Ecce Sigum

Tag: Valerie Mrejen

  • February 2024 Books and Reading Notes

    Now that I am no longer trapped under a volume of Dostoevsky I can resume my normal reading pace. In February I completed 16 books and journals. Sure, that sounds like a lot, but I purposefully picked the shorted unread books on my bookshelves. The combined word-count of these 16 books is probably less than a third of what I read in Dostoevsky’s Demons, which took almost two months to finish. And a lot of that was not because of the length of the book, but because it was Dostoevsky, and 1,000 words of Dostoevsky is, like, at least 1,500 words of anyone else.

    A lot of these shorter works are graphic novels, or works in translations from works-in-translation publishers like Deep Vellum, And Other Stories, Open Letter Books, and Two Lines Press.

    Acquisitions

    Reading material acquired in the month of February 2024

    1. Andrzej Tichý (Nichola Smalley, translator), Purity (And Other Stories) [2024.02.24] – The newest arrival from my subscription to And Other Stories.

    Reading List

    The books I read in February 2024

    Books

    1. Wolfgang Hilbig (Isabel Fargo Cole, translator), The Tidings of the Trees [2024.02.01] – Well written and well-translated, but just couldn’t get into this one. Fortunately I have more Hilbig in my library so I can give him another chance.
    2. Saladin Ahmed and Dave Acosta, Dragon [2024.02.01] – Fantastically written and beautifully-illustrated graphic novel. I will now need to seek out more of Ahmed’s comic writings.
    3. Elizabeth A. Trembley, Look Again: A Memoir [2024.02.01] – An amazing memoir about how the stories we tell ourselves (and about ourselves) change over time, and with the telling.
    4. Duanwad Pimwana (Mui Poopoksakul, translator), Bright [2024.02.05]
    5. Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #41 [2024.02.08]
    6. Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages, Wakulla Springs [2024.02.10]
    7. Chris Abani, The Face: Cartography of the Void [2024.02.10]
    8. Ruth Ozeki, The Face: A Time Code [2024.02.11]
    9. Tash Aw, The Face: Strangers on a Pier [2024.02.11]
    10. Oleg Sentsov (Uilleam Blacker, translator), Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.12]
    11. Maurice Broaddus, Buffalo Soldiers [2024.02.15] – Excellent novella in the steampunk tradition. Truly enjoyable reading experience. My only complaint is that this wasn’t a full-size novel.
    12. Anne Garréta (Emma Ramadan, translator), Not One Day [2024.02.17]
    13. Kim Sagwa (Sunhee Jeong, translator), b, Book, and Me [2024.02.21]
    14. Fouad Laroui (Emma Ramadan, translator), The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.25]
    15. Carmen Boullosa (Peter Bush, translator), Before [2024.02.26]
    16. Valérie Mréjen (Katie Shireen Assef, translator), Black Forest [2024.02.27]

    Short Prose

    1. Rachel Ayers, “Magicians & Grotesques”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #41 [2024.02.07]
    2. Nicole Kimberling, “Quarantine Pantry Challenge”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #41 [2024.02.07]
    3. Holly Tamsin, “Fogdog Films”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #41 [2024.02.08]
    4. David Fawkes, “Letterghost”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #41 [2024.02.08]
    5. Oleg Sentsov, “Autobiography (In Literary Form)”, Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.11]
    6. Oleg Sentsov, “Dog”, Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.11]
    7. Oleg Sentsov, “Childhood”, Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.11]
    8. Oleg Sentsov, “Hospital”, Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.12]
    9. Oleg Sentsov, “School”, Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.12]
    10. Oleg Sentsov, “Testament”, Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.12]
    11. Oleg Sentsov, “Grandma”, Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.12]
    12. Oleg Sentsov, “The Makars”, Life Went On Anyway [2024.02.12]
    13. Jim C. Hines, “The Blue Corpse Corps” (Patreon subscriber story) [2024.12.15]
    14. Fouad Laroui, “The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.21]
    15. Fouad Laroui, “Dislocation”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.22]
    16. Fouad Laroui, “Born Nowhere”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.22]
    17. Fouad Laroui, “Khouribga, or the Laws of the Universe”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.25]
    18. Fouad Laroui, “What’s Not Said in Brussels”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.25]
    19. Fouad Laroui, “Bennani’s Bodyguard”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.25]
    20. Fouad Laroui, “The Invention of Dry Swimming”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.25]
    21. Fouad Laroui, “Fifteen Minutes as Philosophers”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.25]
    22. Fouad Laroui, “The Night Before”, The Curious Case of Dassoukine’s Trousers [2024.02.25]

