What are you reading in 2023?

[JaneV2.0]

I haven't had much luck with books lately. I'm currently reading The Undying by Anne Boyer, a memoir of the author's treatment for breast cancer. She won a Pulitzer Prize for it, which reminds me of why I rarely read anything referred to as "literature," or anything critically acclaimed, or considered "lyrical." Perhaps she was influenced by her drug regimen. Or James Joyce. I'm about a third of the way through it and determined to discover the point it's trying to make*. So far, we have lots of historical references, obscure quotes, and metaphors.

*I think it's that cancer, and our medical "care" system suck.

Next (which should be a lot more interesting) I have Trust the Plan, by Will Sommer, a chronicle of the rise of QAnon.

[iris lilies]

I haven't had much luck with books lately. I'm currently reading The Undying by Anne Boyer, a memoir of the author's treatment for breast cancer. She won a Pulitzer Prize for it, which reminds me of why I rarely read anything referred to as "literature," or anything critically acclaimed, or considered "lyrical." Perhaps she was influenced by her drug regimen. Or James Joyce. I'm about a third of the way through it and determined to discover the point it's trying to make*. So far, we have lots of historical references, obscure quotes, and metaphors.

*I think it's that cancer, and our medical "care" system suck.

Next (which should be a lot more interesting) I have Trust the Plan, by Will Sommer, a chronicle of the rise of QAnon.

I used to shoot for what I thought of as “middlebrow” non-fiction, and in fiction “middlebrow to higher brow.” But the less accessible rarefied works in the vein of Joyce and Faulkner were not ones I read voluntarily. And now that I watch so much video I am even less able to read higher brow stuff because brain rot.

The most recent book I read by a highbrow writer about a practical thing (like the one you mention) was “Still Point of the turning world“ by Emily Rapp where she writes about her child having Tay-Sachs disease. It is the horrifying situation of a mother who was so concerned about this gene that she had testing done, despite the protest of her doctor, and her child STILL turned out with a version of Tay-Sachs not detected in the test.

but anyway, she’s a literary writer and so she makes tons of references to the literature of grief, many long analogies to similar situations by well known writers, ancient mythology references and etc.

Because I’m not highbrow and I often focus on small unimportant details, I did wonder how she was able to have so many boyfriends and supportive men in her life with this small very sick child, and then I saw a picture of her. Oh. She’s Hollywood beautiful. See? I am just shallow.

[JaneV2.0]

Tay-Sachs is a horribly cruel disease. Don't both parents need to carry the gene?
Maybe they can use embryonic selection for it now.

[iris lilies]

Tay-Sachs is a horribly cruel disease. Don't both parents need to carry the gene?
Maybe they can use embryonic selection for it now.

I dont remember the genetics of it, I just remember how cruel it was when someone hyper aware of it took all possible avenues to prevent it, and still her child had it. He died around age 3or 4.

[Yppej]

An Unquiet Mind by a psychologist who is manic-depressive

[catherine]

Has anyone read Lessons in Chemistry? I saw a CBS Sunday Morning piece on the author and now I'm intrigued.

[rosarugosa]

Has anyone read Lessons in Chemistry? I saw a CBS Sunday Morning piece on the author and now I'm intrigued.

Not yet, but it's on my list. The opinions on my FB book group run the spectrum, but a lot more readers seem to give it a thumbs up.

[Yppej]

Lost Connections on mental illness, the third book of Johann Hari's I am reading this year. I really like him!

[iris lilies]

“In the curated woods: tales from a grass widow” by Ute Hegen ( pen name.)

The author, a woman about my age, is using the work she does in her extensive garden as a narrative device for the story of how her husband of decades ago adopted cross sex ideation, abandoned his responsibilities as a husband and father, and went off to live life as a woman.

The author has PTSD from the years of his gaslighting her and raising two sons with very limited means.

I really enjoy her extensive discussions of the ornamental plants in her large garden, how she’s cultivating natives, how she’s making deer barriers and various outdoor rooms on her property. Interspersed with her discussions about plants is the narrative of her life with and without this husband nearly 30 years ago

[rosarugosa]

That last one sounds interesting, IL.
Here is what I've read since my last update:
Ape House by Sara Gruen - I really liked this one by the author of Water for Elephants. It's about a group of apes and the scientist and others who love them against forces of evil out to use and exploit them.
Becoming by Michelle Obama - I like Michelle and enjoyed learning more about her life and background, as well as the challenges of being first lady. (Silly aside: the cover design of the book kind of makes it look like the title is "Becoming Michelle Obama," so my husband kept asking me if I had learned how to become Michelle Obama yet. Or I would mention that I really like Michelle, and he would say, "Obviously, since you are reading a book on how to become her.")
Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder - fun thriller, kind of in the Lee Child mode. His books are fast and entertaining.
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See - a decent read about a Chinese girl and her family, some pretty horrible cultural practices and a lot of interesting stuff about tea culture. I will probably end up spending a bit of money on high end green teas and blaming it on Lisa See, lol.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - another decent read, based on the idea that there is a library that exists outside of time, housing all the volumes of our infinite alternate lives if we had made a different choice/decision in life, either large or small. Our main character accesses the library and samples different volumes and lives.
Did not finish - A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge. This was a young adult novel that was a bit Harry Potter-esque. It wasn't bad, but felt a bit too juvenile for me and I decided my time could be better spent elsewhere.