All posts by Daneekas Ghost

First Monday Book Day: Progress?

I recently re-discovered my abandoned StoryGraph account, which has been dormant for about two and a half years.  Out of curiosity, I went through the 84 books that I had on my "to-read" list in January of 2021 to see how many I ended up reading since then.  Of the 120 books I have read in the last 30 months, 21 were on that list.  And that feels about right, for every 4 books that I make note of thinking "hey, I might enjoy reading that" I read one of them.  For every 6 books that I actually pick up to read, one of them is something that I've thought about reading before. Most of my reads end up being me grabbing something off a shelf at the library or bookstore that catches my eye in the moment.

Speaking of bookstores, I bought two novels this month at our local bookshop (it was my wife's birthday, so she got a gift card, and that meant that we both ended up in the bookstore and one thing led to another ... and then it turned out that her card only worked for online purchases, so we had to come back later to pick up her book and one thing led to another again ...)

  • Either/Or by Elif Batuman - I really liked The Idiot, so I'm hoping this is also good.
  • It Lasts Forever, and Then It's Over by Anne de Marcken - I saw this book somewhere and it seemed like it was made for me.

I also read three books that had previously been languishing unread on the bookshelves of my house.  I say "on the bookshelves" but most of my recent book purchases are stacked very neatly on our dresser in the bedroom, only books already read get the privilege of being shelved. Anyway, all told, I came out of the month with a net of one less book in my house that I haven't read.  At this rate, I'll have read everything in the house in just a couple of decades or so.

What are you reading?

First Monday Book Day: X

My family is often teasing me about my penchant for books that are "a surreal puzzle box". (A phrase from a cover blurb on some book I bought that has caught the family's collective imagination). And, if you had to assign one letter to embody that idea, it would have to be X, right? The classic algebraic unknown.

So, it tickled me that I read two different books with that letter as the focus of their title this week. Both were intricate structures and worth reading in my humble estimation.

The Story of X by Sarah Rose Etter - X is the narrator, the unknown is the self and the self is a woman. Sometimes horrifying, sometimes infuriating, sometimes loving and ecstatic.

Biography of X - by Catherine Lacey - X is an artist, the recently deceased spouse of the narrator, the unknown is the other, the other is society. This is an incredibly intricate and layered book, complex and ambitious.


As it is July 1, it has now been exactly 15 years since I finished my PhD research, stopped working 70 hours a week in the lab and started my reading spreadsheet. Time for some book facts!

1,021 books read (not counting re-reads) - 68 books/year

642 books of fiction (novels, novellas, graphic novels)
219 collections (comics, short stories, poetry)
160 non-fiction books

682 physical books (67%)
173 audiobooks
166 e-books

431 women or non-binary authored books (43%)
144 translated works

Mabe Fratti – Desde El Cielo

Lots of options for best of 2023, but Mabe Fratti (and her group Titanic) were the things I found this year that I came back to over and over again that felt new and different for my musical tastes.  The full KEXP performance by Fratti that this is excerpted from is pretty cool as a full show.

8 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 108 votes, average: 8.25 out of 10 (8 votes, average: 8.25 out of 10)
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Game 79 – Twins at Tigers – Morning Baseball!

Twins baseball before noon for those in the Central time zone.  I assume Gophers football has a game at Comerica later today or something.

Bailey Ober takes on Michael Lorenzen.

The best Tiger player for your future Immaculate Grid constructions is probably Jake Marisnick who's on his 8th big league team this season.

If we lose this series to the Tigers on top of the one last week ... well, that won't be great.

GAME 29: ROYALS @ TWINS

The Twins are 5-5 in their last 10 games and 10-10 in their last 20.  That pace is, of course, enough for them to pull away from the rest of the AL Central as no one else has more than 8 wins in their last 20 games. If they win today, this April will be one of only two 17+ win months we've seen from this team in the last 3+ seasons.

Feasting on the bottom of this division seems like a very solid and doable plan. So far, so good.  Minnesota is 5-1 against the Royals, with the only loss coming because they didn't like nibbish's game log yesterday.

Hopefully this game log is more palatable.  Sonny Gray goes against Brady Singer. One of these pitchers has an ERA that is 10 times larger than the other.

 

Game 22: Nationals at Twins

All of a sudden the Twins are flirting with .500 after winning just one of their last seven games.

This Nationals series has been an exercise in frustration thus far.  It doesn't seem like it should be so hard to beat Washington, but here we are. Can we chalk this up to the cold weather? Is it warmer today?  Are there any other straws around that I can grasp?

Bailey Ober gets his first start of the year today, going against Patrick Corbin, who hasn't had a great start to the season. Ober has 4 starts at AAA and has been stingy with hits, walks, and runs allowed.

 

 

Game 16: Twins at New York

Pablo Lopez!

Through three starts, he's been very very good and there's not a whole lot of things more fun to watch in baseball than a really good pitcher pitching really well for your team.

The Twins will either take three of four on the road in New York or end up with a series split in the most disappointing way by dropping the final two games of the series.

I have to say I like their chances with Pablo on the mound.

The Yankees are pitching some no name starter who probably doesn't even throw that hard (Gerrit Cole), so I'll just assume the Twins have the upper hand here.

Game 9 – Twins v. Astros

Three days ago things didn't look so good.

The Twins had lost two in a row, their home opener had been pushed back due to weather, and the defending champs were coming to town for a potentially challenging series.

Today there's good news!

Twins pitchers have decided to strike out everyone and not give up hits. The hitters have delivered enough hits with runners on to take the first two games of the series and Tyler Mahle takes the mound today to try and close out a sweep of the Astros.

Mahle will face Hunter Brown.