End of Year and all that

I didn't meet my Goodreads goal of 200 books and I don't care because I have cookies!

I got behind on my "Deal Me In" short story challenge so have been trying to catch up. (I also had to fill in some dates.)  I finished this morning with the Queen of Clubs: Bernard Hœpffner, Portrait of the Translator as Chameleon
I didn't enjoy this challenge as much in 2018 as I did in 2017. The randomness began to get to me toward the middle of summer. I don't know if I'll do it again this year. I still read plenty of short stories, but on a different schedule.

Some things that cut into my reading time were the day trips and generally being more physically active this year (a big plus especially if you have cookies).

Goals for next year?  A smaller Goodreads challenge, continue exploring the Northeastern neighborhood, try to reduce the "owned-but-unread"* list, and eat a few cookies.

*had 331 books on it at the beginning of the year, it now has 341.

Deal Me In 2018 Roster

 “Deal Me In2018!”

Goal: Read 54 short stories in 2018.

Here’s the general guide from the host (for more details, ideas, and sources visit Jay’s site): "Before you get start reading, come up with a roster of fifty-two stories (you can use any source) and assign each one to a playing card in a standard deck of cards.... Each “week,” (if you’re like me, you may occasionally fall a story or two behind – that’s okay) you draw a card at random from your deck and that is the story you will read. You can add your own twist...to make it even more challenging."

2017 was my first Deal Me In attempt and overall it went well (my 2017 Roster). However, I’ve made some changes for 2018. I’ll use the same themes for each suite, but will concentrate on fewer sources. For Spades and Hearts I'll use only anthologies and collections from my shelves (gotta tackle the TBR shelves). For Diamonds I’ll use the Gutenberg sources I found in 2017. Clubs will be limited to essays and a graphic anthology.

   
In 2017 when I drew a Joker I selected a story from another participants roster. This year the two Jokers will be wild cards with no limits on sources. When I draw a Joker I will also draw another card and read two stories that week.

I will not be searching for card images to go with the stories. It was fun but took a lot of time from reading and "I've been there, done that." I'm thinking of doing something else to augment the stories. Perhaps author or setting background. Or Googling something that the story suggests to me. Or not.

I will note the date in red when I read each story. 
        

My 2018 Roster

SPADES (translated into English)

A    On the Steppe by Samanta Schweblin (in The Future is Not Ours) (2/10/18)

K    Twin Beds by Giovanna Rivero (in The Future is Not Ours) (12/30/18)

Q    G-text by Răzvan (in Best European fiction 2015) (2/17/18)
J     The brown dog and the yellow flower from China by Nicolas Ancion (in Best European fiction 2015) (7/14/18)
10   The fire by Birutė Jonuškaitė (in Best European fiction 2015) (3/24/18)

9     Vertical Motion by Can Xue (in Vertical Motion; Stories) (12/30/18)

8     The gentleman from Cracow (in Singer Collected Stories I) (2/24/18)

7     The wife killer (in Singer Collected Stories I) (9/15/18)

6     Afternoon of a Faun by Jung Young Moon (in A most ambiguous Sunday, and other stories) (4/14/18)

5    Way of Remembrance  by Jung Young Moon (in A most ambiguous Sunday...)(5/26/18)
4    Together With Chicken by Jung Young Moon (in A most ambiguous Sunday...) (6/9/18)
3    At the Amusement Park by Jung Young Moon (in A most ambiguous Sunday...) (9/29/18)
2    On the Beautiful Blue Danube by Georgi Tenev (in Bat City Review, Issue 10) (6/30/18)

HEARTS (Original language English)

