feb
i read a lot in feb but the best book i read was belonging by bell hooks. i love the way she writes and i saw a lot of reviews online talking about grammatical errors but i feel like it didn't take away from the ideas she was discussing in the book. belonging was discussing hook's life in rural kentucky and returning to the area now as someone in their 50s. she talks about missing the south, the idea of place as home, and racial dispairity that takes place. she writes so fondly about agarian communities in kentucky and how they formed who she is. right after finishing i read her poetry book, appalachian elegy which i didn't love as much as her essays.
jan 2026
ted saunder's first novel includes a series of short stories all including the subject of animals. most of these fall under a magical realism genre. my favorite was "airbag" which is divided in three large parts throughout the book. this was sitting on unshelved in the library, lucky find. i also read zero-sum by joyce carol oates this month and i liked it! some of the short stories missed the mark but still a fun collection.
started serial experiments: lain this month and it is so abstract. i love it without fully understanding it yet but the idea of warping online and reality is timeless especially through the character of a teenage girl.
art that has caught my eye are these organic sculptures by lebanese artist saloua raouda choucair. she worked with so many types of mediums but especially her brass and wooden sculptures are so impressive. these two are interlocking.
amos, amas, amat by robin palanker - i could not find a photo of this artwork anywhere except in a book about horses from the library. this artwork was created for a french book titled ribot, for the racehorse who would not run unless another male racehorse who he was bonded with was on the track.
library spread from this month :p
