Frances Evangelista

Genius. I think that’s what you meant.

Too tempting to avoid responding. I started laughing just thinking about what I might say.

Postponed due to illness. This Sunday it is.

❤️

Awww! Rebecca don’t be nice to me now! That ruins it. Batty. I’m going with batty. 🤭

(laughing) I know! I’m so excited for Sunday! Orlando and smack talk! Does life get any better?

A delightful conversation about those unique books that defy description. I loved every moment of it even when Rebecca said she was the best of the @onebrightbook.bsky.social crew and called Dorian “basic” again. Best, basic…. Imagining which “b” word I am. 😊

(Powell, ‘The Acceptance World’)

“‘He fell in love with himself at first sight and it is a passion to which he has always remained faithful.’
‘Self-love seems so often unrequited.’”

Now reading The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, translated from the Dutch by David McKay. The eighth book on my quest to read the IBP longlist before the shortlist drops. @newvesselpress.bsky.social

Highly recommended

This is one you do not want to miss! And I’m not saying that just because we got to chat about it. Jewett called it her favorite among her works. Her subtle examinations of urban vs rural life, queerness, and the ecological landscape she knew well are stunning.

Olga Ravn : The Wax Child - Tin House Set during the 17th century witch trials in Denmark, and relayed to us through the voice of a magically animated wax child of one of the accused, Olga Ravn’s new book, which creates something uncannil...

This conversation between Olga & @davidnaimon.bsky.social is FABULOUS!! Explores how witch hunts & trials were important to creating the notion of state, family & self that we still live under today; folk magic & alchemy; animating the archive thru ritual & imagination.
tinhouse.com/podcast/olga...

Entering people's dreams Writing this novel I taught myself to card and spin wool, to clean a herring and to make wax figures. I didn’t need to teach myself how to drink since I already knew that.

Olga Ravn has a SubStack(!!) & she shares a little about her research for THE WAX CHILD in this post. “Writing this novel I taught myself to card & spin wool, to clean a herring & to make wax figures. I didn’t need to teach myself how to drink since I already knew that.”
substack.com/home/post/p-...

(laughing) But it’s so good!

❤️I’ve read it three times now and it’s better with each reading.

I’m assuming the same. I feel good about The Wax Child too. All the witchiness, please.

I’m seven in but the biggest one is ahead of me.

And from previous years too. A couple I read quite some time ago.

Many people would love to find that one in the wild.

Lovely!

Okay. Prove this place is good for culture and post a good book cover.

Noted!

❤️Me too!

I need to start reading Shute. Not sure where to start.

I didn’t. It was in really poor shape. But if you want it I’ll go back…

After days of careful consideration in which all the evidence was weighed and the witnesses heard, they made their decision:

Words and numbers are of equal value, for, in the cloak of knowledge, one is warp and the other woof. It is no more important to count the sands than it is to name the stars.

The one DeLillo I haven’t read. And congrats on the upgrade! ❤️

❤️

Took a quick reading break to return library books & pop into the Friends of the Library shop. This one is in rough shape, but I stopped to look anyway because I’ve been conditioned to do so by @hogglestock.bsky.social’s Shute love. We logged a few hours book shopping together over the years.

Now reading The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jordan Stump. My third IBP longlist title in a row this weekend. Celebrating amazing short novels and my favorite sofa right now.