Happy #nationalrecordstoreday to all my lofi analog friends out there

I happened upon this book much the way anyone would happen upon a body in the woods, a finger in the dirt, or fragment left where it lie shorn cut at the ankle or wrist…it surprised me. But for Alexa Hagerty, forensic anthropologist finding such evidence of “La violencia” was every bit intentional. And integral to the mystery and the justice of a people who’s story is brought to light, by hands in dirt. Shovels, spades, and toothbrushes. Following a carefully and responsibly constructed narrative that details the process of work that puts people together, but also shreds them to the core. Part linguistic a anthropological triumph and scientific data of accounts, Hagerty writes like a poet in the dirt but also a scientist in a field lab. Truly one of the most uncommon and moving #nonfictionNovember reads I couldn’t put down.

Can we make #nonfictionnovember a thing? This overlooked genre is so underrated! This gem is a vintage copy of the Foxfire books, a collection of lore, memoirs, and guides. Everything from hog dressing, foraging to building a log cabin from scratch. This robust people have so much to offer a generation chafing against the pressures of prebuilt and convenience of conventional living to something truly unique.

Modern vampire storytelling at its finest. Losing author, Anne Rice, recently was a huge blow to the supernatural writing community and to the female writing community. Instead of reviewing this book I’d like those reading this to take a moment of silence for what Anne Rice imaginative storytelling of her stylish, elegant, and unique vampire works and what she’s done for vampires in pop culture as we know it

Thank you

“Goodnight sweet prince, may flights of devils wing you to your rest.”-Anne Rice

Do any of these titles surprise you? Some were considered “mandatory” reading during my education, so I found that shocking.

Does the size of the table surprise you? In this photo in the background sits another table for comparison. Banned books existing is one thing, but at such a large scale is another

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Perhaps one of my prettiest modern first editions. Translated in English. This story depicts an island where in a dream like state of half remembered truths or misremembered things…objects have gone missing from the island. Roses, perfume, depictions of foreign animals small things that when faded from memory and forgotten are almost unnoticed by citizens in their state of isolation and denial of what the black bagged and disappeared dissidents did to incur the wrath of draconian police surveillance. Mysteries whispered by everyone in hushed harsh tones as “they” enforce the forgetting of objects by erasing those who still cling to lost things…our reluctant main character makes the decision to circumvent these dangers in an attempt to save another…

If you like books that send you grieving for a loss you can’t name, reeling from what is real and what is not this is the book for you!

[In protest of Banned books (and censorship in general) I’ll be posting banned books that I have or enjoyed and books about the dangers of censorship.]

The classic: 1984 by George Orwell

Needs no summary, besides this may be one of the most important books a person reads in their lifetime regarding the past and future. In a dystopian setting where Ministry of Truth edits the past to exalt the governing powers, censorship at every level and the inherent dangers of full scale surveillance. Bereft of privacy and freedom, citizens face only one way to live: be controlled and comply.

Small town reverie at the sunset market in autumn

Once I’ve managed to replace all the first edition books I’ve loaned out and never had returned, just know: you’re dead to me

Gray London 1893, a writer and a constable race to solve a grizzly murder where the only proof is carved into the flesh of a seeming suicide. Could there be more? Vanished women with their stories silenced by mutilation bearing a strange connection to the occult…what purpose and what pains were perpetrated in the name of something sinister and unknown? Can a single one of these souls be saved before it’s too late? “House on the Vesper Sands”-Paraic O’Donnell

Extremely pink skies at Del Mar fair grounds…an absolute classic

Santa Monica doing the most in Summer

“Pink bath water, soft young skin, an orchid in the Summer rain, lips smooth as sin”-Damnsel

The moon just before dawn