leighkp.bsky.social
Dork behind Billy Book News https://billy-1.ghost.io
Literary Fiction. Books in translation. Audiobooks. Children's literature. Sass
QC 🇨🇦
233 posts
62 followers
58 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
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She's written a million. There are bound to be duds.
Most recently, I read Violeta which I liked quite a lot.
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I love Isabel Allende. My copy of Eva Luna is one of my most well-loved books. She's missing her back cover.
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Love Mordecai Richler, my hometown hero 💙
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Come to think of it, their human empathy makes their UX work all the better!
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It's certainly a conscious choice to focus on accessibility, but there are some amazing designers here in Canada. I'm thinking about a lot of folks at the Inclusive Design Research Centre in Ontario or people working in the open education movement. Neat stuff happening there!
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Don't get me started on poor contrast on websites. It's such a simple accessibility issue that so many marketers ignore (and I call out marketers because it's what I do for work and I see it all the damn time!).
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I see what you're saying. It makes me think of how film studios have been investing less in proper sound mixing and now we're left constantly adjusting the volume at home. I imagine publishers make similar cuts...I do love the sound of turning a thin page though 😂
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I don't hate it. What drives me nuts is the obvious print on demand versions I'm delivered from time to time.
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The Ripley series for sure, but I also loved the Glass Cell.
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The second was my favourite but I think it's because I read it when my kids were small.
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I do! Last year I worked my way through as much Patricia Highsmith as I could.
This year the plan is to only read translated books.
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There's one scene in the second (I think) My Struggle novel where he wipes the bathtub before bathing his kid, and I think about it every day. Why? I don't know.
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A shout-worthy read. Deserves its exclamation point.
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Have you read Hamnet? I liked it more than The Marriage Portrait.
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Brutal is right! I loved this book. Looking forward to reading Han Kang's latest.
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I'm so excited for this one. I've read the first two. You are so right about Knausgaard's skill with the ordinary. After I read one of his books, I find myself wandering around my house narrating my chores.
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Ooooo I hadn't seen the calendar view 🤓
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Ha! A fabulous title. On the list it goes!
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This was my first and I'm absolutely hooked. ...also now I can't stop sharing weird facts about cadavers. I'm that weirdo now.
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Lone Women has been on my list for a while.
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Oh fun!
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I am really loving it! It might have my favourite narration of all time.
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Catching up on my Middlemarch readalong and dipping into the Wide Wide Sea
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Here's mine. Complete with dead house plants 🤦
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Could you imagine how free we would be!
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I'm obsessed with James!
Luckily the International Booker this year is full of shorty short books. I just picked up A Leopard Skin Hat by Anne Serre, which stands at only around 120pages.
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Also love that you pulled Cadwallader. I have a soft spot in my heart for all no-bull women.
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How could it occur to her to examine the letter, to look at it critically as a profession of love? Her soul was possessed by the fact that a fuller life was opening before her: she was a neophyte about to enter on a higher grade of initiation." -Dorothea in a nutshell for me!
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Bluesky lit fic is the closest I've found... fortunately/unfortunately
I'm just getting real liberal with my use of the mute account button. That has worked to filter out a lot of the repetitive promotion.
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So far (about 300 pages in) Dorothea is the character I can relate to the most. A lot of younger me in there. What I have love about Elliot's narration is how biting she can be to her own characters. She lays it out plainly how naive and idealistic Dorothea can be. Hurts so good 🤣
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By contrast, Percival Everett always develops these well structured clear but unique premises and he knocks it out of the park! It must be a maturity thing. Everett has been around much longer and can pour gorgeous emotional depth into his characters that complicate his premises.
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I haven't read Babel yet even though everyone tells me I should. Here's why: I was really disappointed by Yellowface. I see a lot of the same problems you outlined: talent is further along than maturity, creative clear premise with weak execution.
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Same! I always like discussing books with you too! Was just forming my response to your Babel post. TKTK
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I am getting that sense. I've had to do a lot of rereading already.
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Oh good. I've got this one on the nightstand
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I'll add Fifth Business to my list!
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I just followed you. I'm billybooknews
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Nightwood and Stoner. Stoner, I didn't love as much as others did. But Nightwood was great. I'd like to read more Pessoa.
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I'm tackling Middlemarch with a readalong on Instagram, and really loving it. But it is dense and hard and I don't think I would make it through on my own.
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Loved Covenant of Water. It's a brick but moves quickly.
I'm plugging my way through Middlemarch finally, coming up for air with Audition by Katie Kitamura, and then cracking the Wide Wide Sea for my book club.
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Thank you. I've read a few of these. Good list!
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Oh please send me that post. My TBR is obnoxiously large but we're passed the point of no routine.
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I feel the same way. This year I'm trying to be brutal about books. If it's not hitting, I'm abandoning it.
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I can't stop yelling about this book! IT'S MASTERFUL 🤣