Grab the Lapels

July Reads: the list

On the first day of the year, I laid out my 2018 reading goals. Here’s what’s on the list for July — and this time I glanced in each book to make sure it’s something I won’t have to swap out:

#1 Fat Fiction: Fat Angie by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo (not sure why one E is capitalized and the other isn’t)

Brief Description: Although Fat Angie has terrible reviews on Goodreads, especially from folks upset that the character is called “Fat Angie” the entire novel, I bought this book because it was recommended to me by an LGBTQ activist and artist. The basic synopsis says, “Her sister was captured in Iraq, she’s the resident laughingstock at school, and her therapist tells her to count instead of eat. Can a daring new girl in her life really change anything?” I do know Fat Angie was a Lambda Literary finalist and led the author to help at-risk youth.

Fat Angie

#2 The Oldest Book Shelved: That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx, purchased February, 2012

Brief Description: “Bob Dollar is a young man from Denver trying to make good in a bad world. Out of college and aimless, Dollar takes a job with Global Pork Rind, scouting out big spreads of land that can be converted to hog farms. Soon he’s holed up in a two-bit Texas town called Woolybucket, where he settles into LaVon Fronk’s old bunkhouse for fifty dollars a month, helps out at Cy Frease’s Old Dog Café, and learns the hard way how vigorously the old Texas ranch owners will hold on to their land, even when their children want no part of it.

That Old Ace in the Hole

#3 Newest Book Shelved: Meaty: Essays by Samantha Irby

Brief Description: “Samantha Irby exploded onto the printed page with this debut collection of essays about trying to laugh her way through failed relationships, taco feasts, bouts with Crohn’s disease, and more. Every essay is crafted with the same scathing wit and poignant candor thousands of loyal readers have come to expect from visiting her notoriously hilarious blog, Bitches Gotta Eat.”

meaty
I’m reading the re-released version. Apparently, the original book, published in 2013 by Curbside Splendor, was riddled with typos, and one essay got chopped off at the end!

#4 Random Pick: No Bed of Roses by Joan Fontaine (of Rebecca fame!)

Suicide

Brief Description: “At age seventeen — unwelcome in the homes of either her father or her step-father, and with only twenty-two dollars in her purse — Joan Fontaine was on her own. Within six years she had launched a successful film career with Rebecca, and her Oscar for Suspicion made her the youngest leading lady to win the Academy Award. Yet, as she reveals in this candid autobiography, behind a glamorous Hollywood facade her life has been marked by a broken home, harsh childhood, rivalry with her sister (Olivia de Havilland), four failed marriages, and the struggle to raise two children by herself.”

No Bed of Roses

 

43 comments

  1. You have some interesting reading plans here. And it’s an interesting mix of fiction, non-fiction, and essays. I respect the way you’re planning for your reading.

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  3. That’s quite an eclectic and mixed bag of books to read. I can’t remember the last none fiction book I read. But I do like the sound of the Joan Fontaine’s autobiography.

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  4. I love how varied your list is. I want to broaden my reading preferences and am looking forward to your reviews for some inspiration. And No Bed of Roses definitely sounds like something I would happily read as well, enjoy. 😊

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    • I’m starting that book today, and I’ve suckered some people into watching Hitchcock’s Rebecca with me this afternoon! Haha! My lists can be quite varied due to how I’ve organized my reading for the year. It’s a system that’s made me happier than any other, and the goals are achievable. I explain what my organizational system is in the link at the very top of this post.

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  5. The Joan Fontaine autobiography sounds like fun! Hope you enjoyed your Rebecca re-watch. All those silly names in the Annie Proulx blurb kinda put me off a bit – it almost sounds as if she’s writing a pastiche…

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  8. I love the mix of reads you’ve got planned. I’m interested in Irby’s Meaty, as I heard her interviewed on Sam Sanders’s NPR podcast It’s Been A Minute. She was a fun guest! Very opinionated!

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  9. Sigh. The more I read your blog, the more I notice fat-shaming. Your quest to take back the word fat is so important. As described in Americanah, it’s just a descriptor, not an insult! Fat Angie can be Fat Angie if she wants to be. Ugh. People. Don’t judge.

    Your reads for this month sound great! Meaty sounds like the sort of essay collection I’d love. I cannot wait to hear what you think about all these books.

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    • I got through Meaty and will publish the review Wednesday. It’s got lots of swears. I’m glad that you are noticing fat shaming in your own life because then you can say something about it, or even do something if need be. Changing our thinking changes our world.

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  10. I struggle to accept that someone who calls themself ‘Fat Angie’ doesn’t have issues about being fat. Still, I run into all the time people who insist on adopting derogatory nicknames – I really struggle when a guy insists I call him Boof or Boofhead. I enjoy all your reviews of course but I’m looking forward to the Annie Proulx, she may have been on your shelf for a long time for a reason. The oldest books on my shelf (that I hope to read) are my father’s collection of Sir Walter Scott which have probably been in the family 100 years.

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    • I have no idea what a Boof is, so that is new for me. Sometimes people call themselves derogatory names to get ahead of it–if a person is obviously fat and calls him/herself Fat So-and-So, it makes it harder for other people to call that person fat behind his/her back and make an impact. The only Annie Proulx I’ve read is the short story Brokeback Mountain, which was made into a film. I think it’s sat there for so long because I don’t know much about her work.

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  11. As usual, these all sound good! I hope they are!
    I find that people tend to give books a low rating if the book makes them mad. But, I think that if a book makes you mad, then it’s probably a good book! Curious to know how Fat Angie turns out!
    Joan Fontaine’s life doesn’t sound very cheerful…

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  12. I’ve never laid out a plan for reading! I think I’m too much of a mood reader. I do like this idea, however, are there are books I’d like to read but never get to.

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    • I’ve been cleaning out my shelves like a crazy woman, and I enjoy that I never have to outside and weigh what I want to read based on how I feel. Frequently, I struggle to identify how I feel, which I know about myself but never connected to reading until just now!

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      • I can see the appeal of planning. The last time I was in the library, I looked around and thought, “Sigh. What on earth do I want to read?” I wasn’t exactly lacking options! I guess I didn’t know how I felt, either!

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  13. Well hello there! How the heck are you?!?! I’m so sorry for being MIA and neglecting your blog. I’m here to rectify that!

    I am really interested in finding out why the author of Fat Angie has an lower case & upper case “e” in their name? Especially since the beginning letter is the lower case one? Is this some new trend I’m not aware of?

    I tried reading a Annie Proulx novel this year (The Shipping News) but just couldn’t get into Proulx’s writting style… Did you read The Shipping News?

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