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To Be Read

CYMRU AM BYTH – 9 Books On the Country of Wales

January 18, 2019 by Host Leave a Comment

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CYMRU AM BYTH – 9 Books on the Country of Wales

If you aren’t hype for the incredible, incomparably bizarre and badass-since-before-the-onset-of-human-history country of Wales already, then sign on and buckle up because Cymru is d o p e.

“The Land of Literature and Song” is something we’d just kind of made up this week and carried around in our hearts during book selection, but the loving label is—of course—completely unoriginal in the extreme: hopefully the proud and fearless people of Wales would enjoy our well-intentioned ignorance and would be down for being celebrated in those categories (we kind of wish this was a rugby blog, not going to lie, but alas.)

Three regular-person-friendly histories, two cookbooks (omg there are exactly zero Welsh recipes that aren’t fucking heaven), three classic bar-setting works of fiction, and one modern novel (spoiler alert: queer protagonist yesssss #heroine #boss)

((strong recommendation: check out Pride Cymru at https://www.pridecymru.co.uk/ and https://twitter.com/PrideCymru #lit #goals))

 

Gadewch i ni fynd!

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A History of Wales by John Davies

What’s so monster about this broad BROAD survey of Welsh history is two fold: that the author, historian John Davies, was a Welshman himself and a gifted teacher directly commissioned to write this comprehensive history AND that the original work was in Welsh and only translated into English later. This history book is the real deal and a perfect place to start a unit study.

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A Concise History of Wales by Geraint H. Jenkins

Clearly the work of a history professor (in the best way, make no mistake) Professor Jenkins covers a huge amount of territory (pun intended) in a small amount of pages. A Concise History is a great fit for ambitious travelers seeking a good overview to better understand and appreciate Cymru and also a great fit for more casual readers.

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The Welsh Kings: Warriors, Warlords and Princes by Kari Maund

There’s nothing we could say about this excellent piece of historical work that packs the punch of this summary: “This work revives the memory of the native leaders of the country from a time before the title ‘Prince of Wales’ became an honorary trinket in the gift of a foreign ruler. These men are restored to their rightful place amongst the past rulers of the island of Britain.” Maund has built a stellar history, it’s DA IAWN

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The Welsh Cake Cookbook by Gilli Davies and Huw Jones

We grew up eating potato cakes and salmon cakes so you can imagine the ecstasy of finding this joyful book FILLED with every variation of Welsh Cakes known to man. Lavender? Hazelnut? Yes please!

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A Taste of Wales by Annette Yates

The enourmously talented Annette Yates pulled together a beautiful survey of classic Welsh recipes, and there’s something delicious for everyone to enjoy. Ms. Yates, we discovered, is also a craftsman of fine jewelry! Rude to be so talented. Hmph. (Annette Yates Jewellery <3 <3 <3)

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The Journey Through Wales and The Description of Wales by Gerald of Wales

Gerald of Wales did NOT come to play—he wrote 17 books in Latin in his long life and this one is so special because it’s a time capsule of real Welsh folk living real lives in the Medieval period so influenced by their legacies. Also a hell of an OG travel guide.

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How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn

How Green Was My Valley is magnificent. Before reading it, we had never, ever ever ever heard a negative word said, only dozens and dozens of glowing, raving reviews. Moving, honest, humbling. On and on. And every lover is completely right and then some. You’ll hold this story close to you for the rest of your days.

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The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas: The Original Edition

The one. The only. You don’t need to hear it from us. Hear him in this collection compiled by the man himself.

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Poppy Jenkins by Clare Ashton

Author Clare Ashton is a heroin herself, bringing to mind wandering-wondering-multi-field greats like Hedy Lamarr (full first name Hedwig) and Bea Arthur (if you didn’t know Bea Arthur was a Marine, Google it. BAMF.) Lesbian Romance borne out in Wales penned by a Welsh lesbian? YES PLEASE. See also: After Mrs. Hamilton and Pennance.

–

 

The world has been gifted with so many people who have dedicated their lives to exploring, preserving, and sharing the incredible history and talents of Wales and the Welsh. We are beyond grateful and hope you’ll use some of these books as a resource to start your own exploration!

