Jeff Stern

For the past few years, this has mostly been about what I'm reading. I've also got a spot at jeffstern.wordpress.com with work-related blog type stuff.

[jeffstern]

Rachel Cusk - second place

This is the first Cusk that I’ve read, and was a book club selection. I’m planning to read the Outline trilogy, and someone who’d finished that was interested in this newer one. I thought it was quite good, and then found it was very interesting to learn about the original works that inspired this novel.

[jeffstern]

James Albon - The Delicacy

I got this for a birthday present, and found it highly enjoyable. The panel below, however, felt a bit like a personal attack - though I know it is true, I can’t help it. I’m an indoor kind of guy.

[jeffstern]

Olga Tokarczuk - The Books of Jacob

This was a book club selection, and took up quite a chunk of late 2022. I really enjoyed it despite my aversion to old-timey stuff. It was interesting to see a cult leader’s rise to power through the eyes of the people surrounding him (and yente who sees all, of course). Way different feeling than Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, which I loved. This was a much more expansive book, and I appreciated all of the historical detail, but I doubt I’d have made it through without a book club - that said, I’m glad I finished and felt it paid off.

[jeffstern]

Elizabeth Ellen - Saul Stories

I’ve read a lot of Elizabeth Ellen, and I always enjoy it. I’m not sure if it’s her writing, or the voyeuristic feel I get reading her stuff, both are at work. This collection of short stories was particularly strong, and braided together well.

[jeffstern]

Ezra Clayton Daniels & Ben Passmore - BTTM FDRS

I really enjoyed this graphic novel a whole lot - a lot of great stuff about the nature of gentrification and art, all set in a world that seems to have a vibe somewhat akin to John Carpenter or David Cronenberg. I dunno, rather than talk about it - here’s a little spoiler-free sample that I really enjoyed:

[jeffstern]

Han Kang - Europa

This chapbook is part of a collection of short fiction from Korea. I really enjoyed this - not as much as I loved Human Acts or The Vegetarian, but it’s a good story and I like the way it slowly reveals itself.

[jeffstern]

Eleanor Davis - The Hard Tomorrow

I’m not sure who recommended this, but I’m thinking it was @iron_spike on twitter. Totally great experience for me, including a gut punch at one point that had me put the thing down and decide I should take a day and absorb what I’d read and come back the next day to read the rest. I can’t remember another time that’s happened to me with a graphic novel. 

[jeffstern]

Charlie Mackesy - The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

I bought a copy of this for my youngest nephew, and then once I read it I bought a bunch more copies to give to friends and family. I love the illustrations, both on their own and how they pair with the words in the story. Lots of stuff about being kind to ourselves and each other - and then also some levity from the mole’s love of cake.

[jeffstern]

Matthew Dooley - Flake

Another book club graphic novel - we were really into reading short stuff after having read a few longer things. This one, a story about love, friendship, and finding your way in the world as a bit of an oddball/weirdo, is set in the apparently cutthroat world of the ice cream truck business. Probably my favorite of the graphic novels we read in this period of time. Which was Sept/Oct of 2021, so I’m a bit behind in logging my reading. And at least a few of these books/posts are out of order because The Overstory was something we started in 2021 and ended in 2022. Oops, at least I’m logging.

[jeffstern]

Michel Rabagliati - Paul at Home

Paul is older, and this one is darker. Enjoyed it more than the first we read. I feel like I’m giving these short shrift, as they were thoughtful and detailed, but they just didn’t really hit me right.

[jeffstern]

Michel Rabagliati - Paul in the Country

This was just a slim thing, I barely remember it

[jeffstern]

Bastien Vives, Jerome Mulot, Florent Ruppert - The Grande Odalisque

A book club selection that we read in between a couple of "Paul" graphic novels by Michel Rabagliati (we got confused by titles, and ended up reading three of that series). The Grande Odalisque was a fun action adventure heist kind of story, with romantic subplots. I enjoyed it, but couldn't help thinking that the creators made this with selling the movie rights in mind (lots of spectacle - very grand indeed). But still a very fun read.

[jeffstern]

Michel Rabagliati - Paul Moves Out

This was another book club selection - a few people had a hankering to get into some graphic novels, and we managed to confuse each other (likely mostly/all my fault) with the titles enough that we read a few different ones. This was the first we read, and they are all pretty "slice of life" stories, apparently autobiographical to some degree. I liked that the author didn't attempt to make himself a "hero" or even particularly likable, as the central character. That being said, some of the casual/lowkey racism was off-putting (after discussion with others, I'm still not sure if it's meant as a critique of the main characters - a sort of "look at how honest I am about how dumb we were" attempt at , or was simply "a product of its time," and that may be a big part of my issue).

[jeffstern]

Nnedi Okorafor - Remote Control

This is a slim/short book, but filled with big ideas. Very similar in style, pace, and tone to Nnnedi's other Africanfuturism books, yet also stands on its own. I am continually impressed with how she is able to create characters and worlds that incorporate a lot of technology and/or juju, but they never feel like the tech/juju is the point. The stories are always human, even when the characters are not. This one somewhat reminded me of the tv show Kung Fu, but with a bit more gravitas.

[jeffstern]

Evan Dara - Permanent Earthquake

I really like Evan Dara, and his style of giving the reader direct insight into his characters thoughts without the aid of quotation marks, or even any indication of whose thoughts we are in. While that could be confusing (especially at first) in the earlier books that I read (The Lost Scrapbook, which is very well-regarded in certain circles, and Flee, which I might have enjoyed even more), in this one he keeps it simple by leaving us in the head of a single character. However, that character is traversing an island that is in the midst of what seems to be a permanent earthquake (intensity varies) and so this could be read as some sort of climate crisis novel. However, Dara seems not to worry about causes, instead focusing on how someone with few tools and little power or influence manages to make a life of meaning in a mixed up world. At least, that was my reading. I really enjoyed how over time we went from the day-to-day struggles, and learned more about the character's background and history.

[jeffstern]

Akwaeke Emezi - Pet

I bought this for my nephew for Christmas, and wanted to read it to make sure it wasn’t too scary/adult for a 13 year old. The verdict? He did say that the part where Pet first shows up was maybe over-descriptive, and he can’t get the image out of his head. But to me, that is just a testament to Emezi’s writing, which can be quite visceral while still telling a really well-paced story with fully developed characters. I fully enjoyed this, and keep meaning to read Freshwater.

[jeffstern]

Richard Powers - The Overstory

This was another book club selection, with many of us enjoying at least some Powers previously, but most of us not particularly enjoying this one. Personally, I’d say it was pretty good, but a bit too long (and Powers is weird about sex).