A   Drone  by Miles Klee (in Watchlist : 32 stories by persons of interest) (2/3/18)
K   Transcription of an eye by Carmen Maria Machado (in Watchlist) (12/12/18)
Q   The taxidermist by David Abrams (in Watchlist) (8/4/18)
J     Second chance by Etgar Keret (in Watchlist) (5/12/18)
10  Strava by Steven Hayward (in Watchlist) (7/21/18)
9    We are the Olfanauts by Deji Bryce Olukotun (in Watchlist) (12/12/18)
8    Viewer, violator by Aimee Bender (in Watchlist) (10/13/18)
7    The provincials by Daniel Alarcón (in The best American short stories, 2013) (9/1/18)
6    Bravery by Charles Baxter (in The best American short stories, 2013) (1/13/18)

5    Malaria by Michael Byers (in The best American short stories, 2013) (4/21/18)

4    Nighttime of the city by Robert Coover (in Watchlist) (12/12/18)

3    Sleeping where Jean Seberg slept by Katherine Karlin (in Watchlist) (7/28/18)

2    Testimony of Malik, Israeli agent, prisoner #287690 by Randa Jarrar (in Watchlist) (8/18/18)

DIAMONDS (Gems from Project Gutenberg)

A    Second Variety by Philip K. Dick (12/26/18)

K   The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce  (12/26/18)

Q    Brothers by Sherwood Anderson (in The Best Short Stories of 1921)  (12/26/18)

J     The Venial Sin (in Droll Stories, Complete, by Honore de Balzac)  (12/26/18)

10   The She-Wolf (in  Beasts and Super-Beasts by Saki) (8/25/18)

9     Bartleby (in The Piazza Tales  by Herman Melville)(10/6/18)

8     Fanutza by Konrad Bercovici (in The Best Short Stories of 1921) (8/11/18)

7     The Excursion by Edwina Stanton Babcock (in The Best Short Stories of 1917) (1/27/18)

6     Onnie by Thomas Beer (in The Best Short Stories of 1917)  (12/26/18)

5     The Last Asset (in The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories, by Edith Wharton) (3/31/18)

4     The Shadows on the Wall (in The Wind in the Rose-bush and Other Stories of the Supernatural,   by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman) (1/20/18)

3     De Amicitia (in Orientations, by W Somerset Maugham) (7/7/18)

2     Old Man Savarin (in Old Man Savarin and Other Stories, by Edward William Thomson) (4/7/18)

CLUBS (something different - not short stories)
A   Mohammad Tolouei, Someone Without Peers Translated from the Persian by Farzaneh Doosti (3/18/18)
K   Chung Wenyin, Flesh and Bone Translated from the Chinese by Jennie Chia-Hui Chu (6/23/18)
Q   Bernard Hœpffner, Portrait of the Translator as Chameleon   (12/31/18)
J    Ricardo Piglia, On the Threshold Translated from the Spanish by Robert Croll (5/5/18)
10  Yasujiro Ozu, The Unexpected Scent of Salad Translated from the Japanese by Adam Kuplowsky (4/28/18)

9   The Other Chile (Cecilia and Patricia)  by Angie Cruz (1/6/18)
8   Modern Uses of Language (The Oxford Harriet Beecher Stowe reader) (3/3/18)

7   Uncle Enoch (The Oxford Harriet Beecher Stowe reader) (3/10/18)
6   The Old Meeting-House: Sketch from the Note-Book of an Old Gentlemen (The Oxford Harriet Beecher Stowe reader) (5/19/18)
5   The Canal-Boat (The Oxford Harriet Beecher Stowe reader) (6/16/18)
4   Elizabeth Strout: ‘If I ever return to a small town, I want you to kill me  (9/8/18)

3   Muqtatafat : a comics anthology featuring artists from the Middle East region: Part one: English language. Manal and Alaa : a love story / by Lena Merhej -- Breath underwater / by Mike V. Derderian -- Anomaly / by Omar Khouri --Time travel / by Maya Zankoul --Liberty gone wild / by Nidal El Khairy --Filsteezy / by Mahdi Fleifel and Basel Nasr --Birdie mania / by Ghadi Ghosn --
Noûs somme / by Sandra Ghosn -- The genie of the throne / by Wassim Maouad -- (6/2/18)
2  Muqtatafat: Part two: Arabic language (translated into English). Slop / by Magdy el Shafee -- Where our stories collide / by Jana Traboulsi -- Gauche droite & estamba / by Mohamed el Shennawy -- Nap before noon / by Barrack Rima -- The bike / by Mohamed Tawfik. --(9/22/18)