  • February 2023 Books and Reading Notes

    February was a good book month. Three of the five arrivals were from Kickstarters, and two of those were from Kickstarters over two years old. The rest were new purchases. Reading-wise, my reading list for the year caught up with my acquisition list, and I expect it to stay that way for the rest of the year, unless I either get sick of reading (not likely to happen) or I indulge in some serious emotional-support book buying.

    Acquisitions

    Book which arrived in the month of February 2023

    1. Jaymee Goh (editor), Don’t Touch That – A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Parenting Anthology [2023.02.04] – This one was a long time coming. I backed it back in July 2020, and of course COVID continued to happen, so the production of this anthology was, well, fraught. But it is finally here, and it is beautiful!
    2. Red Pine (translator), Dancing with the Dead – The Essential Red Pine Translations (Copper Canyon Press) [2023.02.09] – This is a reward from a recent Kickstarter run by Copper Canyon. I have been a fan of Bill Porter, and of Copper Canyon, for decades, and this is a beautiful volume.
    3. Julie Nováková, Lucas K. Law, Susan Forest (editors), Life Beyond Us (Laksa Media Groups) [2023.02.18] – Another long-delayed, eagerly-anticipated, and joyously received Kickstarter reward. I backed this book in April of 2021, and it arrived on a beautiful, unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon. I am very much looking forward to diving into this one.
    4. Jordan Kurella, When I Was Lost (Trepidation Publishing) [2023.02.22] – I met Jordan at ConFusion 2023, where he and I and my partner Zyra hung out at the bar, talking and enjoying being back at the convention. I thought his name looked familiar, and it turns out he has a story in an anthology (A Punk Rock Future) I picked up a couple of years ago because another friend had a story in it. Small world!
    5. Jordan Kurella, I Never Liked You Anyway (Lethe Press) [2023.02.27] – Another of Kurella’s works, this one a short novel, which is already near the top of my TBR pile.

    Reading List

    Books and Journals I Read In the Month of February 2023

    Books and Journals

    1. Marlon James, Moon Witch, Spider King [2023.02.17]
    2. Catherine Stein, The Courtesan and Mr. Hyde [2023.02.20]
    3. Hieu Minh Nguyen, Not Here [2023.02.21]
    4. Jason Gillikin (editor), Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    5. The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.24]
    6. The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.02.26]
    7. Valérie Mréjen (Katie Shireen Assef, translator), Black Forest [2023.02.27]

    Short Prose

    1. Colleen Alles, “Visitor’s Pass”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    2. Tiffany Amo, “Sea of Diamonds”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    3. Allison Hawkins, “Penelope Butterfield’s Comprehensive Guide to Self-Annihilation”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    4. Robert Charles Kubiak, “Christmas Play”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    5. Morris Lincoln, “Conversion Therapy”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    6. Melanie Meyer, “Half the Kingdom”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    7. Andrew Ronzino, “Acquired Taste”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    8. Andrew Ronzino, “The Last Day”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    9. D.L. Rosa, “Edward”, Surface Reflections [2023.02.22]
    10. Colleen Alles, “The Only Private Place”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.23]
    11. Dominic Bryan, “The Lies You Tell Yourself”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.23]
    12. Maggie Hill, “Only the Drunk Can Sleep”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.23]
    13. Jonathan Lindberg, “Star Man”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.24]
    14. Julia Poole, “Coming Clean”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.24]
    15. Phillip Sterling, “Last Resort”, The Lakeshore Review #1 [2023.02.24]
    16. Laura Cody, “Either One Step Forward, or Two Steps Back”, The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.03.24]
    17. Byron Spooner, “Elvis Walks the Earth”, The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.02.26]
    18. Susan Weinstein, “Sweet Halloween”, The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.02.26]
    19. Wally Wood, “Dropout”, The Lakeshore Review #2 [2023.02.26]