Read and Be Kind

Hello lovelies! I have returned to give you a brief update on my life and of course my bookshelf. So I don't know if any of you are familiar with the lovely country of Canada where I live, but one of the largest bookstores we have in the great white north is called Chapters. They had this huge ass booksale on "bargain books", so basically I bought all five books you see in the top picture for $17. Look if you're not jealous right now you really should be. 

Among the pile is The Empty Glass by J.I. Baker (some sort of Marilyn Monroe based novel that sounded entertaining, and the cover was pretty), Come to the Edge by Christina Haag (a memoir/love story based on JFK Jr...I couldn't resist), Saints and Sinners by Edna O'Brien (short stories YAY), And So It Goes Kurt Vonngut: A Life (self explanatory), and Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno (also self explanatory). 

I have always been fascinated with biographies surrounding great artists specifically of the 20th century. As an aspiring writer reading about other influential artists and their careers is fascinating and oddly enough almost like a guilty pleasure. I crave to know how others have succeeded so I might happen to follow in their footsteps with some of my own actions. 

Pictured in the second frame is a book I have recently finished called Green Girl by Kate Zambreno. I was particularly captivated while reading this novel because of how angering and completely frustrating I found the main character Ruth. It was beautifully written in the sense that each page felt like a different verse of one long gorgeous poem, but the story it depicted was tragic and maddening. 

The novel focuses on an American girl (Ruth) who is living in London in her early 20's. She works at Harrods department store (which she lovingly calls Horrids) spritzing perfume and asking if tourists would like to smell "Desire". She is maddeningly narcissistic, laments constantly about her current situation without trying to change it, and is constantly miserable. Although I loved this book, it disturbed me with it's eerie reflection it projects back onto it's reader. I was forced to reflect and examine my own mental state while reading this book, and there's nothing more I ask for in a book. It was beautiful and horrible and wonderful and dreadful and I loved it. 

-Emily