  

JOKERS (2) - Wild Cards (3/24/18 and 5/26/18)

Bout of Books 20 Final Report

Bout of Books 20

 I'm declaring it a successful Bout of Books. Even though I had a slow start and one day of online only reading, I read about 1500 pages, and did a couple of challenges.

What I read on a very quiet stay-at-home Sunday:

The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk, translated from the Estonian by Christopher Moseley
315 pages (127-442) Finished. It was a good fantasy allegory. Library book. 

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
207 pages (59% on Kindle) started this digital Library loan. 

Totals:

Monday:         80 pages

Tuesday:       116 pages
Wednesday:  156ish pages

Thursday:      257 pages

Friday:             58ish pages
Saturday:         305 pages
Subday:           522 pages

Total:           1,494 pages (plus or minus given that I estimated the online stuff)

Bout Update (6)

Bout of Books 20

Nice and quiet Saturday
Saturday Challenge: "Who's the character you LOVE to HATE? For today's challenge, share with us one (or more!) of the characters you love to hate."

When you read a lot of noir stories--as I do--you kind of love to hate most of the characters. Otherwise the stories wouldn't be noir. Like Mrs Danvers (in Rebecca) and Amy in (Gone Girl), the dark characters are what make the stories work.

Montana Noir by James Grady & Keir Graff, editors
179 pages(98-277) Finished
(I liked all of the stories in this anthology but some more than others. I've highlighted my favorites from today. Of the three I read on Thursday,   Ace in the hole / Eric Heidle was my favorite.)
The eleven I read today:
  Fireweed / Janet Skesien Charles
  Dark monument / Sidner Larson
  All the damn stars in the sky / Yvonne Seng
  The road you take / James Grady
  The dive / Jamie Ford
  Bad blood / Carrie La Seur
  Oasis / Walter Kirn
  Motherlode / Thomas McGuane
  Trailer trash / Gwen Florio
  Custer's last stand / Debra Magpie Earling
  Red skies of Montana / Keir Graff

The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk, translated from the Estonian by Christopher Moseley
126 pages (12-137) Wasn't sure I wanted to stay with this but I'm 1/3 through so I guess it's a go.

Totals:

Monday:         80 pages

Tuesday:       116 pages
Wednesday:  156ish pages

Thursday:      257 pages

Friday:             58ish pages
Sturday:         305 pages

Bout Update (5)

Bout of Books 20

I know it's called "Bout of Books" but on Friday it was hard to concentrate because they are tearing up the street in front of my house, very noisy and distracting. So it turned into a short attention span online reading day. Saturday & Sunday should be better because I don't think they work on the weekend--the street will be a mess, but a quiet mess.

Did not do challenge.

Here is what I read on Friday

Approx 15 pages on comedy films from the BBC. (Hard to count pages as there are lots of pictures and lists.
The 100 greatest comedies of all time
What the critics had to say about the top 25
The full list of critics who participated – and how they voted
Why Some Like It Hot is number one
Does comedy differ from region to region?
Do men and women find different films funny?
---
Approx 8 pages (again lots of pictures, so hard to count--I'm thinking "time spent" on very bookish topics)
For Centuries, Readers Annotated Books With Tiny Drawings of Hands
17 Living Writers Currently Immortalized on Stamps 
Two Never Before Published Letters from Marcel Proust to His Neighbor translated by Lydia Davis
English Translations of Obscure Medieval Texts Go Online

---

Approx 10 pages (more pictures since this group is about art)

