COUNTER ARTS’ BOOK CLUB Read For Literacy
Book Club Reviews for a good cause! ***LAST ADDED TO 31/12***
I’m going to pin this piece to the top of my own page and also onto the Counter Arts publication page; add to it as the year progresses and more books are read and written about, so do please give us a few minutes, it’s all in the name of a good cause. Though also and obviously, I like good books (I cannot lie).
At the beginning of this year, Jess the Avocado, yesnodunno and Carlos Garbiras, three of the wonderful people who are the editors at the fantastically interesting Counter Arts publication (and its sister Rainbow Salad), began their Book Club.
Now I’m all for pretty much anything involving books.
However, as well as putting together a list of twelve intriguing titles — one per month, but flexible, see graphic above, these lovely people also want to go a step further. It is their intention to donate anything they personally earn from Medium (on review articles they write) to this excellent cause:
There is no requirement for any participating readers to also donate, but as I used to tutor adult literacy and numeracy classes and I think it’s a really important cause, I’m also donating any few pennies that come my way from members reading my reviews.
So. Please read.
Read for Reading’s Sake
I personally missed out on the book for January, though there is a couple of pieces to read about ‘Honeybee’ by Craig Silvey here:
I did pitch in for February though, with ‘The Three Body Problem’ by Cixin Liu!
And the editor’s thoughts are here:
More on and related to February’s book, with thanks to Marc Barham, for his excellent and intelligent writing:
March
Now we’re in March, the reading moves on to ‘Harlem Shuffle’, the new novel written by Colson Whitehead — author of ‘Underground Railway’ and ‘Nickel Boys’.
My own review:
April
My aborted reading of ‘How We Disappeared’ by Jing-Jing Lee:
The official book club review from Jess the Avocado and yesnodunno:
May
The YOUR2CENTS newsletter which included an abridged version of my review on ‘The Labyrinth’ by Amanda Lohrey:
June
This month Carlos Garbiras wrote a review of ‘1,000 Years of Joy And Sorrows’ (Ai Weiwei):
July
I learned to love a new (to me) form of story-telling from reading ‘Fragments of Horror’ (Junji Ito) in July, with short horror stories in manga/graphic novel style:
‘Fragments of Horror’ — Junji Ito
Counter Arts Book Club — July (better late than never!)
medium.com
August
Carlos Garbiras, the OG owner of Counter Arts before he transferred it to Will Hull, chose the book for this month: ‘Impossible Vacation’ by Spalding Gray:
You’ll find that’s more about why he was inspired to read this novel, but as of yet hasn’t read it…but he will.
September
Rather similar to August, our book club reading of this month’s work has hit something of a snag.
Will Hull chose a book by Jonathan Mahler for September, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City’.
Unfortunately, we later realised this book is expensive to get hold of outside of the U.S.A (even second-hand). Also, Will, like Carlos, has been busy and is tired. As for me, I have so little interest in a book about baseball that I cried off from this one, in favour of reading things I might actually enjoy.
From that preamble, you’ve probably guessed what I’m about to tell you: which is that nobody on the Book Club/Editorial staff has even read, much less written about this book. As of yet.
So we will make do, at least for now, with this:
“A New York Times Notable Book of the Year Scheduled for release in July 2007 as an ESPN original miniseries, starring John Turturro as Billy Martin, Oliver Platt as George Steinbrenner, and Daniel Sunjata as Reggie Jackson. A kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City in 1977, The Bronx Is Burning is the story of two epic battles: the fight between Yankee Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch for the city’s mayorship. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts — one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of the city — was the subtext of race. Deftly intertwined by journalist Jonathan Mahler, these braided Big Apple narratives reverberate to reveal a year that also saw the opening of Studio 54, the acquisition of the New York Post by Rupert Murdoch, a murderer dubbed the “Son of Sam,” the infamous blackout, and the evolution of punk rock. As Koch defeated Cuomo, and as Reggie Jackson rescued a team racked with dissension, 1977 became a year of survival — and also of hope.”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29389.Ladies_and_Gentlemen_the_Bronx_is_Burning
If you’ve got some thoughts to share with us about this or any of the books on our list, please do send it over to our submissions box, clearly marked as a Book Club related piece.
October
This month I’m back on duty — and happily so, because this book is a wonderfully poetic marvel!
It’s a long one folks, but please do read it. Remember that these reads will benefit an aboriginal literacy charity!
November
December
So now we come to ‘A Philosophical Question’ by Philip Kerr. Nobody has it, nobody has the time, or inclination, to read it.
Unless any kind Reader has anything to send our way?
The Book Club ends not with a bang but a whimper it seems. However, that will not deter me! I’m already gearing up for starting again in January 2023:
Please have a look. My list is not finalised as of yet, I’m open to a tweak or two so any suggestions are more than welcome.
We are now in the process of tallying up our earnings for donation to the aboriginal literacy foundation, as promised.
The original book club announcement:
“Counter Arts has put together a list of 12 books for 2022. We invite you to read them with us. If the book inspires you to write a review or an essay related to the book, then bring it to us, and we will publish it for you.
Every month, our editorial team will publish an article after each book’s deadline. All these articles’ earnings will be donated to advance literacy initiatives for aboriginal kids in Australia.
You can check out the organization here:it https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/
If you feel inspired to donate your earnings from articles related to these books, or just straight-up donate, we invite you to do so.
Maybe you will be the reason why some will fall in love with books just like you did.” — excerpt taken from the piece below by ‘The Ex-Boss’, Carlos Garbiras.
If you enjoy my writing and are not yet a member, signing up through my referral link will send a portion of your fees my way:
