#emilie pine

[pureheroine2013]

“One day last year I came home from work to find R raking leaves in the garden. He smiled and I noticed in the bright autumn light the new strands of silver at his temples. And it hit me. We are growing old together. This is what it will be like as we watch each other age, as our partnership ages. And this unexpected moment made me happier than I could have imagined. I see a life ahead for us, a shared life. A great life.”

Notes to self, Emilie Pine (2018)

[petitjeanofficial]

But my mental health, it turns out, is my responsibility. I probably don’t need to tell you that, but I did need to tell myself. And once I realised that, I wondered why I would ever leave it in the hands of strangers to decide my value.

- Emilie Pine, Notes to Self

[dog-earedthoughts]

'Am I a proper girl?' I look from myself to the women around me and I feel that I do not measure up. And then that's when I know that I am a girl, that I am proper. Because, of course, this paranoia, that I am not feminine enough, not desirable enough, not good enough, is the ultimate performance of femininity. This paranoia is a crucial part of how women are policed. And of how we police ourselves.

Emilie Pine, Notes to Self

[evphrosyne]

April wrap-up

With Goodreads links! If any of you want to see what I am currently reading and my huge TBR list, you can find my page here.

This month was also for reading - pretty diverse I should say. And social distancing. And crying over my dead plants because no one could go water them. And ordering some plants at my current home so I have something to take care of.

The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells - 4/5 stars

if you like sad books and you don’t mind the tragic narrative of the white European man that makes sense of said sadness in the end, this is the book for you

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed - 5/5 stars

in which the author replies to letters in a deeply emphatic way while also teaching you life lessons. Thank you, Cheryl

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid - 3/5 stars

this is not your typical thriller novel. I can’t and won’t say more

It by Alexa Chung - 2/5 stars

I probably should have read this when I was 16

Street Photographer by Vivian Maier - 5/5 stars

just a photography book that made want to pick up my film camera again; and maybe actually learn how to use it

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - 1/5 stars

my first DNF of the month; I just could not follow the writing style

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl - 3/5 stars

just adding another sprinkle of nonfiction here; this is a good book if you’re studying/planning to study psychology or if you want to learn something about what drives human beings apart from the all too famous Hierarchy of Needs

Notes to Self: Essays by Emilie Pine - 1/5 stars

second DNF this month; I find it pretty hard to get on with essay collections and I was really getting nothing from this one - maybe it was the general theme of moderhood (up to the point when I stopped reading at least)

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk -5/5 stars

I’ve heard mixed reviews about this one (even if it’s a Nobel winner) and I went in with not too high expectations. I was pleasantly surprised with the writing style and character development, it was easy to follow even if it might not seem like it at the beginning (if you’ve read it, you know what I mean), the characters were intriguing and it was overall an immersive reading experience

Pet Sematary by Stephen King - 2/5 stars

I listed to this one on audio. This is my first Stephen King novel and I think I expected more from the story. I found the ending extremely rushed, but I’m willing to read more of his work.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker - 2/5 stars

Everyone was recommending this and comparing it to Madeline Miller so I HAD to read it, Circe having been my favourite book of last year. I mean...it was ok. it was nice. but nothing compared to Miller’s writing style. It felt like a poor retelling (or more like fanfic) and even if some parts of the narrative were from Briseis’ perspective (the slave of Achilles), as some other reviewers have said, the girls stayed silent in this book. And what bugged me the most about this book was that you could sense the author did not do enough research to capture all the necessary details to make this story what it set out to be. (but I do get the hype)

[orclnght]

rabble

“...writing is a way of making sense of the world, a way of processing—possessing—thought and emotion, a way of making something worthwhile out of pain.”

Emilie Pine, Notes to Self

[distantheartbeats]

It is embarrassing to admit to my inner child. I feel like a kid throwing a tantrum, stamping my foot and demanding that my parents pay attention. I am especially embarrassed when I look around and realise that other people do not seem as burdened by their upbringing as I am.

Emilie Pine, Notes to Self

[ramblingsthebookblog]

Book Review: Notes to Self by Emilie Pine

In Notes to Self, Emile Pine recalls her childhood, teenage years and adulthood through a series of essays. Pine muses on her parent’s divorce, her teenage years where she went out of control, her infertility and her career. She is honest and insightful and doesn’t hold back. Her essay on her parent’s divorce resonated with me in particular as it mirrored my own experience. It was too real and lingered in my mind long after I finished it. This is an incredible book about pain, as experienced by women and the expectations thrust upon us. 

[pureheroine2013]

“I am afraid of being the disruptive woman. And of not being disruptive enough. I am afraid. But I am doing it anyway.”

Notes to Self, Emilie Pine (2018)