Today was quite out of the ordinary—I went. To a place! The mechanic (shout out to Economy Auto). To maintain social distance I waited outside at the picnic bench behind the Mr. Lube while the car was being worked on. And just as I got to go on a big outdoor adventure so too did one of my books, and so I read Amy LeBlanc’s wonderful “I know something you don’t know.” Again these aren’t meant to be book reviews but I’m gonna gush about this one anyway.
I really love death metal and feminist witches and creepy Victorian things and corsets and stuff, but I’m also squeamish and don’t like gore, and this book really perfectly matches my interests which are hard to hit. Most stuff that is creepy is too gross for me but this book is absolutely perfect for me when it comes to that balance. It reminded me, just a little bit, of movies like Practical Magic, Stigmata, and the show Charmed—a great blend of contemporary, mystical, feminist, and historical vibes that is just the best (ok I don’t know how any of these would hold up to my sense of what feminism is nowadays or even my taste but I just like grrl power witches is what I’m saying if you get me). The tone and directness of IKSYDY reminds me a bit of Atwood’s The Journals of Suzanna Moodie but less bitter and harsh.
LeBlanc’s writing is absolutely seamless—effortless and evocative, in a way that uses deceptively straightforward phrasing to deliver strange and beautiful images and build an irresistible immersive mood and world to sink into. I read it in less than an hour and know I’ll be reading it repeatedly in years to come, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. The back of the book actually describes it quite nicely—more so than whatever I’m writing about here (eggs and Mr. Lube and Charmed?)—I’m posting a photo of that below.
This is the first Gordon Hill press book I’ve owned I believe, and it’s nice. Nice paper, nice design, lovely cover. Is “hand-feel” a thing? Like mouth-feel? If so I’d say this book had good hand-feel. One more reason to make it a permanent fixture on the shelf.
Ok I can’t help but make a joke. There’s a bit in the book where someone contemplates whether an egg should be boiled for eight minutes or ten. This is the only thing wrong with this book. The answer is neither! An egg should be boiled for six minutes for the yolk the way I like it :P I only just figured this out! I’m very excited about boiling eggs in 1” of water for six minutes right now. I have had many delicious eggs lately.
Anyway, here’s some photos of me and the book’s field trip.
