Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk (1974), is a kick in the teeth. As I wrote in my one-sentence review for Goodreads, Baldwin always brings the fire, and the love. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced that more clearly and directly, though, in any Baldwin work I’ve read to date, except perhaps some of his essays (and interviews.) In his fiction, like Giovanni’s Room and Go Tell It on the Mountain, Baldwin’s messages are always clear and profound, treated with deep skill and attention, but there’s also something subtle beneath the surface, a storm brewing and waiting to be unleashed. In If Beale Street Could Talk, that storm breaks open.
Unfortunately, the plot of Beale Street revolves around the injustice faced by young Black men in America, a tale that is both as old as our history and as disturbingly relevant today as it was in the 1970s. Baldwin’s fire and urgency, then, fall just as hard upon reading as they would have fifty years ago. What’s most impressive to me, though, is how brutally honest his characters are in addressing the truth of their (and our) situation, and in refusing to skirt around or whisper through the issue. Racism in America, racism in its justice system, is confronted head-on by characters experiencing it. One wonders what audience Baldwin had in mind for this one, though it’s clear who needs to read it, despite what the reactions by many will be.
As always, I felt immense joy and admiration while reading this one, as I always do when reading Baldwin, despite the heavy subject matter and the less-than-happy-ending (another Baldwin trait.) Baldwin is such a master of prose, a romantic technician who weaves wonders with the English language. He, also, is I think a reluctant optimist, so that even when all seems on the surface hopeless, when the characters, the narrator, the writer, the reader are all furious, resentful, hopeless, enraged, Baldwin holds us all together with love. In this way, he reminds me of Vonnegut and Twain, two realists who often come across as pessimists, but who, really, love people too much to ever stop trying.
Tish and Fonny, and their families, are recognizable on so many levels. Their experiences are recognizable. The city is recognizable. All of this is a triumph for the novel, and an indictment of us all.
If Beale Street Could Talk is Book 13 completed for my 2022 TBR Pile Challenge.
Two Challenge Reads: Poetry
In this post, I’d like to comment briefly on two books of poetry (mostly poetry), that I finished reading in the last couple of months and which were listed on my 2022 TBR Pile Challenge list.
On September 12, I started reading Rimbaud: Complete Poetry and Prose. I finished it on October 4. This is one of the more thoughtfully and interestingly collected “complete” editions that I’ve ever read. Two things, in particular, stood out when reading this one. First, an excellent introduction by Wyatt Mason, which explains his translation ethos and the rationale behind his design decisions. Second, the design itself. While I was pleased to find the original French poems included along with the English translations, I was even more excited to see some of Rimbaud’s process documents included. The book itself is ordered chronologically, which allows the reader a wonderful and illuminating look at Rimbaud’s progression and development as a poet and thinker, but later in the edition, Mason provides selected drafts and revisions of certain poems. The writer and teacher in me was thrilled by this. I learned quite a lot about Rimbaud’s skill and persistence by reading his poems and the later documents section, but much more about Rimbaud the person and artist by reading his letters, his schoolwork, and other prose materials that Mason includes in this edition. Taken all together, and considering how well-designed this tome is, I think Rimbaud Complete was both enjoyable and elucidating. It made of me a Rimbaud fan (previously I felt for some reason, I had to choose a camp: Rimbaud or Baudelaire? Ah hell, the answer is, both!) I gave this one five out of five on Goodreads. This one was Book 10 completed for my challenge.
Another tome I’ve been working on for some time is Mary Kinzie’s A Poet’s Guide to Poetry. I started this one on April 15th and didn’t finish it until November 19th. This one is a brilliant and erudite exploration of poetry, including everything from form and technique to history and examples. Admittedly, even as a somewhat practicing poet, much of this one went over my head. I felt it read much like a textbook that would have benefitted from live instruction or workshopping, especially for readers who don’t have much formal education in or exposure to poetry. That said, what I loved about this book are the helpful examples across all sorts of forms, styles, techniques, etc., and I will be using the prompts section (which also include example readings to help writers understand the peculiarities of each prompt’s form, rhythm, meter, style, or whatever.) In fact, just a few days after finishing the book, I found myself sitting with it at a local cafe, working on the first prompt in the “Exercises for Beginning and Advanced Writers” section. Lastly, there’s an excellent annotated bibliography for further reading near the end of the book, which provides a wonderful roadmap for continued study. I gave this one four out of five stars on Goodreads, and it’s Book 11 completed for my 2022 challenge.
P.S. The TBR Pile Challenge is returning for 2023 (it’s tenth year!)
Sign-Ups: The TBR Pile Challenge Turns Ten! #TBRYear10
The Goal
To finally read twelve books that have been sitting on your “TBR Pile” list or shelves for a year or more.
About the Challenge
I am pleased to announce that Roof Beam Reader’s official TBR Pile Challenge is back for its TENTH YEAR! This challenge started when I realized I had some MAJOR issues with buying books but never reading them (not because I don’t read – but because I have such a book buying problem!) Year after year, books would sit on my shelf untouched, and I would end up reading newer ones first. I realized I was missing out on a lot of great books because I let them sit there gathering dust instead of reading them as I bought them.
