old or new.
I’d appreciate it if you explain why you enjoyed it.

http://perspectivesudans.blogspot.com/
instagram:@3rdworldview
Blessed be the Lord /who believe any mess they read up on the message board

2017: nabokov's pale fire.

pale fire is one of the best most enjoyable things i've ever read. a book that redefines what books can be, what literature can do.

kristof's trilogy was beautiful and provided insight into the psychology of children in war-torn lands while staying loose with the rules of writing. i go in for unresolved unreliable narrator physics done well

From the first story you're hooked. He plays with speculative fiction, and a measure of strangeness to convey some pretty impactful stuff. His story Zimmer Land from that collection wrecked me. The book makes me think of something between George Saunders' The 10th of December and Paul Beatty's The Sellout.

Tommy Orange's There, There was another really good one, too. It's sold as a novel, but it feels more like a collection of interconnected stories. He's gotten a lot of comparison to Sherman Alexie, but really it's just the Native American focus that does it. His stories are all very urban centered (Oakland) with a pretty heavy leaning on the present. The guy moves from hip-hop to Native American tradition, to history pretty damn well.


Last year Gabe Habash wrote this book called Stephen Florida which I'm still mining for depth. On its surface, it's a book about a college wrestler trying to win his division championship before he graduates. I don't give a shit about wrestling, but this book depicts drive and dangerous obsession exceptionally well. Without being overly sensational or just silly, Habash managed to write the most disturbed character I've read since American Psycho's Patrick Bateman.

House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño

It's great and I look forward to whatever he got coming next.

-30-
You know it's drama, but it sound real good.

just about finished reading it. Good book!

This book is a surprisingly sweet delight. It's about the relationship between sisters and what it feels like to be the "responsible" one all the time. It's really lovely.

Small Country, by Gael Faye
This may not be semi-autobiographical, but it is certainly based on Faye's personal experience -- He grew up in Burundi, born to a French father and a Rwandan mother. This novel is written from the perspective of a young boy who is trying to make sense of the Rwandan genocide and the violence in Burundi. It's riveting and harrowing and really beautifully written.

With The End in Mind: Dying, Death, and Wisdom in an Age of Denial, by Kathryn Mannix
One of the best books I've read on the experience of dying written by someone not dying. It's a funny genre, you know. There are books about the experience of dying by people who are dying as they write their books. Then there are books about dying by people who see a whole bunch of people die, individually, I'm not talking about genocide here, and the sense is very different. Like, when you're around it a lot, you can make very truthful statements about the physical experience that most people have, but if it's you who is dying, you can only talk about your own experience and it is very likely to be totally different. So, anyway, this kind of book is super helpful to me as a hospice caregiver volunteer. You know, a huge percentage of people who are dying have never read a lot about what to expect, so it can be really great to be able to give them some comforting generalities. Okay, I'm kind of rambling. But I do think that this is a book that anyone would do well to read, if only to comfort themselves with the collected information on how it's not as bad as you think.

The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
This one really hit me where I live. I started doing hospice volunteer work in the 80s, when so little was known about AIDS, and there is so much in this book that reminded me of my own experiences. I guess I'm getting old enough that my teens and 20s are now a historical period huh.
~ ~ ~
All meetings end in separation
All acquisition ends in dispersion
All life ends in death
- The Buddha

|\_/|
='_'=

Every hundred years, all new people

Just Mercy
An American Marriage
No Name In The Street

Between the World and Me - Ta'Nehisi Coates
Trust: Mastering the Four Essential Trusts - Iyanla Vanzant
The Dharma of the Princess Bride - Ethan Nichtern

www.Tupreme.com

www.Tupreme.com

.
.
Current Favorite Song: https://youtu.be/8v_KFHnPImY

"I cannot see how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that. ~ Francis Collins

having started with Americanah.

She's a fabulous writer and it's been really interesting to read about Nigerian stories.

