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Thursday, February 18, 2021

Three on Thursday: From the TBR Pile

While I have certainly increased the number of books I've read over the past few years, the vast majority of them have been digital books. Why? Because they enabling multitasking -- I can read while I knit or spin, and thus I feel like I'm getting more done in my limited downtime. Because of this notable shift in my reading habits, my physical To Be Read pile (the one that sits on the shelf of my nightstand for easy access when I get into bed) has gotten a bit unwieldy of late, and I'm determined to tackle it. So for Three on Thursday, which Carole is so nice to host each week, I've picked out three physical books I would like to read in the near future.

1. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
This was recommended to me by Margene, and like her, I ordered my copy from Blackwell's so that I had it before it was actually published in the U.S. It's a take on the Trojan War from the point of view of the women, and it was short-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction. I'm very much looking forward to reading it.

2. Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey
Natasha Trethewey is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former U.S. poet laureate. This memoir tells the story of her mother's murder at the hands of her stepfather. My friend Louisa (a member of the Sunday morning Zoom crew) passed along her copy to me. Tracking the package was an exercise in frustration, so I was delighted when it finally got to me.

3. Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog by Kitty Burns Florey
NERD ALERT! This is a book about diagramming sentences. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm probably one of few people in the entire world who actually enjoyed diagramming sentences (and I'm pretty sure no one even teaches it anymore), and I've wanted to read this book for years. I even remember where I first found out about it: Back when podcasts were a relatively new thing, I discovered one put out by NPR about books, and I jotted down the name of this one when I heard about it (it was published back in 2006, so that gives you a time frame). A couple of years ago, I finally bought a copy. Now I just need to get around to reading it!

Now that I've posted that I want to read these, please hold me to it, friends! I'd also love to hear what books are on your TBR pile that you're determined to read.

9 comments:

  1. good luck with your lovely pile of books - I am deep into a non-fiction reading spell these days as my fiction mojo seems to have faded

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  2. All three of these sound like they will be good reads (even the one about diagramming sentences)! The majority of my reading has been digital over the past year, but I'm currently reading a real book, and my next two will probably be also be real. It's a different and lovely experience!

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  3. Oh my gosh! I MUST check out Sister Bernadette's. My kids won't believe it! I don't ever recall diagramming sentences as a student--which seems impossible to me but true. My kids do it religiously as part of their LA curriculum, and I'm so impressed. They put me to shame. The program is called 'Shurley Grammar.' I dread when they have questions. Which is kind of embarrassing to admit. So thanks for the tip!

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  4. I am always looking for good book recommendations and all of these look good. My TBR list is now growing...

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  5. Hmmm, Sister Bernadette sounds interesting! (I really liked Memorial Drive, but oof... it's a hard read)

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  6. ok. those first two book are also on my TBR ... and maybe you'll be able to convince me about the third? (I did have a love/hate relationship with diagramming sentences!)

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  7. OH! I'm also a sentence-diagrammer!!! I loved diagramming sentences when I was in elementary school, and I was so sad not to need to help my kids with that type of homework. (Because, of course, it just isn't taught anymore. A travesty.) :-)

    I LOVED A Thousand Ships. It is sublime.

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  8. LOL - that last one cracks me up. I did not like diagramming sentences...I also didn't like analyzing poetry or books. I just wanted to read for the pleasure of it all! My reading over the past year has been almost exclusively "real" books that I hold in my hands. I love my Kindle when we travel (when was that??), but being on a computer so much during the day, I find that I am reading more and enjoying it more when I actually see the pages and turn them. Less screen time is a good thing for me.

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  9. I have Memorial Drive on my list to read. Tretheway's poetry is beautiful and she is another poet I once heard read in person. And I loved diagramming sentences. That process made so much sense to me and helped me understand parts of speech and sentence construction. I may have to look for that book.

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