How it Works
1. Each of these 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2022 or later (any book published in the year 2021 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile). Caveat: Two (2) alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books ends up in the “did not finish (DNF)” pile.
2. To be eligible, you must sign-up with the Mr. Linky below. Link to your list (so create it ahead of time!) and add updated links to each book’s review. Books must be read and must be reviewed (doesn’t have to be too fancy) in order to count as completed.
3. The link you post in the Mr. Linky below must be to your “master list” (see mine below). This is where you will keep track of your books completed, crossing them out and/or dating them as you go along, and updating the list with the links to each review (so there’s one easy, convenient way to find your list and all your reviews for the challenge). See THIS LINK for an idea of what I mean. Your complete and final list must be posted by January 15, 2023.
4. Leave comments on the monthly posts as you go along, to update us on your status. Come back here if/when you complete this challenge and leave a comment indicating that you CONQUERED YOUR 2023 TBR LIST! Every person who successfully reads their 12 books and/or alternates (and who provides a working link to their list, which has links to the review locations) will be entered to win up to $100 of books from The Book Depository! (That’s right! To celebrate TEN YEARS of this awesome challenge, I’ve doubled the final giveaway prize from $50 to $100!)
5. Crossovers from other challenges are totally acceptable, as long as you have never read the book before, and it was published in 2021 or earlier!
*Note: You can read the books on your list in any order; they do not need to be read in the order you have them listed. Audiobooks count. Graphic novels count. Poetry collections? Essay collections? All good! As you complete a book – review it, go to your original list and turn that title into a link to the review. This will keep the comments section here from getting ridiculously cluttered. For an example of what I mean, Click Here.
Where Can I Post My Reviews? Anywhere! Tik Tok, Instagram, Mastodon, Hive, Facebook, Goodreads, a blog, YouTube, Twitter (if you haven’t abandoned it). It’s really up to you to choose the format that works for you, as long as your posts are public so that you can link them up on our Mister Linky and we can see them.
Monthly Check-Ins: On the 15th of each month, I’m going to post a “TBR Pile Check-In.” This will allow participants to link-up their reviews from the past month and get some recognition for their progress. There will also be small mini-challenges and giveaways to go along with these posts (Such As: Read 6 books by the June Check-in and be entered to win a book of your choice!) I’m hoping this will help to keep us all on track and make the challenge a bit more engaging/interactive. I started these mini-challenges in 2014, and I think they were a great success, so I am continuing them this year!
Chat: On Social Media, please use #TBRYear10
My 2023 TBR Pile Challenge List
The Main List
- Why I Write (1946) by George Orwell (Craft/Memoir) (Completed 7/21/23)
- North and South (1854) by Elizabeth Gaskell (Classics/British Fiction) (Completed 6/19/23)
- Pachinko (2017) by Min Jin Lee (Korean-American Fiction) (Completed 2/12/23)
- Sons and Lovers (1913) by D.H. Lawrence (Classics/British Fiction) (Currently Reading)
- The Poppy War (2018) by R.F. Kuang (Chinese Historical Fantasy) (Completed 1/10/23)
- With Billie (2006) by Julia Blackburn (NonFiction/Biography)
- Going to Meet the Man (1965) by James Baldwin (Short Stories/American Fiction)
- Steppenwolf (1927) by Hermann Hesse (Philosophical Novel) (Completed 4/22/23)
- Crazy Brave (2012) by Joy Harjo (Craft/Memoir/Native American)
- The Overstory (2018) by Richard Powers (Ecological Fiction)
- Patron Saints of Nothing (2019) by Randy Ribay (YA/Filipino-American) (Completed 07/28/23)
- Look (2016) by Solmaz Sharif (Poetry/Iranian-American) (Completed 3/10/23)
The Alternates
- Love in the Time of Cholera (1985) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Magical Realism/Colombian Fiction)
- The Power of Now (1997) by Ekhart Tolle (NonFiction/Spirituality) (Completed 6/30/23)
It’s my sincere hope to complete all fourteen titles on my list, and I may or may not treat the two alternates as alternates (I might just pick-up whichever of the fourteen is speaking to me in the moment). That said, my primary intention was to choose a broad selection across all genres, times, places, people, etc. I think I’ve done a decent job of diversifying my challenge this year, and I’m really looking forward to diving into these! Some of them have been sitting on my shelves for almost a decade!
Join the Challenge!
November Checkpoint! #TBR2022RBR
Hello, TBR Pile Challengers!
It is November 15th, which means it’s time for the penultimate challenge checkpoint! I can’t believe we’re nearly to the end of this year, and this challenge. We have 180 posts linked up on the Mister Linky, which is awesome! Remember that all posts linked up for this challenge will be entered into the final, year-end drawing for a $50 gift card to a bookstore of your choice! (Provided it can be sent electronically.)
Question of the Month: Do you have any holiday reading plans? Any specific seasonal titles on your list?
