How Long 'til Black Future Month? and Burger Cookies
Short stories and some cookies that look like burgers
Happy June, folks! It’s been a nice, quiet start to the month. We’ve taken advantage of the looser vibes and checked out a local nature reserve (picture below) and are doing splash days with the girls every weekend. I hope your summer’s been off to a good start! Here’s what I’ve been into lately . . .
How Long ‘til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin. This was a phenomenal short story collection. If you’ve never done short stories before, or if you’re new to the genre, I’d highly recommend this as a starting point. There is such variety here - some are intense and filled with greater meaning, some are poignant and relatable, and others are fun and easy reading though still purposeful. I just loved it, and I could definitely revisit it. One of my favorites is called “Cuisine des Memoires,” in which a restaurant can reproduce any meal you can think of, from any occasion - personal or historical. It’s so compelling and heart-wrenching. You can pick the Thanksgiving meal your mom made when you were twelve or the final meal served to Marie Antoinette. No limits! Which meal would you choose??
I’ll write more on these later, but I finished:
James by Percival Everett. I’m so glad I read this in time to attend the FictionMatters book club because it was fascinating and enlightening hearing everyone’s thoughts and takeaways. This book was perfect. No notes.
Edinburgh by Alexander Chee. Daaaaamn. There were moments in this book that I had to physically put the book down and breathe and recover. This one hits hard, but is so well done and beautiful. Just, damn, my heart.
Apparently I’m on a KICK with these absolutely devastating books because I’m currently reading Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan. It’s centered around the Sri Lankan civil war, which I was unfamiliar with but it is especially harrowing reading some of these scenes while also witnessing the violence and devastation in Gaza. It’s a hard but important read; I’m glad to be learning more about Sri Lanka, and Ganeshananthan is an exceptional writer. This also just won the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which is becoming a favorite prize of mine.
I’m going to be starting Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson soon, and I’ll be hosting a buddy/group read for this! My husband just finished Warbreaker, so he’s wanting to move on to Tress and it’s been on my shelf so I’d love to do it together. Let me know if you want to join! I’ll post something on Instagram about it, too. Hoping to start mid-June.
The latest Baketivity kit was Burger cookies!! I think they were technically whoopie pies, but they came out a bit flat. Still really good, and honestly, very cool to look at. My oldest gave two of them to her teachers and they were so impressed; it was very fun. All of the accoutrements are frosting, the “patty” is a chocolate whoopie pie and the two buns are vanilla whoopie pies. And then the “sesame seeds” are just sprinkles. It’s been a delightful experience baking with my four-year-old but WOW her attention span is approximately 15 seconds. So it’s also a major test of my patience. I think I finished these my damn self because she ran outside. Still, yay core memories.
School’s officially over for our oldest. I was legit tearing up as I picked her up on the last day. I think I’m mostly broken up because we’re not entirely sure where she’s going next year. The tuition just got the best of us, so we’ve had to start looking elsewhere and nothing has settled yet. I’m so sad to be leaving somewhere we felt helped our kid blossom and grow and learn and be comfortable, but I’m just holding out hope that the next situation is just as lovely and nurturing and fulfilling.
I’ve been getting the magazine, Oh Reader, and the Editor’s Note in the latest issue was about how some books and songs can coalesce in your memory. The editor wrote about listening to a particular song or playlist on the metro while reading a Paul Auster book and now, any time she thinks about Paul Auster (who recently passed away), she thinks of the song/playlist and vice versa. I’m one of those readers who cannot listen to music while I read, but I have had the same occurrence with certain songs and a place in time. I listened to a ton of alternative/emo/punk music while I was in Spain teaching English (long walks, lots of time on the metro myself), and every time I hear LCD Soundsystem or Airborne Toxic Event, I’m back on the Spanish metro or walking the streets of Madrid. Do you have any similar experiences?
I’m very into changing my desktop wallpaper every month, and I’ve gotten on the list for several free monthly downloads. My latest loves have been the ones from 1 Canoe 2.
About a year ago, I started taking online French lessons with Lingoda. I paused my lessons a couple of months ago because of some financial issues and just end-of-year busy-ness. I’m finally getting back into them but it’s like starting a workout routine after a break . . . hard to feel comfortable in the classes. But glad to be back.
Chris and I just finished the third season of Righteous Gemstones and wowowowow, it was excellent. The third season is probably my favorite now. I highly recommend the show. It’s ridiculous and silly but exciting and the ending of season three had me in tears. Also, fun fact, I initially thought this show was about a family singing troupe or something . . . it’s not.
Also continuing to feel completely helpless about Gaza, but needing to keep going for my family, and my job, and my life - I’ve been following Operation Olive Branch on Instagram and would love to direct you to the GoFundMe from @kanececi:
Finally, as mentioned earlier, our family went on a nature walk at the Audubon Nature Center last weekend! We don’t get out much - doesn’t feel like there are many opportunities like this around, but it was so refreshing. The girls loved it, and Chris and I are already planning another trip back.
That’s all for this week. Let me know what you’re reading and baking!
Still more to come in a couple of new series on bookforte weekly: my publishing journey and the Meet the Booklover interviews. Stay tuned!
I don’t generally remember what song I was listening to as I read, but I can often remember where I was while reading a specific book. I remember crying on the L when I finished Tenth of December by George Saunders (not embarrassing at all) and I remember finishing Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried in a hammock in Ecuador. It adds a fun texture to my memory of the book!