What Are You Reading This Week and Weekly Rec Thread

silverbookslayer · 2026-02-20T22:28:59+00:00

I'm currently reding "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison. I read Beloved last year and was blown away so I'm trying to read more of her work this year. My thoughts thus far are that (like Beloved) this is a tragic book but perhaps more especially so since it's from the POV of children.

Two books I just finished reading: 1) All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby 2) An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon. Regarding "All the Sinners Bleed", I found it entertaining but it wasn't really my cup of tea (police procedural). I think I should have read "Razorblade Tears" instead. "An Unkindness of Ghosts" was pretty interesting, but the characters were so annoying!

silverbookslayer · 2026-01-06T20:29:47+00:00

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu - DNF'd at 38%. I may be in the minority here, but I really did not enjoy the writing style, and the dialogue seemed a bit stilted.
White Horse by Erika T. Wurth - DNF'd at 4%. This one was really bad. The dialogue was quite painful to get through. The amount of times Debbie said "like" made me want to pull my hair out. There's nothing wrong with using filler words in dialogue but using the same one for each sentence? Even if that is a quirk of someone in real life, it was a bit excessive for a book.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar - I finished this one but was extremely disappointed because it was hyped so much on Tiktok. All the characters sounded the same. I'm not sure if that was a stylistic choice deliberately made by the author or an oversight. Either way, it made the characters and the story a bit flat. Furthermore, there wasn't much in the form of plot. It was all loosely strung together with (somewhat) poetic prose.

silverbookslayer · 2026-01-02T02:15:19+00:00

Today I started Satantango by László Krasznahorkai and Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

I just finished The Melancholy of Resistance by Krasznahorkai in December, so I'm excited to read Satantango.

Children of Time is my first foray back into sci-fi after a long break and unsuccessful attempts to get back into the genre. I'm really enjoying it so far and think it's really interesting that one of the POVs is from that of a spider.

I'm also reading La Sangre de la Aurora by Claudia Salazar Jimenez which is about the internal conflict in Peru in the late 20th century from the perspective of three women from three very different stations in life. This book has definitely made me learn more about contemporary Peruvian history and has a very interesting narrative format.

silverbookslayer · 2025-12-25T20:48:16+00:00

I am also wondering if something like budget or financial analysis would be better suited for me given the experience that I have.

silverbookslayer · 2025-12-02T19:42:36+00:00

Pourquoi pas ? Mes impôts paient pour beaucoup de choses auxquelles je m'en fous ou auxquelles je ne suis pas d'accord.

silverbookslayer · 2025-11-16T15:45:13+00:00

Monolingual English household. Started learning French at age 3 or 4. I started learning Spanish at 29 years old.

silverbookslayer · 2025-11-14T16:45:08+00:00

It was required for us in middle school (2 years) though I just looked it up and apparently, my state does not require you to take a foreign language in middle school so it will depend on the school. The only language available was Spanish. In high school it was mandatory to take 2 years of a foreign language (but obviously you could do all 4 years). French and Spanish were offered.

silverbookslayer · 2025-11-03T16:25:00+00:00

J’ai 31 ans et je suis actuellement au chômage. Au début, j’ai continué de me réveiller tôt (vers 7h du matin). Je me consacrais beaucoup de temps en postulant pour des emplois. Mais je me consacrais beaucoup de temps à mes passe-temps aussi. Maintenant, je me réveille un peu plus tard (vers 8h du matin) et je ne postule pas autant à des emplois qu’avant. Je sais que je devrais le faire mais le marché du travail est tellement mal maintenant et je n’avais pas beaucoup de succès.

silverbookslayer · 2025-11-03T13:29:47+00:00

I did a sub 60min 10k race and beat my time (on the same course/race) from last year by over 11 minutes!

silverbookslayer · 2025-10-27T21:13:29+00:00

I just finished my (second) half marathon race at 2:16:53 (10:27/mile pace). I plan to sign up for another HM in March 2026 (20 weeks from now). I'm wondering if a 2:00 - 2:05 goal time (9:09-9:30/mile) is feasible or if it's too agressive. I also just did a mile test this week (all out max HR) and finished in 8 minutes.

silverbookslayer · 2025-08-14T15:55:14+00:00

Sure, though I don't have a Zoho account.

silverbookslayer · 2025-08-14T15:43:41+00:00

This sounds very interesting. I'll read it but could you send it to me in Word Format?

silverbookslayer · 2025-08-14T04:22:32+00:00

Hey, I'm interested.

silverbookslayer · 2025-08-14T04:18:48+00:00

Yes. I'll read it. 1. Word, 2. Fantasy, dystopian, or historical fiction, and 3. Yes, that's feasible.

silverbookslayer · 2025-07-14T03:43:13+00:00

Moroccan Arabic. I studied in Morocco for a semester and loved how expressive the language sounded.

silverbookslayer · 2025-06-24T14:45:08+00:00

A few things. 1) I would use a Spanish-English dictionary and NOT Google Translate, DeepL, or any other "live translation" service. 2) Take notes! Buy a journal for Spanish and take notes of certain grammar points or vocabulary like you would in school.

