Bryce Sears

BOOK REVIEW“They—all of us—are way behind, stuck in the old, familiar, small ways of thinking and unable to grasp the vast changes going on around us. ”**"How the Sea Might Speak: On Eva Meijer’s 'Sea Now'"**by Rebecca Hussey. Image: Book cover, drawing of cow on top of rock on water.

“SEA NOW is one of several novels that ask how humans live in an apocalypse that isn’t impending but has actually arrived.” Read Rebecca Hussey on Eva Meijer’s SEA NOW (tr. Anne Thompson Melo): buff.ly/ZtpAsrS
@ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social
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Love is my favorite of these, but I enjoyed them all, and feel like a person could start anywhere with them. Her Edvard Munch non-fiction might be next on my Ørstavik list.

Books arranged to show their covers. Love, Stay With Me, The Pastor, and Ti Amo by Ørstavik. Artful Sentences by Tufte. Thus Were Their Faces by Ocampo, Great Fear on the Mountain by Ramuz, Daydreamers by Alvin Lu, Gurdjieff: A Beginner’s Guide by Friedman, Cowboy Apocalypse by Wagner, Night of the Living Rez by Talty, The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze by Saroyan.

I haven’t posted in a while what I’ve been reading. Here are books I’ve read or (finally) finished in recent months. One story here is that I fell in love with Hanne Ørstavik.

Airports should all have rooms showing Christian Marclay’s The Clock.

"Not taking dance lessons is a common mistake among men. They fail to realize that dancing is one of the few things a man can learn when he’s young that will come in handy later. Men who know how to dance—even a few basic steps—will never end up sad and alone, with nobody to play with, because women will always be looking for that rare man who can dance. They’ll take him to night clubs and parties and on cruises, and they’ll go all mushy after a simple waltz." from "Gotta Dance," Collected in I Used to Be Charming

Eve Babitz knows how to end male loneliness.

Super excited about Restoration

Terrific review, R. Looking forward to reading more of Haushofer.

I’m so sorry, Luis. I had a cat who died eight years ago and I think I’m still grieving him, even as I do think of him less often. For whatever it might be worth, my thoughts are with you.

So sorry, Ian.

Happy birthday, Radz! Would love to hear what you think of Killing Stella.

It is so good, and I’m not surprised you’re a fan. As my wife and @crouton.bsky.social and I were walking out I said, “They have a selection like East Bay Booksellers.”

Books on a shadowed floor: Love and Stay with Me by Hanne Orstavik, Aug. 9 Fog by Kathryn Scanlan, and Daydreamers by Alvin Lu.

The town I spent most of my time in in Texas (Leakey) doesn’t have a bookstore (though it does have a library), but I did buy some books I’m looking forward to at Alienated Majesty in Austin. Also, I had the new @alvinlu.bsky.social waiting for me when I got back.

A super handsome brown lab catahoula mix puppy with a water bowl spilled onto a cement porch at the edge of a partly shadowed grass lawn with a tree visible in the distance.

My wife and I went with our 7yo to visit family in Texas and we’ve come back with a puppy (more family). Meet Scuti.

(Named, btw, after UY Scuti, the second largest known star, as suggested by our 7yo, who is very much into all things outer-space.)

This is heartbreaking. My condolences to her family and friends.

A painting of a woman’s face, which looks as though it might be emerging from a pool of water. The colours are remarkable, lots of reds, pinks and blues.

Another face - this one looking directly at us. There’s a look of Kate Moss about it, and again, the colours are amazing. Mostly reds and pinks…blues, yellows and greens too.

Another face-on portrait from the same series…with a vertical rainbow effect on the left side. Again, there’s a touch of Kate Moss here.

A portrait of a man’s face, painted in a similar style to the proceeding three. Mostly reds and pinks here, with touches of yellow, blue and green.

Some knockout images from the Jenny Saville exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, easily one of my favourite shows this year. #Art #London #ArtSky

Pilgrimage still on my list but you all really sold me on it! Also, I’m hoping to meet you and Drew someday.

It was so nice.

This was so great. Sara is delightful and kind for not making fun of my sunscreen-doused eye watering all the time we were together. Would like to meet all of my social-media friends in person as we can make that happen.

Daydreamers is out in the world now.

"A story of immigration, brilliantly inflected with undercurrents both noir and comic.” —Susan Daitch

"Daydreamers kind of sinks in slowly. Then it becomes absorbing in a way that doesn't let up." —Stacey Levine

Cover concept by @illepitaph.bsky.social

I've found the perfect Instagram account. Seattle's Twice Sold Tales owner Jamie recommends books and shows her cats. That's it.

IG twicesoldtales

I’m having flashbacks to my last move. Good luck, friend! I’m excited for you guys.

So sorry to hear this, Jacqui. It seems especially unfair. But also I’m hoping you make a full recovery soon.

I’ve been rereading Williams’s The Quick and the Dead, and I think I’m holding together now in some way the parts of what had struck me as a very funny and enjoyably strange series of vignettes.

A copy of Eve Babitz’s I Used to be Charming.

Feels like a good time to start a new to me Babitz. The other two NYRB Babitz’s are terrific, btw, if you’re also needing effervescence in your life.

Psst! I designed the cover for the new Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff book forthcoming from Dalkey Archive Press! I had such a blast working on this because it's unlike any other cover I've designed. And the book itself is FUCKING WILD.

“Haunting” is a good word for it.

A graphic novel, “Sabrina” opened to show an example of its illustration. Muted colors throughout the 12-15 panels per page. Minimal but realistic drawings of people with black and white speech bubbles above.

Should also have mentioned: Nick Drnaso is the writer and illustrator. You can sense his style here. Quite minimal. But he conveys a lot in panels like these.

“Sabrina,” a graphic novel, cover up on a hardwood floor. The cover image says “Sabrina” on a pink background and shows below, on a red background, a woman with short dark hair, wearing red, shown from the shoulders up. Around her are the smaller silhouettes of other people.

I picked this graphic novel up a few years ago after Dustin Illingworth and @bibliopaul.bsky.social said nice things about it. Now I’ve read it and want to recommend it to you all if you haven’t. Its story feels hopeful but hinges on some dark realities of the US media.