Ikebana – vision of transcendence 
The Divine Calligraphy
Enrique Chagoya, (Mis)Appropriation: Then and Now
Dan Woodger channels the fun of the beach for McDonald’s Japan
Geta Brătescu: Romania's remarkable avant-garde artist is more resilient than ever
---
Approx 25 pages (short stories)
Motherhoods by Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse, a Ruwandan writer; translated from French by Edward Gauvin. (4 pages)
The History of Grains by Gianni Skaragas in which Greek islanders witness the mysterious arrival of abandoned vessels. (5 pages)
Refuge By Dina Nayeri  (Excerpt from the novel, Refuge) The experience of an Iranian teenage refugee in Oklahoma. (14 pages)
---

Totals:

Monday:         80 pages

Tuesday:       116 pages
Wednesday:  156ish pages

Thursday:      257 pages

Friday:             58ish pages

Bout Update (4)

What I read on Thursday

Bout of Books 20

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller,
40 pages (99-139) that's as much as I had planned for this week.

Buenos Aires: The Biography of a City by James Gardner
105 pages (140-245) Finished the book. Very interesting and informative. library book

Montana Noir by James Grady & Keir Graff, editors
97 pages (1-97) read the first three stories in this anthology (love the Akashic Noir series). ARC via LibraryThing giveaway
    Red, white, and blue / David Abrams
   Constellations / Caroline Patterson
  Ace in the hole / Eric Heidle

The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk, Christopher Moseley (Translator)
11 pages (1-11) read the first chapter of this Estonian sci-fi/fantasy/allegory. I may or may not stick with it. library book.

Old Hong Kong Mahjong
4 pages (+ neat pictures) Online article about a carver of Mahjong tiles. (Spent Tuesday morning playing Mahjong)

Totals:

Monday :        80 pages

Tuesday:       116 pages
Wednesday:  156ish pages

Thursday:      257 pages

Bout of Books 20

I'll give this a try. Just what I need--a gentle reading boost.

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 21st and runs through Sunday, August 27th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 20 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog."

Six Degrees: Austin to Thiebaud and back again

For the 6 Degrees of Separation Meme

 So we start with Pride & Prejudice, a book I had to read in high school. I hated it then and don't especially like it now, although I've grown up enough to appreciate its importance in literary history.

(Cover is from the 1950 Signet edition--which may or may not be the one we read in the late 50s)

Austin just isn't my cuppa, but it takes me to another high school required reading which I did like...


...Les Miserables. I loved the book. Later I saw the musical when I was in grad school. I had a really cheap student ticket. My seat was in the back row of the balcony with little leg room. I was scrunched between two really tall gentlemen who had to sit spread legged thus considerably invading my space. We all tried to be nice--they actually stood up during much of the show. I stood through one long musical number so they could sit. There was much joking about how our situation gave a whole new dimension to the title of the play.
(None of the covers from the 50s fit any edition we'd have read in school so I went with this image from  Amazon. It's a playbill and ticket--probably a better seat than I had--for the show I attended in Boston 1988.)

And that little story leads me to a book I read in another cramped circumstance...

...The Octopus: A Story of California written by Frank Norris in 1901. I am currently reading this on my Kindle so I decided to read it in the car while waiting for someone who was having a long appointment. This was just a few days ago. I have often read in the car with no problem but I have a new car. I love my car but a compact is no match for a standard sedan for getting comfortable with a good ebook and this book is just not that good. It's all about farmers vs railroads in the early days of rail transport in the San Joaquin Valley. A classic California novel which, for me, hasn't stood the test of time.
(Boring cover 'cause it's a Kindle freebee)

This leads to a classic set in the same region which has stood the time test...

...The Grapes of Wrath another California classic (from 1939) which is also set in the San Joaquin Valley. I've read this a ton of times. When the book first came out many farming communities banned the book from schools and libraries. By the time I was old enough to read it the ban was pretty much gone. In 2002 it was chosen for the California statewide reading program.
(This is the cover from the first edition, which my parents had and hid because they lived in rural California. It's my favorite of all the covers for the book.)

