Today’s Word of the Day (WOTD) comes from my friend Lisa, whose email to me this morning contained only the Merriam Webster link for the word’s definition, here, along with the laconic comment, “Early adopters, we.” In case you didn’t know it, Lisa and I share an Anglican heritage, hence the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) reference. And too, we are both big bibliophiles. As to whether we are – to use the 1534 BCP locution – “notorious synners?” Well… I guess you’ll have to make that call.
I thought it interesting that the Merriam Webster write-up made use of reference to famed rapper Notorious B.I.G. (AKA Biggie Smalls) in trying to make the case that the word is not always colored pejoratively. Really? I mean, c’mon:
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All of that being said, I am still a notorious lover of literature. (Please note the non-pejorative usage here – ahem). That’s why I was delighted to find the following rundown, here, of “Best Books of 2022 So Far” in the New Yorker this week. My own preference is for fiction – especially crime fiction – over non-fiction. But maybe you feel differently? What have you been reading lately? Do any of these from the NYer list appeal?
American Midnight by Adam Hochschild (Mariner) – Nonfiction
Kiki Man Ray by Mark Braude (Norton) – Nonfiction
Haven by Emma Donoghue (Little, Brown) – Fiction
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer (Scribner) – Fiction
The Joy of Quitting by Keiler Roberts (Drawn & Quarterly) – Nonfiction
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) – Fiction
The Birdcatcher by Gayl Jones (Beacon) – Fiction
I Love(ish) New York City by Ali Solomon (Chronicle) – Nonfiction
I just finished the legendary James Lee Burke’s latest, from 2021: “Another Kind of Eden.” It’s set in Trinidad – meaning the town in Southern Colorado, not the island in the Caribbean – so it made me feel right at home. At least it’s not NYC, which I don’t love, not even “-ish.”
Last but not least…
Currently reading “I’m Glad My Mom Died” but it’s non-fiction so probably not your cup of tea.
Honored to be an inspiration. As usual you made me laugh.
Nice pivot to books. Recently read (actually listened to, on a long drive across KS) a novel that I loved more than anything I have read for years — The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Even an epigraph from John Bunyan. “He he would valiant be…”
Also anything by Colm Toibin. If you want a satisfyingly spooky short read for Halloween try The Shortest Day, free on Kindle I think. The House of Atreus is as gripping and appalling as the original tale.