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Reading Challenges
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2023 December Reading Challenge
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I read
County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago's Public Hospital
by David Ansell.That's 10/10 challenges (14 books) complete for the year!
I remember when a part of the quilt came and was shown in the part of the Salt Palace where the Festival of Trees was always held. This portion of the quilt was HUGE. Many of the pieces were so beautiful, some very complex, some exquisite in their simplicity. But the one that made me cry was the one that was white with only writing "For all those who, in fear, died in anonymity and alone."I had several friends who had health issues that required they get blood transfusions. I wondered how many people like them had gotten HIV from transfusions and gotten ill and, because of how the disease was viewed, could tell no one.
I will be reading Stitch by Stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS Memorial Quilt by Rob Sanders.
Hmmmm.... I will have to look at options for this one.I now want to watch RENT though.
Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Hmmmm.... I will have to look at options for this one.I now want to watch RENT though."
You might be interested in Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss and the Musical 'Rent' by Anthony Rapp, available at the County Library. Rapp was the first to play the lead in Rent as part of the original cast.
No, I haven't read it, but if you love RENT, you might want to read this. Signed, Your Friendly Neighborhood Retired Librarian.
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I now want to watch RENT though."
Now, I want to watch it too! I was obsessed with the music of it, and somewhere I have the DVD. I got to see it live when it came through the Eccles, and it was great!
I think I have three options I may finally trudge through. Mercury & Me, And the Band Played On, or All the Young Men
I'm reading Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues by Paul Farmer.
I’m listening to Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and It’s Metaphors by Susan Sontag.
I have finished Stitch by Stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS Memorial Quilt by Rob Sanders and really enjoyed it.My Review
I never realized the AIDS Memorial Quilt was started with an idea of one person. But it is so appropriate that the idea for the quilt came from another quilt, given in love, to say 'you are special to me', 'I love you', and the memory of family. Even if that family is one you needed to create because your "real" family abandoned you.
I remember seeing a portion of The Quilt when separate portions went on tour throughout the US and one portion came to my city. Some were exquisitely beautiful. Others were quirky, some elegant in their simplicity. But there is only one I actually remember. Not for a single individual, as most were, nor for a group of close friends, sadly, lost, this piece had no decoration and only words that said "For all those who died alone and in anonymity." May their souls rest in a special peace, their loss as poignant, if not more so, as any.
I read
. This is a book in the American Girl collection. This girl in the story, Courtney, has a friend who has HIV. She works hard to support him even when people turn against her.
Not really on-topic...but I just wanted to say...I've just finished my loftiest-ever annual reading goal...
365 books!
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I've just finished my loftiest-ever annual reading goal...
365 books!"
WHOA! That's awesome Greg. :D
Greg wrote: "Not really on-topic...but I just wanted to say...I've just finished my loftiest-ever annual reading goal...
365 books!"
Good for you!
Greg wrote: "Not really on-topic...but I just wanted to say...I've just finished my loftiest-ever annual reading goal...
365 books!"
It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it. I did it once, the year I concentrated on reading all the Caldecott winners and a goodly number of Newbery winners. But as I was picking each Caldecott off the shelf, I found other picture books that looked fun to read and ... got to 365!
But, as fast as you read, I'd be willing to bet few, if any, of your books were picture books.
Nice!I don't think I'm going to hit a book a day this year. I've been doing fewer audiobooks the last couple of months because the elementary school is trying to get one million pages read by the community and counting audiobooks doesn't seem fair, lol.
But it's so busy this time of year that I'm getting a lot less done.
Debbie wrote: "few, if any, of your books were picture books"4 of them were graphic novels.
Greg wrote: "Not really on-topic...but I just wanted to say...I've just finished my loftiest-ever annual reading goal...
365 books!"
Wow, congrats!
Audrey wrote: "Greg wrote: "Not really on-topic...but I just wanted to say...I've just finished my loftiest-ever annual reading goal...
365 books!"
Wow, congrats!"
Thanks!
Mod
Greg wrote: "Not really on-topic...but I just wanted to say...I've just finished my loftiest-ever annual reading goal...
365 books!"
WOW - that’s a great goal! I almost always just aim for 100 books. I have some library friends that read like 1000 books or something like that, but I think they are mostly 32-page picture books they read to their kids. I guess I could start doing that with my grandson!
I finished listening to Susan Sontag's "Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors." I liked it - good information to think about.
I finished Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian for this challenge. Unfortunately, I did not like the book. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
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The County Library
Books mentioned in this topic
Courtney: Friendship Superhero (other topics)Like a Love Story (other topics)
Courtney: Friendship Superhero (other topics)
Stitch by Stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS Memorial Quilt (other topics)
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss and the Musical 'Rent' (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Kellen Hertz (other topics)Rob Sanders (other topics)
Anthony Rapp (other topics)
Rob Sanders (other topics)
December 1 is World AIDS Day. "This annual event serves as a reminder of the global struggle to end HIV-related stigma, an opportunity to honor those we have lost, and a rallying cry to commit to working toward a day when HIV is no longer a public health threat."
For your reading challenge, you need to read a book that somehow relates to HIV/AIDS. It could be a biography about someone who has or had HIV/AIDs, like All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson, or about an activist like Stitch by Stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS Memorial Quilt. It can be fictional like This Terrible True Thing: A Visual Novel, Auma's Long Run, or 1989.
This month, we also have a playlist on Spotify that is highlighting musicians who have or had HIV/AIDS. You can visit that list here:
thecountylibrary.org/Spotify
For more information about World AIDS day, you can visit HIV.gov.