It's very good, with an extremely unconventional perspective on the traditional crime novel. The problem, though, is that this perspective makes it a tough sell: it's a missing person and murder investigation where the driving tension in internal Japanese police office politics. I don't know anything about the Japanese police work, but I do know unspoken-but-deeply-rigid professional hierarchies and it's kind of a fascinating way of looking at how whether a crime gets solved isn't necessarily dependent on its difficulty.

That's not a great pitch, but I promise it's good. Read it and you won't be disappointed AS LONG AS YOU AVOID SPOILERS.

Two oldies worth considering if people want recommendations:

-Near to the Wild Heart of Life by Clarice Lispector just knocked me over. I'm actually angry that I lived my whole life not knowing about her. It's a stream-of-consciousness account of a young, intense Brazilian woman. I can't really explain it more than that, except that it's really weirdly unsettling. I don't know Portugese,so I read it in translation, but it's still a beautiful work. And pretty short.

-Peter Brown' biography of Augustine. This one is a reread because I teach Confessions pretty regularly and wanted to revive my approach a bit. It's a classic for a reason, and rather safely the best of the bunch when it comes to biographies of Augustine. Brown digs well enough to animate Roman North Africa's social history and he surrounds it with the attention to theological nuance that gave us Body & Society. If you want to *know* Augustine, read this with the Confessions and you're all set.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Is this the same that seems to bubble up every 5 years or so, or is this time the big one?


Is the web getting blocked/monitored, or does everyone know how to bypass it

)))--####---###--(((

bunda
<-.-> ^_^ \^0^/
get busy living, or get busy dying.

it might be nothing, but there's a momentous feel.
People are fed up.
29 years of this government and nothing but misery to show up.
Economy in shambles{I think or inflation rate is to five in the world},gas and bread shortages and a currency freeze{banks won't give you cash, you can pay by card bot not everywhere accepts cards}crazy lines at ATM'S.
It's a perfect storm and the useless opposition is scrambling to ride the tide.
Every other day people from all walks of life are protesting and met with teargas, pipes and bullets.
Our President will never step down so the most likely outcome is an internal coup.
Everything is up in the air.

http://perspectivesudans.blogspot.com/
instagram:@3rdworldview
Blessed be the Lord /who believe any mess they read up on the message board

I didn't realize it had been that long

Not sure why African rulers don't even try to pass off to their sons or something. Placate the ppl like the Saudis at least

Whenever things start getting real dicey on the ground (Cameroon, Nigeria, DRC,) I always expect AU to... get involved somehow. And they never do
Hopefully this just becomes a transition of power like zim/mugabe, without getting real ugly


Western media will start paying attn in another few days if it keeps up

>it might be nothing, but there's a momentous feel.
>People are fed up.
>29 years of this government and nothing but misery to show
>up.
>Economy in shambles{I think or inflation rate is to five in
>the world},gas and bread shortages and a currency freeze{banks
>won't give you cash, you can pay by card bot not everywhere
>accepts cards}crazy lines at ATM'S.
>It's a perfect storm and the useless opposition is scrambling
>to ride the tide.
>Every other day people from all walks of life are protesting
>and met with teargas, pipes and bullets.
>Our President will never step down so the most likely outcome
>is an internal coup.
>Everything is up in the air.

)))--####---###--(((

bunda
<-.-> ^_^ \^0^/
get busy living, or get busy dying.

Beastie Boys Book
King Leopold's Ghost
The New Jim Crow
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
King of Kings
Mud, Sweat & Tears

************************************************************

.

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Liu Cixin "Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy" (the third book, "Death's End" especially)
Jared A. Ball "I Mix What I Like: a Mixtape Manifesto"
Aja Monet "My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter"
Questlove "Creative Quest" (audiobook)
Shailja Patel "Migritude"
Angel Kyodo Williams "Radical Dharma"
Akala "Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire"

http://islasoul.bandcamp.com

I've heard good things about it from folks at a sangha I practice with. I have it on hold from the library but it will be some time before the book is available, me thinks.

...

