Books tagged "quirky"

My Work - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
August 27, 2023
by Olga Ravn, Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell

Really an exceptional piece of writing. A friend bought this for me, and at the time I didn't realise I had already read another of her books. This one is of a totally different character; basically telling the story of a woman's engagement with pregnancy, and the way society encourages it be handled. Being myself now a partner and a witness to this, I found it a very interesting perspective and helped me relate to the birth parent more. It's a stressful read, but an amazing one I think. Highly recommended!

parenting, personal, philosophical, poetry, quirky, traumatic
Rental Person Who Does Nothing - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
July 9, 2023
by Shoji Morimoto, Angus Turvill

This was a strange one. I didn't know anything about this person or service, and I was expecting the book to be mostly funny. But it was actually far more serious and thoughtful than I had anticipated. I probably wouldn't recommend it to everyone; but it's at least refreshing for it's alternative take on what it means to live and relate to people. I also found it, I think, to be an interesting insight into some parts of modern Japanese culture. Quirky, for sure, a little depressing, even, but a worthwhile read nevertheless.

personal, quirky
Banzeiro Òkòtó - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
May 14, 2023
by Eliane Brum, Diane Grosklaus Whitty

Absolutely extraordinary book. Extremely informative, powerful, emotional, inspiring, and poetic. I was struck at first by the amazing writing (which comes across really well in translation, I think, not that I've read the original ...), but stayed for the amazing story-telling and information about various illegal practices in Brazil.

It's really an impressive piece of work, I can highly recommend it, but do note that it is also, in parts, quite traumatic. Still; one of those books that you feel sad when it ends; well worth reading!

activism, climate, economics, feminism, informative, language, long-read, non-fiction, personal, philosophical, poetry, politics, quirky, racism, traumatic, travel
Peaces - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
November 20, 2022
by Helen Oyeyemi

A fairly strange but reasonably interesting story. I think in the end I liked it; perhaps I was hoping for a bit more of a feeling of "mysterious train journey", but what I got was more "confusing train journey"; but, I did find the ending worth-while; so I don't regret my time reading it. Worth picking up :)

fiction, quirky
Girlcrush - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
October 9, 2022
by Florence Given

This was a real page-turner for me; I read it within two days of picking it up. I quite enjoyed it! A fun and thoughtful read and perspective.

feminism, fiction, fun, quirky
Fifty Words for Snow - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
September 18, 2022
by Nancy Campbell

I love Nancy Campbell's writing style; so this one was already going to be enjoyable for me. But I did find it fun and informative. This book is also special because it's the first one than I've been reading to my partner and our little one, who is on her way :) ❤️

climate, fun, informative, language, non-fiction, quirky
The Employees - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
August 7, 2022
by Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken

I've been trying to read more translated books recently, and this was one I picked up in Hay-on-Wye. I loved it; it's quite quirky and funny, but it's an interesting take on what work might ultimately mean, and at what cost we would pursue it. It's a quick read, but nevertheless is certainly worth picking up :)

economics, philosophical, quirky
Scattered All Over the Earth - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
August 1, 2022
by Yōko Tawada, Margaret Mitsutani

I really enjoyed this book! It's a strange exploration of language and friendship. Moreover it was just a strange little group of people to follow and learn about. It was nice to read this following The Last Children of Tokyo. Recommended!

fiction, quirky
Quantum Listening - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
July 24, 2022
by Pauline Oliveros, Ione, Laurie Anderson, Aura Satz

A cute little book; it's a very "artsy" book, describing a particular project of an artist who, in my interpretation, was using listening as a way to connect with the broader world. Quirky, short, but I enjoyed it.

non-fiction, quirky
The Cabinet - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
June 26, 2022
by Kim Un-su, Sean Lin Halbert

This was a really enjoyable book. Simple, thoughtful, funny, inventive, and really just a good way to spend some time :)

fun, quirky
Gone - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
April 24, 2022
by Min Kym

An unquestionably exceptional book. I've never seen writing like this before. It's so emotive and engaging and fast-paced; really, it felt like she was playing the violin with my emotions, and I loved it! Highly recommended; you'll never look at someone with a violin the same way again.