And, staying in the valley, with still another California classic with a great cover...

 


...My Name is Aram, a 1940) book of linked short stories by William Saroyan about an Armenian immigrant family in Fresno. I read this during the summer between grade school and junior high.
 (Love these original covers!)



This leads me another California classic I read in the summer (different summer)...

 ...Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays (cover for first edition, which is the edition I read). This one is set further south and more recent (1970)
When I think of this book I vividly remember the character Maria Weyth aimlessly driving the freeways.


Those freeways lead me back north to Sacramento (Didion's and my hometown) for a step into the art world and an artist who was getting noticed in his field at the same time Didion was getting noticed in her field...

Wayne Thiebaud was painting cakes and ice <--cream cones when Didion wrote Play it as it Lays, but he later moved on to landscapes often featuring freeways.-->

   And all of this can circle back to---        
        ---Pride & Prejudice---

                    How???



Because while I was reading P&P at Didion's alma mater,  Didion was beginning her career at Vogue and Thiebaud was teaching at the college which was to become one of my alma maters. Although I knew some of her family I've never met Didion. I did know Thiebaud (but not well) back in the day.

February (fourth week) 2017 Reads

This week I tried to limit myself to reading only from my "owned-but-unread" shelf. The exceptions were online and associated with the Deal Me In short story challenge and research related to the books I read.

Two novels of life in Russia in the post-Soviet era. These are lyrical and haunting, full of family and national myths. Both are from my subscription to New Vessel Press.


Oblivion by Sergei Lebedev, Antonina W. Bouis (Translation)
A man travels to a former prison camp in search of the story of an odd neighbor who was a sort of adoptive grandfather to him.

The Year of the Comet by Sergei Lebedev, Antonina W. Bouis (Translation)
Coming of age in Moscow as the USSR collapses. Impossible to put this down.


Some  background by Sergei Lebedev on the New Vessel Press blog:
A biographical essay North and East
A biographical poem Two Red Stars


Seeing Red by Lina Meruane, Megan McDowell (Translation)
In this (somewhat autobiographical) novel a Chilean writer becomes blind from a complication of Diabetes. While there is description of the clinical progression of her condition, it is much more about her sense of self and her relationships, particularly with her lover and her mother, as she becomes (or is perceived by them to become) dependent on them.
Another excellent book from my subscription to Deep Vellum Publications.





The Game We Play by Sooze Lanier
There is a lot of variety in these stories. There are a couple of misses, but most are quite good. Most are set in Washington, DC. How Tommy Soto breaks you heart is a girl-loses-boy high school story; In Cat and bird two college freshman girls get to know each other; Over Shell Drive is a puzzling father-daughter tale; Raz-Jan deals with an immigrant father-son relationship; Sophie Salmon has an eating disorder; Felicia Sassafras is fiction is about a writer bored with a character she has created; Night hawk is a drug deal gone bad; Selflessly, with pleasure is a mercifully short (two pages) bit about a sex toy; Now that all danger is averted has a couple dealing with loss; At bat tells of a crucial ninth inning at bat from two points of view: batter and fan. (I've highlighted my favorites.) My copy from a blog win at The Quivering Pen.


 
The Pirate by Jón Gnarr, Lytton Smith (Translation)
The second book in the three-part memoir of the Icelandic actor, comedian, and politician. This one deals with his teenage years when he tried to start an anarchist punk band, avoided school, and endured a great deal of bullying.
Gnarr is really fun to read although he deals with serious topics of a difficult childhood. The first book was The Indian which I read in August 2015. The final book is The Outlaw which should arrive any day now. (They have already sent me the ebook but I prefer to wait for the print edition.)
Another book from my subscription to Deep Vellum Publications.

