Many moons later I have finally finished Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke I liked it a lot. I wish we got to spend more time with the women. I can't wait to acquaint myself with the tv series now. + I love the faeries! Faeries that are really unhuman and just generally have no regard for anyone's emotions but their own are my favourite.

Started Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Last week I finished:

The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch

Wow wow wow. Canceled all my plans and finished it in a day. This is like Hyperion only not, and it was fascinating and compelling and oh my god, you guys, if you’re into science fiction and other realities and time travel, you have to read this. I skimmed the book blurb and thought it was a regular police procedural mystery. Nah.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

I love this and I think I was in a bit of a hurry the first time I read this (2004ish) because I remembered so little of it. Some of the discussion over on /r/bookclub is making me see things that aren’t so great, but… I kind of desperately still love it. It’s written as though Jane Austen or Charles Dickens wrote it (but it was written this century) and it’s wickedly funny.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

I’m still not sure what I think about this. I rated it 4/5 but near the ending I was getting a little nervous about how it was going to turn out. It’s about a man who is sent to prison for something he didn’t do, and how it affects his wife. The big issue is about how she needs to move on with her life and he needs her, and it wasn’t his fault, one of those situations where the right thing for one person is the wrong thing for the other and vice versa.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

A fantastic rundown on navigating discussions about race for basically everyone. As a white person trying to do better, I found this book very useful: it answerd a lot of my questions (like I knew appropriation was bad but not how to define it), it affirmed that I won’t get it right a lot of the time but I should keep trying, and most importantly, it gave me things to do to help fight racism (which are easily transferable to sexism, ableism, etc).

Short things:

• “Dorothy and My Grandmother and the Sailors” by Shirley Jackson (The Lottery)
• “The Rule of Names” by Ursula K. LeGuin (The Wind’s Twelve Quarters)
• “Colloquy” by Shirley Jackson (The Lottery)
• “Club Zeus” by Ramona Ausubel (Awayland)
• “Anything You Might Want” by Anjali Sachdeva (All the Names They Used for God)
• “Love of Life” by Jack London (I really liked this one)
• “Admiral” by T. C. Boyle (Wild Child)
• “In Which Nick Buys a Harley for 16K Having Once Been Young” by Helen DeWitt (Some Trick)

Working on:

• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
• The Great Influenza by John M. Barry
• Code by Charles Petzold

I started re-reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Finished:
Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris

I was just curious about this series. Didn't love it or hate it, but still curious enough to continue the series, just not back to back.

Started:
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

I have owned this book since it came out in paperback. Always been intimidated by the length and the style. I am going to get thru it this time. Only been 12 years, but finally think I am ready to tackle this one.

Started Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

I actually started about 2 weeks ago but am only a hundred pages in. I didn't really pay attention to how big it was. Definitely the longest I've read in a while. And it feels like forever (no non ficton history books for me this year or it wouldn't have taken me by such surprise) since I read anything with footnotes, but it's a nice surprise.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

Shame, by Salman Rushdie

Working on reading: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

Which, thanks to my friends, gave me the impression the book was essentially "Pride and Prejudice with Magic and Old Men" but honestly isn't. It's far from it! So, if that helps anyone decide to read it, please do.

Planning on reading afterwards: The Once and Future King, by T. H. White

Because I am a really big fan of historical fiction, an (in my opinion) under-appreciated subgenre of fiction.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

I just started reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

The Sexual Politics of Meat, by Carol J. Adams

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke