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Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Books, Reading

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Posted on September 3, 2019 by vicky

This was a difficult book to read — for the content, not the writing — but it turns out to be a spectacularly beautiful story. #25wordbookreviews (Amzn)

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Audiobooks, Books, Reading

Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

Posted on August 31, 2019August 31, 2019 by vicky

I wanted to understand why people are obsessed with true crime. The last chapter helped. It’s still not for me, but I kinda get it. #25wordbookreview (Amzn)

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Books, Reading

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Posted on August 31, 2019 by vicky

I love novels about the never-quite-complete (but still somehow beautiful) recovery from trauma. This one is hopeful without being trite, about many types of love. #25wordbookreview (Amzn)

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Audiobooks, Books, Reading

I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum

Posted on August 31, 2019 by vicky

God, was this a great book. I didn’t realize how hungry I was to hear modern television discussed as the art form it really is. #25wordbookreviews (Amzn)

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Books, Reading

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Posted on August 31, 2019August 31, 2019 by vicky

The first novel I think I’ve ever read where a woman has an independent lifestyle and a healthy sexual appetite… and isn’t ruined by them. #25wordbookreview (Amzn)

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Books, Reading

Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky

Posted on August 5, 2019 by vicky

Not so terrible that I stopped reading, I guess. One of those novels where everyone is an asshole and you’re supposed to find it funny. #25wordbookreviews (Amazon)

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Books, Reading

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

Posted on August 5, 2019August 5, 2019 by vicky

I would love the book this was advertised to be — but it was actually about three women’s painful sexual experiences, delivered with soft-core porn detail. #25wordbookreviews (Amazon)

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Books, Reading

The Valedictorian of Being Dead by Heather B Armstrong

Posted on July 28, 2019July 28, 2019 by vicky

Fascinating memoir about the dooce.com author’s devastating struggle with depression and the harrowing experimental treatment she endured to find relief. Great voice — funny surprisingly often. #25wordbookreviews (Amazon).

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Books, Reading

Every Tool’s A Hammer by Adam Savage

Posted on July 28, 2019 by vicky

I loved the half of this that covered Savage’s love of making. The rest was fine but just not for me (Cosplay and other obsessions). #25wordbookreviews (Amazon)

Posted in #25wordbookreviews, Books, Reading

Hot Young Widows Club by Nora McInerny Purmont

Posted on July 28, 2019 by vicky

I read this because I really liked the author’s previous memoir on grief. This one isn’t quite as good and the two together are redundant. #25wordbookreviews (Amazon)

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What’s a commonplace book?

A commonplace book is a collection of knowledge. It is a journal filled with everything from quotations, observations, and citations to formulas, facts, and figures–anything that’s worth remembering from anything one has read, heard, or seen. In a way it is a scrapbook, commemorating and keeping track of the things we have learned and the places we have been, figuratively or literally, via the media that passes through our lives: books, articles, poems, movies, songs, blogs, and so on. Commonplace books are kept by readers, writers, scholars, and students of schools and of life.

Authors

  • elise
    • Vintage by Steve Berman
    • Help Thanks Wow by Anne Lamott
    • New Year Fight Club
    • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
    • The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
  • vicky
    • That Poem
    • The Best of Me by David Sedaris
    • Keeping 2020 Goals Simple
    • Top 100 Things About a Shit Year
    • The Girl Who Goes Alone by Elizabeth Austen
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