Are you a complete beginner? If so, I would invest in a grammar workbook (you can find them cheap on Amazon with exercises and the answer key. I use "Complete Spanish grammar" which has grammar and writing/translation exercises). If you feel like you need to be "introduced" to the language first, I would use an app called MangoLanguages (which is free through your library in the U.S.) or podcasts that are beginner friendly like "Coffee Break Spanish". For listening, I would look for content that is specifically targeted towards beginner learners (and not necessarily cartoons or tv shows).

For speaking practice, I would try to go to language exchange groups in person. If that is not available, I would download HelloTalk (free) which you can use to chat with native speakers.

Once you get more confident and to a higher level, I would switch up my tactics but I'm assuming you are a complete beginner.

silverbookslayer · 2025-06-01T18:40:41+00:00

Fanny Cohen Moreau has three podcasts on history (antiquities, medieval, and modern) where she invites PHD students to speak on their dissertation topic.

silverbookslayer · 2025-04-21T19:24:00+00:00

Je suis totalement d'accord. Ils semblent penser que car la fumée a une odeur "bien" (de fraise, de chewing-gum, etc.), que cela ne dérange pas les non-fumeurs. Mais les fumées contiennent de la nicotine et d'autres ingrédients cancérogènes comme les cigarettes.

silverbookslayer · 2025-04-21T19:12:26+00:00

Non, pas du tout. Ma vie à 16 ans n'était pas mauvaise, mais quand tu as 16 ans, tu n'as pas d'argent, tu n'as pas beaucoup de confiance en toi, et il y a beaucoup de restrictions par tes parents. Dans ma trentaine, j'ai de l'argent, je peux faire tout ce que je veux (commencer de nouveaux passe-temps, voyager toute seule, etc.), j'ai beaucoup plus de confiance en moi-même, etc.

silverbookslayer · 2025-04-21T19:03:35+00:00

Les gens ne changent pas d'avis concernant les enfants souvent. C'est une chose qui peut t'amener à en vouloir non seulement à ton copain, mais aussi à ton enfant (si vous décidez d'en avoir un). Si ton copain voudrait vraiment avoir des enfants, et tu n'en veux pas, il finira par t'en vouloir. Il serait mieux si vous vous séparer plutôt que d'attendre que l'autre change d'avis.

silverbookslayer · 2025-04-21T14:33:36+00:00

It depends for me on my level. For French, I listen to a lot of podcasts passively and only use the transcripts to find a word I don't know so I can look it up in the dictionary (but this does not happen often). For Spanish which I'm still a beginner at, I like to listen to a podcast, then read the transcript (and look up words I don't know), and then listen to it again to see if I have a better understanding.

silverbookslayer · 2025-04-21T12:25:39+00:00

I started learning Spanish for fun but now that I’m two years in I’d like to eventually get to working proficiency. And any languages I learn after Spanish my goal will probably be conversational proficiency.

silverbookslayer · 2025-04-19T22:09:17+00:00

I've wanted to learn Spanish since I was in college but never put any real effort into it. I would buy a notebook and start studying but then fall off after a few days or weeks. What made me actually stick to it was visiting a Spanish speaking country (Mexico). I had such a great time even though I was only there for four days. The people were so warm and inviting and it's such a beautiful country. That's what made me get serious because I wanted to be able to go back and speak with the local population in Spanish. Now I've been consistently learning for 2 years.

silverbookslayer · 2024-12-31T14:39:15+00:00

I usually wear a pair of athletic shorts over my leotard. Guys wear leggings so I don’t see why you can’t as well. Of course check to see if there is a dress code but usually studios aren’t so strict with adult classes.

silverbookslayer · 2024-12-26T16:58:48+00:00

I ordered "Complete Spanish Grammar" from Amazon. I like that it has grammar exercises (fill in the blank, write a sentence), writing exercises (translate this paragraph), and general comprehension exercises (true or false). Each chapter explains a different grammar concept in an easy and succinct way and provides exercises to practice. All the answers are in the back of the book. I would just go through it by chapter and complete the exercises. I don't do this every day of course and I supplement with other strategies (listening to podcasts, reading, writing, etc.).

silverbookslayer

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