 

Rhannu, rhannu! Share, share!

  •  Do you have a favorite story, song, experience, or book about Wales?
  •  Do you want to visit one day?
  •  Also! There’s an incredible welsh language magazine published monthly called Barn that is so great! Check it out, especially if you’re interested in or working on language learning. https://barn.cymru/

 

 

Filed Under: Book Lists, Classic Books, LGBTQ, To Be Read, Uncategorized Tagged With: Classic Novels, Cymru, LGBTQ, Wales

Brain Love – 8 Reads on Neuroscience

September 23, 2018 by Host Leave a Comment

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Brain Love – 8 Essential Reads on Neuroscience

We all have brains and we all want to make them strong, active, and wide open. Here are some of the best of the best books on neuroscience, our senses, neurodiveristy, health care for your brain, and how to use your mind to max out your life experience.

We’ve read and been enhanced by every book on this list and recommend them whole heatedly. But remember: we here at I Read Therefore are NOT doctors, scientists, mental health care providers, nutritionists, or sociologists.

Use this post and our work on it as one of many available stepping stones to start learning how to love, protect, and use your brain. Check with a doctor, scientist, mental health care provider, and/or nutritionist before you make any changes to your life, diet, lifestyle, or your way of approaching the world around you.

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How the Mind Works – Steven Pinker

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Thinking Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

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The Language Instinct – Steven Pinker

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Brain Maker – David Perlmutter, MD

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The World Beyond Your Head

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Deep Play – Diane Ackerman

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A Natural History of the Senses – Diane Ackerman

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A Mind Apart: Travels in a Neurodiverse World – Susanne Antonetta

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Thank you for reading along with us! Have you read any of these books? And what did you think?

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Filed Under: Book Lists, Female Authors, To Be Read, Uncategorized

Coming Attractions – Our Most Anticipated Book Releases – I

July 20, 2018 by Host 1 Comment

(This post contains affiliate links. Full info here)

 

We’ve read and loved these amazing books coming in the summer, fall and winter of 2018 and recommend them with full certainty you’ll love them, too (or hate them because the loathsome characters and circumstances were SO well-written that you want to give the author(s) a giant hug for their perfectly executed creative works, and then punch them in the nose for what their devastating masterpieces put you through. ALL THE FEELS.)

Host Note/Transparency Statement/Additional Disclaimer: All of these books were provided free of charge from the publisher for bloggers, bookstagrammers, librarians, and industry professionals to read and review. There is no financial or other compensation in either direction—one is not obligated to discuss, recommend, or publicize the books and criticism or polite silence is welcomed and respected. All of the new releases featured were read and loved by the actual human readers here, and we’re sharing and recommending them sincerely in good faith as excellent reads in this blog’s capacity as a reading resource. Thank you for your trust and passion for literature. Now go forth and delight in these stunners!

 

 

Ohio: A Novel by Stephen Markley

Raise your hand if multi-perspective novels set in iconic American wastelands, with interwoven narratives competing for most gaunt and raw knuckled, and hurt people hurting people to infinity until high school mistakes ripple out to coat the entire wounded world keep you up all night and begging and dreading the wretched end of the stories and your reading experience.

*RAISES HAND FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT*

Ohio takes no prisoners. Our children and grandchildren are going to be reading this one.

Five stars.

 

The Comedown by Rebekah Frumkin

Ms. Frumkin did NOT come to play. Every page of this multi-generational, blast-of-lightening debut novel is loaded with so much detail, so much nuance, so much enormous plot that you’re fully immersed by the middle of chapter one.

(Spoiler-Free, Gentle Warning: for those in substance recovery, please note that there’s constant description and realistic portrayal of active addiction in the book that got pretty tough to read for one of our team members working the steps.)

 

The Lion’s Binding Oath and Other Stories by Ahmed Ismail Yusuf

This is a powerful book that we cannot recommend strongly enough. Ahmed Ismail Yusuf has given the world a gift, that when opened reveals more gifts, and inside each of those gifts, ever more. The short stories of The Lion’s Binding Oath contain all that is good and should be cherished and protected, and all that is evil and should never be forgotten or ignored. Family, history, culture, art; cruelty, hunger, hate, war.

