21st Century Literature discussion
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What Have You Learned During The Pandemic (12/6/20)?
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Marc
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Dec 06, 2020 05:28PM
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1. I've learned to love my kindle for library books. I still love print books, but when the libraries closed, it forced me to read more on my kindle, and I was surprised how much I liked it. Reading in low light and one handed reading being the highlights.2. I learned I LOVE working from home.
1. Since I was prevented by covid from stalking the "new fiction" shelf at my library, I signed up for Netgalley, and I've loved the experience so far. 2. Like Bretnie I've learned to love e-books, at least a little more than I did before the pandemic.
3. I've discovered two new favorite authors: Barbara Comyns and Jean Stafford.
4. pandemic living has reconfirmed my lack of housekeeping skills, all the more apparent now that there isn't the slightest chance of someone dropping by unexpectedly and witnessing my clutter
1. I read Pat Barker for the first time and read eleven of her books since April. She is officially my favorite author, my apologies to Italo Calvino.2. Like others, I’ve discovered I really, really love teleworking.
1. Most exciting book-wise for me is that we seem to be being successful in reconstructing zoom style our 30 year old face-to-face book club that had been evaporating to new opportunities, retirements, and, sadly, deaths. The fourth meeting of our reconstructed group had nineteen invitees, fifteen participants scattered from Maine to Florida, Midwest to Spain. Absolutely delightful to see those faces and hear their words! 2. That the grace and support of others is essential to survival, from neighbors bringing groceries, to celebrating granddaughter's birthday via FaceTime, to marketing and delivery services, to online community groups and support, to broader news sources, to...
3. 22 second handwashings.
I learnt that I should decrease my book expenditure- for the first time in years, I made an actual dent in my TBR stack and I didn’t buy the equivalent of it in books. I also learnt that book festivals and ceremonies should continue streaming. For the first time I was able to attend the Hay Festival and Edinburgh ones from my living room. I also experienced book launches and foreign book clubs. Oh and we managed to get an author ‘attend’ the book club I co-host.
As for the nasty bits - other than COVID related deaths and anxiety. I learnt that social media can bring out the worst in people. 2020 was the year I got disgusted by Twitter and Facebook. I am trying to lessen my time there.
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This is an odd one, but one of those small things that I delight in...
If any of you buy natural peanut butter, you know that mixing it can be like a high intensity workout. So one day, I thought: Duh--why not ask the hive mind? So I Googled "best way to mix natural peanut butter." Turns out, if you turn the container upside down 2 or 3 days beforehand, all the oil rises up through the settled peanut butter and it is the easiest thing in the world to mix (other than metaphors, that is).
Marc wrote: "This is an odd one, but one of those small things that I delight in...If any of you buy natural peanut butter, ..."I figured this out myself, so thanks for giving me the momentary illusion that I have a practical mind ;) I will feel less bad the next time I push on a door with a 'pull' sign.
Like most people, at the start of the pandemic I discovered that reading on a Kindle isn't that bad. But once my library opened for curbside, I undiscovered it.
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Unrelated to books, spending time at home made me much more aware of the richness of the habitat in my backyard garden than usual, especially the birds. For several years robins have been nesting on my porch and I was already a human godmother to a few robin babies, but I also discovered goldfinches, mockingbirds, bluejays, and whatnot, besides the regulars such as red cardinals and downy woodpeckers (whom we feed in winter), and of course the mandatory sparrows (I fondly call them "little bandits"). We just enjoyed reconnecting with the birds, besides our plants, with whom we are sharing our living outdoor space, watching them raise their little ones and then see them mature to adults, and it's been a wonderful experience.
I discovered that having more time at home and close to my books, did not result in me spending more time reading them because there were too many other things to think about/look at/rail against.So I discovered that reading requires an element of peace or peacefulness around me to be at its best.
Like Vesna I also found that looking out of the window and watching the birdlife was very therapeutic.. I learned about behaviours that I would not normally see being away from the house much of the time.
My lawnmower broke and the parts needed were locked down a world away, so our summer and autumn passed without me cutting the lawn. As a result six young pheasant chicks grew to adulthood in the lawn, and emerged bejewelled and resplendent when I first cut the lawn seven months later!
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I went through a period of working at home, and because we had a fine early spring here in the UK, the birdsong was very noticeable, though rather dominated by squawking magpies. I then had a couple of months of furlough from which I was brought back in August, but almost immediately heard that my name was on a redundancy list, so since September I have effectively been retired, a little earlier than I was planning.
So I will have to be less liberal in my spending on books, but will have more time to read, and I am not short of books which I should reread.
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My neighbor has 3 or 4 bird feeders and it has been wonderful watching all the natural diversity (as well as her battle with the squirrels and the raccoon, who just throw the feeders to the ground and dismantle them eventually). This video is akin to the competition she's been facing (it's long but worth it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFZFjoX2cGg
I've been really enjoying reading everyone's learnings. :)
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Me, too!
The squirrel video is hilarious! I might get one of those kits advertised at the end for a new baby in our family :)
We already watched our wildlife . I have bird feeders, I have moose come through my yard. I am waiting to see a Lynx, there have been more sightings the past few months. which is not common, but is has been a low prey year...I went back to reading fantasy. But have struggled a bit and have started books, but then just never went back to them. Same with some TV shows, I get about 3 episodes in and just...don't go back.
Working has been immensely more stressful this year and people have been overall horrible. I liked it when we did a week on and a week off. I like being at home.
In reading these comments, I’m in agreement with many: • feeling gratitude for friends, family, neighbors and essential workers
• love working from home
• found myself often giving up on TV shows after 3 episodes
• learned to love my Libby App to download eBooks from public library
• was pleased that my book group made a successful transition from IRL to Zoom. It’s a highlight of the month for me
I found myself watching a lot more YouTube clips. (Don’t watch much network TV and never had cable). Most of YouTube was politics I couldn’t look away from. But I also made some fun discoveries, like the French TV show “La Grande Librairie,” a talk show just about books. Since it’s YouTube, you can watch the 5 - 10 minute clip interviews of various authors. I like to look up the book on GR and then try to follow the interview. Sometimes this is fairly easy for me; other times, I get lost, even with the auto-generated captions. (I want to improve my French, hence my willingness to put myself through the befuddlement chamber).
Another discovery was “BookTube” which I knew nothing about. It looked like it was mostly young people hawking YA books, which is fine, but YA rarely interests me. Then I discovered Robert’s channel – well done, Robert!
In addition to all the above, I'm grateful for the miracle of public libraries and their creativity in keeping us well-read in hard times. Sadly their budget-cutting hard times is around the corner. I hope at least some will be able to accept cash donations - I know that can be tricky with local government entities.I'm grateful for the gregarious dogs (including mine) at the dog park who are over-the-moon happy when they see humans they know - it's like getting an instant anti-depression shot.
Last but not least, I'm grateful for Schitt's Creek! What a perfect time to discover it!
I'm with you on dogs being one of the great gifts in this world!
1. That I need to continue reading funny picture books (like the Bunny Suicide series or Go the F#!k to Sleep). They may not look super posh or make me really cultured / sophisticated online if I list them as my yearly reads, but they definitely boost my mood during these trying times.2. British panel shows / comedic shows are AMAZING... I survived 2020 with Taskmaster, the Big Fat Quiz series, Mock the Week and Would I Lie to You?
Last year I spent much of the year rereading two long and beloved series. It was just the right thing for me then. I did read some new books for one of my book clubs. This year I've already read nothing but new to me books, and I've enjoyed all of them.