My Progress: 11 of 12 Completed / 10 of 12 Reviewed
I kept telling myself that I’d get an “October month-in-review” posted soon, which would’ve included my thoughts on the Rimbaud Complete that I read for this challenge (book 11 of 12!). But, I still haven’t managed to get it posted. I did get it drafted, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll get that cranked out during Thanksgiving break, when I have some “time off.” (Ha. ha.) I also have James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk sitting on top of my bookshelf, ready and waiting to be Book 12! I’m pretty confident that I’ll finish my challenge this year, and if I can somehow get through two very large tomes (Poetry Handbook and A Brief History of Nearly Everything during Christmas week, then I might even finish all 14 of 12!
Books read:
- Chicago Poems (1916) by Carl Sandburg
- When My Brother was an Aztec (2012) by Natalie Diaz
- Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017) by Jesmyn Ward
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) by Robert M. Pirsig
- A People’s History of the United States (1999) by Howard Zinn
- The Warmth of Other Suns (2010) by Isabel Wilkerson
- Crush (2005) by Richard Siken
- A Book of Common Prayer (1977) by Joan Didion
- Madness (2017) by sam sax
- Nature Poem (2017) by Tommy Pico
- Rimbaud Complete Poems and Prose (2003) by Arthur Rimbaud
How are you doing?
Below, you’re going to find the infamous Mr. Linky widget. If you read and review any challenge books this month, please link-up on the widget below. This Mr. Linky will be re-posted every month so that we can compile a large list of all that we’re reading and reviewing together this year. Each review that is linked-up on this widget throughout the year may also earn you entries into future related giveaways, so don’t forget to keep this updated!
October Challenge Winner
Congratulations to Jane from Just Reading a Book! Her comment was randomly drawn as the winner of a book-of-choice ($20 USD or less) from The Book Depository! Stay tuned for the final end-of-year giveaway ($50 gift card from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or bookstore of your choice.) Make sure you’re linking up all your reviews and challenge posts, as ALL ENTRIES will be entered into the final contest giveaway.
LINK UP YOUR REVIEWS!
P.S. Did you know I opened a bookstore? It’s true! Check out my online book shop on Pango. It’s a great alternative to Amazon: https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/adambwriter
October Checkpoint with Giveaway #TBR2022RBR
Happy Autumn, TBR Pile Challengers!
Well, it’s autumn here in the United States, but I suppose it is spring elsewhere. Anyhow, those are the two best seasons, aren’t they? So, happiness all-around!
I wonder if you might take a moment to leave a comment this month and share your favorite book from this year’s challenge? If you’ve completed your list or made a lot of progress, share that too! We’d love to cheer you on and feel motivated too, especially those of us who have been stuck for a little bit.
Speaking of stuck, there have only been 9 new links added since last month’s checkpoint, and I have a feeling more reading than that has happened, but maybe not? I for one made just a little progress, finishing one more book from my list (but I haven’t written or posted my thoughts for it yet!), so I can’t fault anyone else. In fact, I’ve been so busy that my postings have essentially boiled down to two per month, once in the first week of each month, wrapping-up the previous month’s reading, and once on the fifteenth, for this challenge. It’s time to take a look at my daily planner and see how I can start managing my time a little better!
Progress: 11 of 12 Completed
I have to say, I really am thrilled with my progress overall, this year. I think, in my ten years hosting this challenge, I’ve only actually finished it once or twice. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to read all fourteen (the main twelve plus two alternates), but that might just happen this year! I’m now at eleven completed and ten reviewed. I’m still “in progress” on what is now book twelve (?), A Poet’s Guide, which is slow going, but I am working through it. Next up, I’ll be reading James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk. I always look forward to Baldwin!
Books read:
- Chicago Poems (1916) by Carl Sandburg
- When My Brother was an Aztec (2012) by Natalie Diaz
- Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017) by Jesmyn Ward
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) by Robert M. Pirsig
- A People’s History of the United States (1999) by Howard Zinn
- The Warmth of Other Suns (2010) by Isabel Wilkerson
- Crush (2005) by Richard Siken
- A Book of Common Prayer (1977) by Joan Didion
- Madness (2017) by sam sax
- Nature Poem (2017) by Tommy Pico
- Rimbaud Complete Poems and Prose (2003) by Arthur Rimbaud
How are you doing?
Below, you’re going to find the infamous Mr. Linky widget. If you read and review any challenge books this month, please link-up on the widget below. This Mr. Linky will be re-posted every month so that we can compile a large list of all that we’re reading and reviewing together this year. Each review that is linked-up on this widget throughout the year may also earn you entries into future related giveaways, so don’t forget to keep this updated!
MINI-CHALLENGE #4
To be eligible to win a book of your choice ($20USD or less from The Book Depository), please leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite TBR Pile Challenge read of all time. If you’re new this year, it would need to be from this year’s list, but if you’ve participated many times, it can be from any challenge list in the last 10 years. (Yes, I HAVE been hosting this since 2011, can you believe it?) I can’t wait to hear what you all share, and good luck! I’ll choose and post the winner for November’s checkpoint, so be sure to comment by November 14th.
Roof Beam Reader 