SFBA Book Club

Enia started reading Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney: Intermezzo (Hardcover, english language, 2024, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

No rating

Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have …

my hold finally came in!

Enia started reading Everything Good Dies Here by Djuna

Djuna, Adrian Thieret: Everything Good Dies Here (2022, Muae Publishing, Incorporated)

No rating

two Korean books in translation? why not. anything not to read Solito right now.

Enia reviewed Apartment Women by Gu Byeong-mo

Gu Byeong-mo: Apartment Women (2024, Harlequin Enterprises ULC)

a nuanced look at the modern meaning of community

5 stars

I absolutely inhaled this book in 48 hours.

The plot deals with an apartment building community populated by 4 families, who have all chosen to live together in an effort to create a “village” to support them in raising their children in modern day Korea defined by high costs of living, demanding jobs, long commutes to see relatives.

With this book, the author deftly navigates the question of why have so many grown alienated from their families and neighbors.

In my own personal circle of housing advocates there’s often talk of how communal housing would address SF’s housing affordability crisis. And every time it comes up, I think “I would rather let someone scrape my eyeballs out with a rusty spoon than live in communal housing.” I have never liked having roommates, I barely like living with romantic partners. Noooo thank you.

The modern outcome of many people choosing to …

I absolutely inhaled this book in 48 hours.

The plot deals with an apartment building community populated by 4 families, who have all chosen to live together in an effort to create a “village” to support them in raising their children in modern day Korea defined by high costs of living, demanding jobs, long commutes to see relatives.

With this book, the author deftly navigates the question of why have so many grown alienated from their families and neighbors.

In my own personal circle of housing advocates there’s often talk of how communal housing would address SF’s housing affordability crisis. And every time it comes up, I think “I would rather let someone scrape my eyeballs out with a rusty spoon than live in communal housing.” I have never liked having roommates, I barely like living with romantic partners. Noooo thank you.

The modern outcome of many people choosing to live separately and aggressively insisting on privacy comes at least partially from so many feeling the same way. Yes we can romanticize how our ancestors had the literal village but having that village came with costs. Nosy neighbors, lack of physical and mental privacy, being forced into maintaining relationships with people you don’t like.

so seeing this book expose this truth so deftly was really satisfying. It’s a great read.

Enia finished reading Dances by Nicole Cuffy

Nicole Cuffy: Dances (Hardcover, One World)

Dances by Nicole Cuffy

Enia reviewed All Fours by Miranda July

Miranda July: All Fours (2024, Penguin Publishing Group)

Miranda July proves me wrong

5 stars

Content warning mild spoilers about theme, not plot; curse words

Until now, I have stayed away from Miranda July's work because of her public persona. I didn't think her art would be for me, produced by this twee, quirky LA artiste.

But boy has All Fours proved me wrong. Maybe it's because I am a woman in a similar stage of life as Miranda's protagonist, who lived through or is about to live through some of the things she describes.

Without providing too many spoilers, this is a book about Gen X and Millenial women who are starting to deal with the implications of perimenopause on their bodies, and in turn, their identities as sexual beings.

To put it bluntly, we don't look old (thanks to sunscreens and a regular pilates practice) younger people still find us fuckable, but our hormones are waiting to betray our libido at every turn.

Enia started reading All Fours by Miranda July

All Fours by Miranda July

Enia reviewed Long Island by Colm Tóibín (Eilis Lacey, #2)

Colm Tóibín: Long Island (Hardcover, Simon & Schuster)

makes Brooklyn better

5 stars

I was apprehensive about picking up Colm Tóibín’s Long Island, the sequel to his wildly successful Brooklyn. I had read it, before it became a movie starring Saiorse Ronan, and found it ultimately unsatisfying. Tóibín’s work stands apart from most modern literary fiction. He’s quite restrained in showing instead of telling, which means his work often lacks his characters’ inner voice. And without it, it’s hard to figure out their motivations.

But Long Island achieves something striking. In revisiting Brooklyn’s characters 20 years later, and examining the impact of their choices on their lives, it illuminates the motivation behind their past choices then. For me, Long Island redeems Brooklyn’s emotional opacity.

Enia reviewed We Are Too Many by Hannah Pittard

Hannah Pittard: We Are Too Many (2024, Holt & Company, Henry)

this book captures the devastation of infidelity

5 stars

The thing about infidelity in a long term monogamous relationship is that it’s difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t gone through the complete and total destruction of self you experience. When the person who betrays you has been with you for most of your adult life, you aren’t just mourning the betrayal and the loss of your future together. You are literally faced with reevaluating every positive and formative experience you had that they were a part of.

That’s what Hannah Pittard accomplishes here. She isn’t just recounting past conversations with her now ex-husband and ex-best friend to narrate the history of these relationships. She’s painstakingly recreating an identity that no longer includes trusting two people she trusted the most. This book tries to answer the question how you rebuild yourself when people you judged to be trustworthy were capable of betraying and hurting you so fundamentally.