 

This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero

This is a wackadoodle romp that’s campy, trope-y, dorky, and alllllllmost begins to consider the idea of threatening some moments of insight, poignancy, or universal theme of meaning. It doesn’t. At all. Don’t read it thinking it will because it won’t. SO FUNNY.

 

Feared by Lisa Scottoline

Block out the next few weekends on your calendar. Take a giant nosedive into this series. You can thank us later. Twisty, turn-y, thrill-y, with our favorite eternal question/tagline of 2018:

Is it better to be loved, or feared…

 

Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson

You gon’ cry. Your mama gon’ cry. Just get a leg up and start crying now and when this hits your shelf you’ll be primed and ready. Written in correspondence style like 84, Charring Cross Road this is the charmer to end all charmers. Gorgeous novel, and like other recent five star read White Houses, Youngson’s debut features and celebrates characters outside of the 18-24 year old demographic.

 

The Devil’s Half Mile by Paddy Hirsch

Paddy Hirsch’s debut novel is about violent crime and financial disaster in New York City in 1799, with an edge-of-your-seat plot and stellar, brilliant character creation + historical accuracy/detail. Wonderful dialogue and the classic themes we know and love: murder, fraud, lust, greed, more murder, and then some fraud. Joking aside, this is an EXCELLENT thriller, but please note that it is, again, about violent crime and financial disaster in 18th century NYC.

 

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

2018 is the year of the magical debuts, because Delia Owens has written a novel that we don’t deserve but desperately need. We were reminded of Rachel Carson’s descriptive power; the rhythm of Gullah live-storytelling; the surge and draw of life as a recluse. The book’s gonna make you cry some more but also going to make you blush and also make you wanna get in a fist fight with ten dudes twice your size and WIN. So grateful for this novel.

 

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

You don’t need us to tell you to read this book. Read it. Read. It.

 

Thank you for reading along with us! What’s your favorite read of 2018 so far?

Filed Under: Book Lists, Book Reviews, Coming Soon, New Releases, To Be Read

Collection of Reviews – Spring of 2018 – #1

April 16, 2018 by Host Leave a Comment

(This post contains affiliate links. Full info here)

 

We are so proud to be posting our very first collection of reviews. We want to hear any and all of your thoughts, as always! Please comment or email us. Thank you!

 

White Houses – Amy Bloom

“If you’re a queer woman you cannot go another day without reading this book.

What Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe did for budding, unsure, closeted lesbians in the 90s, White Houses does for the bold, unapologetic, aging queer women those girls have grown to be: Bloom gives a voice. Bloom represents.

The story woven ripped my guts out one slow-burning shred at a time. Throughout the entire novel, I felt myself imagining that perhaps Eleanor Roosevelt lived her whole life mistaking a tickle in her throat—“Pollen, maybe…a need for a cup of tea?”—for what was in fact a desperate need to fall to her knees and scream. That’s what I wanted to do for both she and Hick: scream and pound the floor until all their barriers crumbled. But that’s a reader’s dramatic interference—the reality remembered, recorded and enhanced doesn’t need the fury of a modern eye. The reality of a long and winding thirty year relationship told in the resigned but love-strong, blunt and dry voice of a plain old regular women about her plain old regular true love—the 28th First Lady of the United States of America—is enough. So much more than enough.”

–

 

Eat Dairy Free – Alisa Fleming

“If you’re climbing the mountain of sustainable, ethical, whole and simple eating, this is an excellent cookbook for you.

Elements that make Ms. Fleming’s dairy-free resource special include:

+ Full menus. It’s inspiring and fun to see full day’s worth of delicious food laid out in easy to follow groupings.

+ Idiot-proof explanations of substitutions and healthy cooking staples that are often overwhelming in the grocery store aisles. Sorghum flour? Nutritional yeast? Fear not: they are delicious and easy to incorporate.

+ Variation options included in recipes so you don’t have to experiment quite so much to customize to your tastes and needs. Gluten-free options, vegan options, high protein options etc.