Justine by Iben Mondrup, Kerri A. Pierce (Translation)
Justine is an artist who loses everything--her house, her work, all her belongings--in a fire. She has also recently split with her lover. As she tries to rebuild her life and prepare some pieces for a scheduled exhibition, her story is revealed in layers of out-of-sequence memories. This is a dark tale, with frantic sexual exploits, misogyny, jealousy, as she searches for artistic expression in the male-dominated world of Denmark's art scene.
One of my subscription books from Open Letter Books

Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto by Leslie Buck
The title almost says it all--except it doesn't explain that Leslie Buck was a thirty-five year old American woman serving as a tree pruning apprentice in an almost all male workplace. Adjusting to the cultural differences between being her own boss in California to taking orders from everyone on her work crew in Japan wasn't always easy. The tools were new to her so her body ached, there was no stopping work because of rain and snow, and it was a six day work week. She got through it with grim determination, a sense of humor, and a love for her art. A very enjoyable account.
I received Free advance review copy.

 “Deal Me In 2017!”

This week's story:  The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick
This was published in  Science Fiction Stories 1953 and is now free on Project Gutenberg. It is a tongue-in-cheek account of an odd group of alien life forms. The first sentence: "It was quite by accident I discovered this incredible invasion of Earth by lifeforms from another planet. As yet, I haven’t done anything about it; I can’t think of anything to do. I wrote to the Government, and they sent back a pamphlet on the repair and maintenance of frame houses."
Quite short and fun to read. Hard to say more without spoiling.



This week's card: Ace of Diamonds. This one is part the Odd Bods deck from Art of Play. "When they first appeared in 2012 for the exclusive enjoyment of members of the prestigious Folio Society, the design world fell in love. Odd Bods were playful, charming, elegant, and above all else, a joy for the eyes."
This woman on the ace catches the whimsical spirit of Dick's story, but a scroll through the samples provided by Art of Play brings up the Ten of Spades, which better illustrates the story.



The Faithful Soldier, Prompted by Saladin Ahmed
Much of the pleasure of the Deal Me In short story challenge is discovering what others are reading. I read this story because of a brief review by participant Katherine at The Writerly Reader.

February (first week) 2017 Reads

While there was still a little bit of January left I tried to trim my "owned-but-unread" shelf but too much came in the mail. Actually the shelf now has 409 books which is exactly one less than it had on the First of January.

I read my fifth short story for the  “Deal Me In 2017!” challenge; in fact, I ended up reading the entire collection that contained it. I also picked up a couple of library books, surfed a bit, and started a couple of books.

From the library...

Mister Monkey by Francine Prose (kindle edition)
We get to go not only backstage, but all the way home with a theater troupe (and audience members) trapped in a really awful production of a really terrible musical for children. It moves from character to character and it's almost like reading linked short stories. I loved it!


The Tree by John Fowles, Frank Horvat (Preface, Illustrations)
This is an astonishing long essay discussing attitudes towards nature in general and trees in particular. Fowles rejects the carefully tended fruit trees in his father's garden in favor of the tree in its more natural state. I got very engrossed in Fowles various arguments and his spectacular writing. Frank Horvart provided over fifty full-page color photographs to accompany the text. There are about a dozen that I really like. Too many are of free standing trees--I prefer to see my trees in relation to other trees in woods, forests, and even orchards. 


 from my "owned-but-unread"shelf...

Party Headquarters by Georgi Tenev; Angela Rodel (Translation) 
A very difficult book both in subject and format. It has a fictional plot based on the actual official Bulgarian reaction to the Chernobyl disaster, when the Party leaders acted in their own self interest and left the populace in ignorance of the event. In a more fictional scenario, the Party leaders stash briefcases full of cash around Europe as they flee the collapse of the USSR. The narrative wanders in time and point of view and is hard to follow. I read a lot of it twice.    

My copy via a subscription to Open Letter Books.

On the Run with Mary by Jonathan Barrow
Read halfway through...skimmed the rest...not going to spend any more time on this. Overkill, a little bit was kinda amusing (almost), but 100+ pages of shit in the face? No thanks. (The same way I felt about  Paul Beatty’s The Sellout.)

