November reading wrap-up

November was a very good, pensive reading month! Meditations, Irish and French contemporary lit., prose written by poets & just a little nonfiction

people:
@AnnNovella recommended Szerb

books:
Pond, Claire-Louise Bennett (2015)
L’Heure de l’étoile, Clarice Lispector (trans. Marguerite Wünscher) (1977) (reread)
Journey by Moonlight, Antal Szerb (trans. Len Rix) (1937)
Un chien à ma table, Claudie Hunzinger (2022)
I Fear My Pain Interests You, Stephanie LaCava (2022)
Que reviennent ceux qui sont loin, Pierre Adrian (2022)
Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between, Joseph Osmundson (2023)
Affinities: On Art and Fascination, Brian Dillon (2023)
Exciting Times, Naoise Dolan (2020)
A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann Ní Ghríofa (2021) (reread)
Shifting the Silence, Etel Adnan (2020)

socials:
Insta: @sdelphis
StoryGraph: @sdelphis

[kiranreader]

also, i love the ribbon necklace very girl with a green ribbon

[deirdrakatebrennan]

Loved this video Sophie! I loved your take on A Ghost in the Throat, I felt similarly about Doireann's musings on motherhood but alongside my weariness about motherhood I do remember admiring her reverent approach to it in her writing, and the harmonious almost ritualistic descriptions of her domestic labour. A very singular take i felt. As someone also ambivalent about motherhood can I recommend Guadalupe Nettel's Still Born. I read this recently and it immediately became one of the best reads of my year. Also, I so wish I could read your recommendations in French but I don't read French, they sound so my cup of tea. Fingers crossed for a translation in the near future. Wishing you a wonderful December reading month!

[ivanainthecity]

I love that you read Clarice Lispector in French & that it was a better experience! That gives me hope for reading her in Spanish!

[katsfieldnotes]

this was an excellent reading month, it seems! i need to pick pond up, very deeply scared of it to be honest 😂 and omgosh fizzy and not empty is a way to describe exciting times. and am impatiently waiting for my hold of ghost in the throat based on your rec

[omarchehab]

I found randomly your channel when searching for an interview of Brian dillon, and yet you wouldn't imagine how the resemblances which we've in common, i read in 3 languages Arabic English and French, i think that we've also the same taste of choosing books.
I'm in such delight. Thank you so much for your videos.

[kiranreader]

i spaced out my reading of pond over like a few months 😂😂😂 great on a sentence of a level but could not keep mo hooked to read it in one sitting

[MJ-in-Canada]

“Pond” is calling my name. I must borrow it now. I can’t even tell you (or myself) why.

[nathansnook]

we need more love for Etel Adnan! i'm looking to read more of her poetry in 2024!

loved Shifting the Silence. helped me out of a creative slump!

[byina]

i fear my pain interests you and exciting times are books i've been meaning to check out and your reviews really just made me add it to my cart !! virology sounds interesting to me too since intersectionality of medicine and humanities is something i've been trying to understand. i'm seven books away from my reading goal so i'm definitely in the mood for books that packs a punch, but also more nonfiction books so thank you ! 💘

[readingaster]

un chien à ma table sounds incredible! almost makes me wish i knew more french lol

[coconutmilch]

i hate plot so i think "pond" would be a great fit. i love that you don't necessarily care about plot lol & AHH journey by moonlight sounds perfect. i love these

[JohnSeney]

You said "Pond" was very ponderous! 😁😸 There may have been more to "Hour of the Star" than even Lispector intended I mean the girl even has a relationship with a young fellow in there before the end, and the poor can see such things as victories even if their fashionable creators don't 😮 I am always having to make lists of books I've never heard of with you. E.g. Szerb's "Journey by Moonlight" now I will have to see if this fellow's thoughts are profound or fatuous. Anyone who thinks that great physical beauty has an inverse relationship with intelligence has clearly not watched you, keep up the great work 👍

[thelefthandedreader]

I’ve been convinced now in the LaCava book. 👏👏👏. And I’m now going to explore Brian Dillon! I couldn’t agree more about what I look for in new releases too. This yr, The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer really fit that bill for me. wow. The Annan book sounds fascinating.

[alattemorning]

Un chien à ma table sounds soooo up my street, but I can't read French 😭

[AnnNovella]

Glad you liked the Szerb book. Want another recommendation? 🤓