+ many more unique and useful features!

Don’t miss the Carrot Cake Breakfast Shake, Cream of Portobello Soup, Mushroom Pesto Pizza, and Oatmeal Apple Pie Cookies”

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Come to the Rocks – Christin Haws

“Take a couple of hours and disappear into this sweet, cozy, queer-mermaid-vengeance-murder-true love tale.

The author’s vivid descriptions of the nature and power of the sea and shore are rivaled only by the deft exploration of the effect of psychological abuse on the mind of the victim—and the certain deterioration of the abuser’s boundaries into physical violence and worse.

If I were to offer one respectful suggestion: the book warns of sexually explicit content, but there is none (disappointing for we lovers of sexually explicit content.) Perhaps the disclaimer is unnecessary? Or could be replaced by a warning for the one burst of extreme swearing/profanity?”

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Fifteen Things They Forgot to Tell You About Autism – Debby Elley

“It shouldn’t be rare and/or profound that a book on building happy, healthy lives for the autistic children in your care be written by people ACTUALLY PARENTING autistic children, but here we are. May this shining, brilliant, hilarious book of raw hope mark the changing of the tide.

This book is hysterically funny but I also cried twice during the introduction. And several times after. And not at the poignant bits necessarily, but at the clarity of perspective, and the firm and simple definitions that would be so easily accessed and understood by even the most uninitiated (if you or your loved ones are on the spectrum you know how desperately important this is) and once even at a chapter heading: “Communication is What Happens While You’re Waiting for Speech.” Imagine a world where we all understood this, NNT or not.

I wrote several versions of “the author’s voice is both humble and bold” or “a mother’s ferocity and patience shines through” etc etc, but my honest impression is that Ms. Elley is the kind of hero-poet that would beat your ass if needed but also be moved to tender tears by a cheesy song at a karaoke bar. Anyone that reads this book and claims that don’t want to be her best friend is lying.

Not a memoir, except for the parts where it is. Not a point-by-point how-to manual, except for the parts where it is. There is not a single person on planet earth that could read this book and not come out smarter and better equipped to be kind, more compassionate, and inclusive of the autistic children and adults in the world around them. Read it, read it to or adapt it for your neurotypical or neurodivergent kids. Buy a copy for your willfully ignorant family members and any group you’re a part of that needs a foundation to understand the reality of life as or life with a person with autism.”

 

 

Filed Under: Book Lists, Book Reviews, Female Authors, LGBTQ, To Be Read

Wonder Women + Wonder Writers: 4 Dope Books From Female Authors

March 26, 2018 by Host 2 Comments

(This post contains affiliate links. Full info here)

 

 

Wonder Women + Wonder Writers: 4 Dope Books from Female Authors

 

We are all aware who run the world.

(Girls. It’s girls.)

Here are four excellent books, all best sellers for all good reasons, guaranteed to have your back, whether you need:

  • a boost up towards the next season of your life (drawn from many schools of thought and time-proven, simple, easy actionable steps. Plus some hard steps, we won’t lie.)
  • irrefutable evidence that no one is stronger and smarter than a woman with her back up against the wall (and so many brooches aw yissss)
  • a romantic, sweeping, multi-decade roller coaster ride (It’s priest. Have a little priest. Is it really good? Sir, it’s too good at least.)
  • And a gentle introduction to the many motivations that start people on the road to plant-based veganism (beautiful photo-heavy recipes, from simple and accessible to complex and pricey ones.)

Please share any thoughts on the books or the post itself in the comments or by email. You are greatly appreciated!

Hit it, Fer-gie:

 

You Are A Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

This book is exactly what it’s marketed as and we cannot recommend it highly enough. A blessedly modern, self-aware, soft-serve repackaging of the best of the best advice in save-your-own-damn-self self-help resources. You’ll likely like the author’s voice and style, but even if you don’t the power of her plan cannot be denied: one tiny sentence or even one half of one tiny sentence will strike you just right way at just the right time–you’ll act on it and you’ll see for yourself that Sincero is hooking you up to the good stuff.