music, non-fiction, personal, quirky
Skating to Antarctica - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
April 3, 2022
by Jenny Diski

This was picked out for me by my partner, and I absolutely loved it! It's very funny and personal and interesting. I really enjoyed the way she writes, and while it didn't have a great deal of content about Antarctica itself, it was a very interesting and engaging personal story. It is just nice to read about how she experiences life. Well worth the read!

personal, philosophical, quirky, traumatic, travel
The Final Girl Support Group - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
March 27, 2022
by Grady Hendrix

I loved this book; it was a just a very enjoyable, engaging, captivating, comedic book having a lot of fun with the "slasher" genre. It'll definitely be a movie some day soon. It was just a real pleasure to read; I had a great time!

fun, non-fiction, quirky
Osebol - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
February 6, 2022
by Marit Kapla

I loved this. Don't be put off by the number of pages; almost all of them only contain a few lines per page. It's a collection of stories told be the residents of a small town in Sweden. It's a real slice of life and culture; mostly quite relatable. For me I found it very interesting to "listen" to these stories that I would find hard to listen to in real life. It made me reflect a bit on why I would find listening to these conversations in real life a bit hard. In any case, I really enjoyed reading this; it's a real gem.

history, personal, philosophical, quirky, short-read
The Mushroom at the End of the World - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
November 7, 2021
by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

Definitely a new favourite book. This one has a really nice, poetic, personal, engaging style and explores topics in economics through a very interesting lens: the mushroom. It presents lots of interesting conceptual discussions around commercial boundaries, what makes a product into something that can be sold, and has a nice journey into particular mushroom markets and what meaning they have for capitalism and communities in general. I wish more economics books were written in such a style! Certainly well worth reading if you're into challenging thoughts in this space!

economics, non-fiction, quirky
No One Is Talking About This - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
October 31, 2021
by Patricia Lockwood

This was interesting reading, but probably overall not quite my kind of thing. I found the style quite stressful; but I do think that was the intention. The idea, I suppose, is to convey the chaoticness of reading Twitter every second; and constant changing of attention. But this is something that I personally find a bit stressful, and this was conveyed very accurately through the writing. I do think it had some nice jokes, and variously interesting bits of social commentary; and, as one review I listened to, clearly this author is very familiar with social media. But it's not one I'll likely read again. Might be of interest to those who want another perspective on what engagement with social media can look like!

personal, quirky, short-read, traumatic
Lev's Violin - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
September 5, 2021
by Helena Attlee

This book was enjoyable, easy, reading. I got fully immersed in the feeling of the violin culture; in the history and the way the author is follows the story through different towns and countries. This idea of just taking a journey dictated entirely by a spontaneous interest is very appealing. Really enjoyed it!

adventurous, informative, music, personal, quirky, travel
My Name Is Red - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
June 27, 2021
by Orhan Pamuk, Erdağ M. Göknar

This was a bit of a long read that took me a while to get into, but I did get their eventually. I certainly found it had some nice thoughts, but I found parts of the book to be oddly unnecessary. As a murder-mystery I can't say I enjoyed it (maybe because I didn't guess who the killer would be...) because I found all the voices to be a bit same-y; but maybe that was poor reading on my part. I think I'd probably recommend this book, and do agree with the essence of the assessments on the front. Worth reading just for the quirky telling.

history, philosophical, quirky
Lean Fall Stand - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
May 30, 2021
by Jon McGregor

This books wasn't what I thought it would be. I admit I thought it was going to be about some kind of adventure in Antarctica; but in fact it's a novel about a stroke. I found it very very stressful for read, but I think that's the intention. To some degree I think it managed to convey the difficulties with having a stroke, and the impact on people around you. But mostly I was stressed because of how I felt the characters would be feeling, and because I think I could get a raw feeling of how it would be if *I* had a stroke, and that caused me a lot of anxiety. Probably an interesting book for some, but not one that I would read again in a hurry.

quirky, traumatic

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