Clarice Lispector, from An Apprenticeship or, The Book of Delights written in 1969

All the books (except for picture books) I read in 2023!

from ross gay’s ‘the book of delights’

when ross gay said, “my delight grows — much like love and joy — when i share it.”

“Something about this, at first, felt naughty—not comparing a tomato to a baby, but carrying the tomato onto the plane—and so I slid the thing into my bag while going through security, which made them pull the bag for inspection.”

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay

Now’s a good time to show my latest book pin to add to the library! Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a lovely read, and if you can find any of Gay’s work at the library I highly recommend!

One of life’s true delights is casting about in bed, drifting in and out of dream, as the warm hand of the sun falls through the blinds, moving ever so slowly across your body.

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay

every time i read one of ross gay's essayettes, life around me becomes suddenly beautiful. this book notices everything: from the miracle of a well-made cup to our place in the world, all in the most poetic of terms and oh so many lush descriptions of gardening (ross gay describes nature with words you only ever encounter in erotica tbqh!). it’s all about the hugging and the suffering and the joy, the awkwardness of our bodies and the mundanity of our day-to-day. 10000/10 required reading for when all feels hopeless.

—Ross Gay, from “Joy Is Such a Human Madness” in The Book of Delights

Clarice Lispector, from An Apprenticeship or, The Book of Delights written in 1969

...joy is the mostly invisible, the underground union between us, you and me, which is, among other things, the great fact of our life and the lives of everyone and thing we love going away. If we sink a spoon into that fact, into the duff between us, we will fnd it teeming. It will look like all the books ever written. It will look like all the nerves in a body. We might call it sorrow, but we might call it a union, one that, once we notice it, once we bring it into the light, might become flower and food. Might be joy.

Ross Gay, The Book of Delights

Books read in January 2023

THISTLEFOOT by GennaRose Nethercott

I, PARROT by Deb Olin Unferth & Elizabeth Haidle

THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS by Ross Gay

HOOKY by Míriam Bonastre Tur

WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER by Tae Keller

AMERICANA by Luke Healy

THE RUPTURE TENSE by Jenny Xie

THE SAY SO by Julia Franks

THE HENNA WARS by Adiba Jaigirdar

from ross gay’s ‘the book of delights’

wanting to write again

So a few months back, I tried to write in the style of Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, writing a short vignette about something I thought of or admired or caught my eye for each day of the year, beginning on my birthday and spanning through one year. For me, I also thought a lot about John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed, since they style fascinated me with the throughline of ranking everything on a 5-star scale.  Embarrassingly, I started the day after my birthday, which really was a good indicator on how the project would go. I am usually up late, and thus would write my entries in my spiral notebook in the early hours of the morning before going to bed. However, because each entry was dated, I felt it would be weird to write for a day I had yet to experience, even if I timestamped them all. My attempts to write lasted approximately 1 month. 

It’s been a bit since I’ve tried to write for fun. With school and work and life, my free time is limited. But I miss it. 

I’d like a good writing challenge, something to enjoy again. Maybe like a 30-day writing challenge, but a bit looser because unfortunately I cannot write everyday to the point I would like. Setting a word count doesn’t work for me, but I would like to have something more than 3 paragraphs. 

If anyone could recommend me some ideas, it would be greatly appreciated. Currently, the idea I’m entertaining is: writing along through an album, one entry per each song, written in album order. Can be as loosely related to the song as needed; the song is simply for structure. Perhaps one day I’ll write a review, one day fanfiction, Just something nice and easy and fun.

Thinking about using the Hadestown OBC first? Simply because it is long and poetic and I want an excuse to listen to it all the way through. 

Anyway, if you have any suggestions or ideas to improve this potential project, please leave a comment in any way you want.