My copy via subscription to New Vessel Press.

 
Whispers from the Tree of Life by Frances L. O'Donnell
A book of quiet poetry, nothing spectacular, only a few of the poems spoke to me. It's worth hanging onto because next time I open it, it might be different. Nice illustrations (black and white). 

Free copy from author through a blog win.

The Collini Case by Ferdinand von Schirach; Anthea Bell (translator)
An excellent read. The mystery in this crime novel isn't who did it, we know that from the beginning. But, even though he confesses, the murderer refuses to provide a motive. A novice lawyer is assigned to the case as public defender. He is able to discover the motive, but there is a larger question: it has to do with German law, war crimes, and the statute of limitations--all still serious concerns in today's Germany.

My copy from a library book sale

 “Deal Me In 2017!”

 This week's story:  Night drive by Rubem Fonseca (The Taker And Other Stories) Clifford E. Landers (Translator)
Once again I unknowingly selected a very short story. It is only two pages but it is complete with an interesting character, some suspense, and a dark surprise. I originally chose it because it is the first story in a collection I own.

Since the story was so short, I read the next story--the title story. It is about a rather vicious killer and I found it extremely unsettling (think American Psycho without the brand names--only this is set in Brazil).

I, somewhat reluctantly, read on thinking "I paid for this book!" The next story, Betsy, about a gentle death was easier to take. In Angels of the Marquees a lonely man tries to help homeless derelicts with dire consequences. In Enemy another lonely man seeks out his old high school buddies. It is both funny and sad. Account of the Incident concerns an accident between a bus and a cow. Pride is about a man who refuses to die because he has a hole in his sock. Notebook is a tale of seduction, with an amusing twist. Eleventh of May is the name of a terminal facility for the aging. In Book of Panegyrics a man becomes a live-in caregiver to a dying man in order to use the place as a hideout, but we don't know exactly what he is hiding from. Trials of a Young Writer is the story of a man more interested in his press image than he is in his writing or his live-in girlfriend. In Other a busy man is harassed on the street by a beggar. Things got (more) violent again in Happy New Year; Dwarf is about an unemployed bank clerk with woman trouble; and Flesh and the Bones didn't make much sense to me.
All in all, it turned out to be a varied collection, most on the dark side, some macabre, some noir, all very readable. I'm not sorry I bought it. I've highlighted the ones that worked best for me.
This is also from my "owned-but-unread" shelf.

This week's card - Nine of Spades is from Oracle - Mystifying Playing Cards created by Chris Ovdiyenko. I found it on their Kickstarter Page  but  the sale of their cards is on Dead on Paper. The Oracle deck seems to be sold out, but they have other interesting decks and also prints, books, and specially designed coins.

I selected this card because it is dark and mysterious like Fonseca's stories.





online
Continued auditing Modern Japanese Architecture: From Meiji Restoration to Today. This course is from Tokyo Tech.

A suggested reading from the above course:

Kiyonori Kikutake: Structuring the Future by Mark Mulligan
"In the postwar decades, young Japanese architects confronted the challenge of rebuilding the devastated nation. Kikutake was one of the most gifted." Mulligan looks at two of Kiyonori Kikutake's masterpieces: the Izumo Grand Shrine Administration Building and the Hotel Tōkōen.

The Record Company Headquarters that Revived 1950s Hollywood with Iconic Architecture by Alan Hess
Some background on the design and building of the Los Angeles landmark.








Essays from The Destruction of Cultural Heritage project
Artfare: Aesthetic Profiling from Napoléon to Neoliberalism by Kirsten Scheid
The Thing We Love(d): Little Girls, Inanimate Objects, and the Violence of a System by Talinn Grigor
Modernity as Perpetual War or Perpetual Peace? by Esra Akcan
Appendix: A Selection of News Articles on the Destruction of Cultural Heritage in the Middle East by Pamela Karimi