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This book was insanely hard for me to get my hands on. It is the first and last book I bought off Amazon was one by Durga Chew-Bose, a fellow Canadian who made me feel a little less homesick amidst UK living. Her style of writing reminds me of the dinner conversations I have with my sisters. The pages kept me company as I sat outside on the ground, locked out of my house. The fastest five hours of my life
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i've always been confused about why this book didn't turn into the one that gets quoted everywhere. the first essay, "heart museum" has impacted me so much that i always end up rereading around my birthday
Feb 11, 2024
Mar 16, 2024
Just read Writing by Marguerite Duras in one go which is often either a sign of my mental health going haywire or a book being so tantalizingly real and/or inspiring that time goes out the window and I am hooked into every word like a calf to a teat in search of protein I was especially drawn into these reflections about writing a book and what it means to a be a writer A contradiction that is both of the world and seperate from it that is a witness and being witnessed constantly in two phases Highly recommend for writers and readers that love reading writing about writing
Dec 21, 2024
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Everyone is busy. Everyone is booked up. It has become to new norm to fill my Google Calendar with dinner plans and late-night events, fully scheduled two to three weeks in advance. Resisting this adult timetable, drop-in culture still exists with a bit more brute force, it's texting beloved besties that I'm around the corner—can I come over for a coffee or a chat?—then breezing through on to my errand of the day or whatever else I have going on.
Sep 18, 2024
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It’s important to note that my Amazon dilemma is particularly potent because I used to have a firm belief that the next book I bought had to be in-store. This was, in part, inspired by Fran Lebowitz (someone I both love and fear), who says you have to touch a book in person to truly decide on it.
But as I continued to shop in-store for my books in East London, I found that a type of hyper-curation takes place. Many bookstores, whether chains or independent, carry the same selection. This makes sense, as stores need to invest in books that are more likely to sell, but it also means shoppers are led into a quasi-algorithmic experience of book shopping. To find more niche titles, you almost always have to turn to online sources (see above). To find a happy medium, I’ve started using the resale site World of Books. You can find pretty much anything and everything there. and always at a discount
Sep 18, 2024
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In university, I needed a really strict environmental setup to even think about starting an essay. I needed my water bottle, a good table in the library, enough sleep, and a full belly. The library had to be quiet, and in more extreme cases, I even brought earplugs.
Lately, during my lunch hour at my nine-to-five job, I've been using the time to write, often tucked away or sitting on the floor around the office. I tap away at whatever I can get down, to later return to and edit. I have to take these stolen moments. I'm too hazy in the morning to write, and too tired of looking at screens in the evening. Weekends are often sacred for friends and rest. I think, for many of us, the new habit of writing won’t be glorious, long-haul manic frenzies. It’ll be about taking sips here and there, getting down on the page whatever we can.
Sep 18, 2024