……………….,,
http://gravalicious.tumblr.com/archive

"If you're not loving someone, you're wasting your time." - Dennis Brown

<-Fear Ameer

Lesley Nneka Arimah

You can't win
You can't break even
And you can't get out of the game

It was a really good read. I couldn't put it down after I started.

I also finally dug into all of Octavia Butler's work....I was way overdue lol

If anyone else has been meaning to get into her work but been putting it off, take this as a sign and jump in.

the key to happiness is not being rich;
it's doing something arduous and
creating something of value and then
being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor

That wasn't really the point of the book but I was amazed what she survived. Really was a great read.

See ya, JAK
http://www.staugustinepics.com/

Winner of OKP Second Photo Kontest
Pic #6 http://www.tha-renaissance.com/effstop/kontest2

Mychal Denzel Smith's Invisible Man
Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death (finally)
Jesmyn Ward's Salvage The Bones (finally)

Started Sing Unburied Sing too, but had a hard time getting into it.

--

"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."

i did not enjoy Long Division, but I am interested in reading Heavy. Heard great things about it.

But Keise's non-fiction work thus far has been unfuckwittable.
My favorite writer. I'd suggest checking out How To Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in Amerca. I think it's probably still his best work, though I do plan to re-read Heavy.

--

"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."

shit..i checked it out of the library on Saturday. I'll prob finish it tonight, although I don't want it to end just yet.

I have How to slow kill yourself reserved at my library. I'll probably start that this week.

Trying to read 50 books this year.

Kind of a must read IMO.

In a generation of swine, the one-eyed pig is king.
-Hunter S. Thompson

he didnt accept my IG request but that's cool, lol.

great book! one of my favorites of last year

Chamber Music - About the Wu Tang (In 36 pieces) - Will Ashton
Currently reading: "Fascinating / Dope" so far...

Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century (Blackness in Britain) by Kehinde Andrews - "Enlightening"

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire - Akala - "Thorough"

Dread, Poetry and Freedom: Linton Kwesi Johnson and the Unfinished Revolution - David Austin - "Deep"

Beastie Boys Book - "Awesome"

The History of Gangster Rap - Soren Baker - "Niice"

Widow Basquit (a memoir) - "Deeply insightful"

There, There was really, really good too

------------------------------
For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

The Line Becomes a River and Frankenstein in Baghdad

I was not a Michelle fan until i read the book, I mean, I was never NOT a fan, she just kinda hung in the back and I had no idea she was a force on her own - I mean I knew she had to be the real deal but I didnt know it ran deep.

I also did not know how gotdamn black they made the white house in their own ways

***********************************************************
https://soundcloud.com/swageyph/yph-die-with-me

A collection of music essay's from a Columbus, Ohio writer that are so much more than about music. Here's what I wrote about it on Goodreads:

"Ahhh! Hanif is so good. My sister mailed me this book (not something we do) because it hit her. And it did the same for me. And he's from Ohio. And he's amazing. This book will move you. And may make you cry a few times. And make you want to look up artists you thought you had no interest in. (My Chemical Romance) My new favorite author. Please read."

I read 120+ books last year and this one stood out. His next book is on A Tribe Called Quest should be out soon and I can't wait.

See ya, JAK
http://www.staugustinepics.com/

Winner of OKP Second Photo Kontest
Pic #6 http://www.tha-renaissance.com/effstop/kontest2

Just really well written, at times heartbreaking prose. Incorporates elements of magical realism and topical social themes well. I was really rooting for the protagonists at every turn. This one I felt in the heart.
______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

a paltry 13 books- most at the beginning of the year. trying to do better this year

i think exit west, by mohsin hamid

also

Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich

of note: Selection Day, by Aravind Adiga


trying to get to a decent 85 books this year.

.
http://perspectivesudans.blogspot.com/
i myself would never want to be god,or even like god.Because god got all these human beings on this planet and i most certainly would not want to be responsible for them, or even have the disgrace that i made them.

right now

https://www.amazon.com/Line-Becomes-River-Dispatches-Border-ebook/dp/B072SSGP1K

Just copped dual copies of a few novels that my lady and I will read in parallel in 2019 tho.