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Madam Secretary: A Memoir by Madeleine Albright

Buy it. Read it. Then buy everything else she’s ever written and read it. We’re obsessed with her deadass refusal to be bound in her narrative style by anyone or anything. How high will this book make your blood pressure go if you don’t like the author? On a scale of 1-10, if the body of writing Robert McNamara left behind is a 3, this memoir is a 5.

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The Thornbirds by Colleen McCollough

Yes, there’s a priest and technically he’s tasty or whatever but he’s also a giant douche in our opinion. Romantic heroes abound, however—most of them women. McCollough captured Australia for the entire world to enjoy. (Look for her final novel ‘Bittersweet’ on an upcoming post.)

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The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet by Alicia Silverstone

99.999999999 percent of us don’t want to cause suffering. One of 9,999,999,999 ways to prevent it is moving towards a plant based diet. This is a sweet and visually gorgeous cookbook but also easily digested (pun intended, but also so true–your gut will love the gentle nourishing goodness of these meals) manifesto. This excerpt is a good example of the call to action:

“It’s easy to get angry at the cattle ranchers and the big business that keeps meat rolling into our stores and restaurants, but I have to remember that they are just responding to market demands. If we stop the flow of money to these industries by converting to a plant-based diet they will eventually have to convert their land and processing facilities into newer, more profitable ventures.”

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We want to hear your thoughts (always!)

  • Are you working on yourself in any particular areas right now?
  • Love or hate Madeleine Albright?
  • Did you feel a tiny bit of pity for McCullough’s Luke?
  • Was Barbara Stanwyck the best part of the Thornbirds miniseries? (No? Get off this blog.)
  • Have you given a plant-based diet a go?
  • Do you love rice milk?

Share with the group!

Filed Under: Book Lists, Female Authors, To Be Read

4 Classic Books You Might Have Missed

March 20, 2018 by Host Leave a Comment

(This post contains affiliate links. Full info here)

 

 

4 Classic Books You Might Have Missed

 

We want every post on I Read Therefore to be like a mixtape.

(On cassette, because we’re old and romantic.)

Fiction, non-fiction, old, new, famous, very much not famous.

This post is a little more old + famous: the books herein were all published between 1926 and 2006.

(2006 is Julia Child’s autobiography and covers decades and decades, including the eras of the other three books.)

And we’re off to the races:

 

My Life In France by Julia Child

This is an absolutely gorgeous book. If you like cooking, if you like travel, if you like icons, or if you like exactly none of those things, you will enjoy this book. It is a time capsule. Not a slice-of-life but a feast. Fitting.

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Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

There’s so much going on with this thin little book, but if you happened to have missed reading it until later in life (like we did!) the main thing you need to know is that it is HYSTERICAL. You’ll find yourself remembering the smallest little details out of the blue–and the smallest little details are why generations keep reading this pocket rocket classic and many more generations will worship it, too.

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How to Develop Self-Confidence & Influence People by Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie

It is not your fault if you’ve gotten this far in life without being introduced to the self-help book brilliance that is Dale Carnegie’s body of work, but it is the fault of every teacher, leader, colleague, older family member, authority figure…fine, that’s overstated. But once you read this or Carnegie’s other books, you will be shoving them into the hands of everyone you love. Practical and actionable helpful information abound. You can read one page a day and feel stronger, smarter, more capable and competent. Those are some heavy and holy words and we mean it.

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Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence

Real talk: this is a hard read. It is in turns claustrophobic, and sweeping. Heavy with every form of abuse, when the occasional laugh comes around you only get a sour half-smirk of pleasure and relief out of it. But here’s why you should soldier through: every single one of these horrible characters has so much to teach us. Good, bad, and ugly (mostly bad tbh) we can see ourselves and be grateful for who we aren’t and humbled by how much work we have to do to be our best selves. It’s a 50/50 split between male and female characters and all get equal opportunity to have their guts laid bare. Worth the emotional and mental labor.

 

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That’s our list for the day! Four classic books you might have missed, but might be interested in.

We appreciate each and every one of you!

 

 

Filed Under: Book Lists, Classic Books, To Be Read

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