feminist, she who portrayed strong-willed, independent, even sassy young women? I would like to develop more but... characters limitation.
What do you think of these questions? I have no answer so I’d be happy to have your opinion!
.
.
——
#bookblogger #bookreviewers #thelitbooks #prideandprejudice #janeausten #readwomen #chimamandangoziadichie #feminism #classics
As you may or may not remember, I decided to read more nonfiction this year, more precisely, 1 nonfiction a month.
As you may or may not remember, I also struggle to read nonfiction: because I don’t always feel confident enough, and also because I’m still convalescing from that burnout, and nonfiction can be demanding.
.
I recently had a conversation with my brother who almost talked me into quitting my PhD research, but then I remembered the initial reason that brought me here, before I knew about the ocean of books I had to read and the Impostor Syndrome who would impose his company on me (I can’t help but seeing him as masculine). The initial reasons were love, pleasure and intellectual curiosity. I love the writers I work on (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Monica Ali, Jhumpa Lahiri and Zadie Smith, isn’t it a nice bouquet?!). I love the notions I study: transculturalism, postcolonialism, alterity, belonging, migration, vulnerability, racial issues, whiteness... I really think mine is a topical subject that can help us (or me, at the very least 😅!) better understand our contemporary world.
.
And so, in order to link together my work and my beloved bookstagram activities, I have decided to create my very first virtual book club! The idea would be to read together #1nonfictionamonth and discuss it together. We can divide the books in reasonable chunks and share our points of view once a week. Don’t hesitate to follow the hashtag to get regular updates!
.
This month, I’m reading Ain’t I A Woman by bell hooks. Next month, I’ve planned a buddy read with @bookbarr before I thought of this bookclub: we’re reading Orientalism by E. Said. Anyone wants to join? In March, I’ll be reading Brit(ish). Say hi in the comments if you’re interested in one of these three books and don’t hesitate to spread the word; the more the merrier, especially for #nonfiction! 😅
.
Pictured here is my current nonfiction TBR. See if some of these books interest you and let me know in the comments!
.
.
——
#bookblogger #bookreviewers #bloggingforbooks #thelitbooks #bookfeatures #readwomen #writersofcolour #blackliterature #bellhooks #slayinyourlane #edwardsaid #orientalism #phdresearch
It’s four o’clock, dark and cold. Time for a hot drink and our #booksandhotdrinkstuesday programme. Today, @katha_logisch‘s question is very unfair in my humble opinion as she’s asking what are our top 3 books we want to read in 2019. Really, Katha, 3?! 😁
.
Anyway, I played by the rules and limited myself to 3 books, on the picture at least. Surprisingly enough, two of them are non-fiction! (2019 is going to be my #yearofnonfiction, as @colourlit_uk has her #yearof a particular writer (check it out!)!). I bought Brit(ish) at @newbeaconbooks when I was in London last July and I’m looking forward to this book that is going to challenge me in my white-centred views — I always love being challenged in this area.
The Good Immigrant, bought on the same day same place, is also one I’m very excited to read. I love collections of essays, and there’s one by Zadie Smith! ♥️
It is most likely that these two books will help me in my #phdresearch too, so that’s a plus because I decided to focus on pleasure while working, to keep the impostor syndrome at bay.
.
Finally, The Beekeeper of Sinjar by Dunha Mikhaïl is a highly expected read, that I was lucky enough to win with @theopenbookshelf‘s last giveaway and who @serpentstail promptly sent me. I loved Abbey’s review on it and I’m looking forward to exploring a part of the world I rarely read about in literature. .
Ahem. I can’t help it. I don’t own it yet but I can’t wait to read The Overstory by Richard Powers. 😍
.
How about you? What are your top 3, or more, expected reads in 2019?
.
.
——
#bookblogger #bookreviewers #bloggingforbooks #bookfeatures #literaryfiction #nonfiction #bookflatlay #readwomen #writersofcolour #british #thegoodimmigrant #thebeekeeperofsinjar #raceandidentity #whiteprivilege #thelitbooks #phdstudent
January 1st has come and gone, we are now on the 2nd of January, 2019, and it seems inevitable that 2019 has come to stay, at least for a year. So I’d better accept it and share with you my new goals for 2019, even if I’m not completely done grieving 2018 yet.
.
The impulse that got me taking this picture is that today is my Buddhist mentor Daisaku Ikeda’s 91st birthday. As a young man, he was told by doctors that he wouldn’t live past 30 because of the tuberculosis that weakened his body. But he vowed to spend his life spreading peaceful values, which he did through his writings, encounters with important or ordinary people, conferences, articles... Did you know that he holds the world record of honorary degrees? He received more than 450 from all around the world! And here he is, 91 years old, still sending us daily encouragements, still reading our letters, still spreading joy and planting the seeds of faith so that we become unshakeable. My gratitude and debt of gratitude toward this man are beyond words.
.
Now, 2019, you will see me rise from my bed, teach English and human values to my students, write my dissertation and rock it. You’ll also see me reading. On my list of authors I want to discover or explore more feature Paul Auster, Ian McEwan, Edith Wharton, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Elisabeth Gaskell, Salman Rushdie (1 is pictured here as a token of my good faith, @mksreading!), George Eliot, Daphne du Maurier AND... my unread books! I also challenged myself to one non-fiction book a month, using @sofia_reading‘s tip. I’m pretty chuffed with these decisions!
.
.
Happy new year my dear bookworms! May 2019 be sprinkled with memorable reads, stimulating conversations, vibrant health, daily joys, goals achieved, and whatever your heart wishes!
.
#qotd: do you have a spiritual mentor, or something akin to it?
.
——
#bookblogger #bookreviewers #bloggingforbooks #thelitbooks #bookfeatures #literaryfiction #nonfiction #readwomen #writersofcolour #blackliterature #2019readinggoals #salmanrushdie #tonimorrison #paulauster #ianmcewan #georgeeliot #daphnedumaurier #zoranealehurston #phdgoal #daisakuikeda #sgibuddhism #sgi
The thing is, I’m terribly bad at saying goodbye. I become very emotional and I wish I could stop time, freeze, go back, undo, re-do, enjoy it all again... 2018 has been a rich year with lots of beautiful and joyful moments, in my personal life. But it was a year from which I was expecting more, professionally speaking. I wanted to work on my dissertation and make it become more concrete, more real than just the vague ideas I still have, no matter how many times my advisor says I’m ready to start writing. Impostor syndrome and burnout hit me hard. So today I can’t help regretting that I couldn’t reach my goals, and anxiety clutches at my breast because tomorrow is 2019, and what have I done?
.
Oh right, I have read... I didn’t think much before putting this little stack of books together. I just scanned my shelves and these were the ones who friendly waved at me, reminding me all the emotions they filled me with. This is a tiny but original collection, with books from different centuries, parts of the world, and mostly by women. I like it. I could have added 1984 but I’m still digesting it.
.
Here is my last post of 2018, and in a few days I’ll be able to embrace the freshness of a new departure and post something more joyful. Just now, I think I need to sleep off the anxiety.
.
You all take good care of yourselves. I’m looking forward to more bookish discussions and discoveries with you, who have become, in your very own special way, an important part of my life. Thank you everyone and see you on the other side!
.
.
—— #bookblogger #bookreviewers #bloggingforbooks #thelitbooks #bookfeatures #literaryfiction #readwomen #writersofcolour #blackliterature #bestreadsof2018 #pachinko #homegoing #yaagyasi #margaretatwood #thehandmaidstale #janeausten #senseandsensibility #ianmcewan #atonement #minjinlee
