Could You Repeat That? CLXXVIII

Wrapping up the year with 29 books!

Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts, Joseph Harris, x2
To make new knowledge your examples need to raise problems for your theory.

Deculturalization and the Struggle for Equality, Joel Spring
Purchase was tantamount to conquest and it was cheaper than a military campaign.

Ceviche: Peruvian Kitchen, Martin Morales
Sitting on the beach with the sun pounding down on me and my mouth alive with the lime and chile kick of ceviche was as exhilirating as riding the tallest wave.

The Problem of Susan and Other Stories (graphic novel), Neil Gaiman & P Craig Russell
She had spent an evening once kissing him in a summer house, though she cannot remember for the life of her in which garden the summer house had belonged.

The Seven Culinary Wonders of the World, Jenny Linford
The human relationship with wild honey is an ancient one, but when or where human beings first started eating wild honey is information lost in time.

The Near Witch, VE Schwab
There are no strangers in the town of Near. I have seen every face a thousand times. But not this one.

The Other Americans, Laila Lalami
Perhaps memory is not merely the preservation of a moment in the mind, but the process of repeatedly returning to it, carefully breaking it up in parts and assembling them again until we can make sense of what we remember.

The Dragon Republic, RF Kuang
"That's a nice ship."
"What do you mean, that's a nice ship?"
"I mean, if that ship were a person, I would fuck that ship," said Baji.
Rin suspected Baji wouldn't be much help until the opium wore off.

Optic Nerve, Maria Gainza
And I cannot tell what I should do with a death as ridiculous as hers, as pointless and hypnotic, nor do I know why I mention it now, though I suppose it's always probably the way: you write one thing in order to talk about something else.

Inland, Tea Obrecht
His God-given eloquence was buttressed on all sides by charms he'd cultivated throughout a long life of asking forgiveness for assorted transgressions about which he was alternately boastful and ashamed.

The Most Fun We Ever Had, Claire Lombardo
Violet had begun to view the world, lately, as a nuanced gradient of the degrees to which she wanted to harm her sister.

Plastic Man (graphic novel), Gail Simone
PADO: Three guys on one, that's just wang. See ya around, Eel O'Brian.
EEL: Wait. Is wang good or bad? DOES IT STILL MEAN PENIS?

Sword and Pen, Rachel Caine
"Alamasi, if I'm burned alive, then all this becomes your problem."
"Sir," she said reproachfully. "That's not the inspirational speech I need."

Whose Story Is This?, Rebecca Solnit
The common denominator of so many of the strange and troubling cultural narratives coming our way is a set of assumptions about who matters, whose story it is, who deserves the pity and the treats and the presumptions of innocence, the kid gloves and the red carpet, and ultimately the kingdom, the power, and the glory. You already know who.

A Dream So Dark, LL McKinney
Today was definitely a Category Five on the You Done Messed Up chart.

Illusion, Paula Volsky
Incredible to imagine, almost unbelievable--that she could actually die, despite her youth, despite even her great eyes and rose-petal complexion.

Oval, Elvia Wilk
"Just come see me," he said. "I miss you."
It was a neon fishhook in the dark, which she bit down upon slowly, feeling it pierce the roof of her mouth.

Black Perspectives in Writing Program Administration, Staci M Perryman-Clark and Collin Lamont Craig, eds.
When whiteness exists as the institutional and administrative norm it also functions as a floating signifier that regulates disciplinarity and department discourses and permits these kinds of bullying to go unchecked.

The Secret Commonwealth, Philip Pullman
Once you've witnessed a murder and decided against telling the police, you're really on your own.

The Queen's Man, Sharon Kay Penman
She was aging as she'd lived, in defiance of all the rules.

Sally's Cookie Addiction, Sally McKenney
The one time I'll tell you to NOT follow a recipe is right here: forget the listed bake time. There, I said it.

Interference, Sue Burke
"I will not live forever, but I can try to live everywhere."

Cruel as the Grave, Sharon Kay Penman
"Admit it, you did not plunge from that window with a hawk's unerring precision. You lost your grip and just happened to fall on him, didn't you?"
Luke regarded him impassively. "Can you prove it?"

Sasha: A Trial of Blood and Steel, Joel Shepherd
"You must make your peace with the gods, for your father's sake!"
Sasha met his stare with an intensity that made the priest's eyes widen. And he blessed himself in recoiling reflex. "Why?" she asked him. "I won't be the one meeting them today."

Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
"Because my demon told me to" isn't a generally accepted reason, even if you have a crown on your head.

In the Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson
An hour later, the procession halted near a swamp. Goering climbed from his carriage and gave another speech, this on the glories of birds.

When All Is Said, Anne Griffin
"It was simply knowing he was there, that meant the world to me. I didn't need him to do anything other than just be alive. Is it the same for you?"

Dirt Candy, Amanda Cohen
As the X-Men movies taught us, mutants are hated and feared by society. But mutants (like cauliflower, a big knot of mutated floral stem cells) are also delicious when pickled and served with beer.

The Queen Con, Meghan Scott Molin
Surely eating free pizza isn't like signing a contract with the devil, right?


On to 2020!