Lisa

@runtalien

😷 Chicago based book critic and cofounder of Who Even Reads (whoevenreads.com). Follow us at @whoevenreads.bsky.social. Editor in academic publishing. Show me your orange cat. 🐈

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Lisa@runtalien· 19d

Saw these chickens on my walk today. I encounter chickens with surprising frequency for someone who has never lived in a rural area. Look at that thing’s feet! #birds

One black chicken running away, with the other giving chase

Lisa@runtalien· 20d

This week we’re publishing our review of Claudia Rankine’s newest book Triage, out in two weeks from @graywolfpress.bsky.social. If you haven’t read any of Rankine’s books you are missing out. Her literary/visual pastiche format is so smart and effective 📚💙

Cover of Triage by Claudia Rankine’s, featuring two Black figures wearing orange who seem to have one shirt pulled over both of their bodies

Lisa@runtalien· 20d

Look at the size of this caterpillar! Also it looks exactly like the emoji lol 🐛

A long neon green caterpillar on the sidewalk

Long neon green caterpillar next to chuck sneaker for scale. The caterpillar is about half the length of the shoe

Lisa@runtalien· 21d

Yesssss #twoofthem

Two orange cats, one lying on her back looking at the camera, the other a few feet behind her, also looking at the camera.

Lisa@runtalien· 21d

Hmm what is Piper reading today? Oh, it’s Our Cut of Salt by @deenahelm.bsky.social, a literary thriller about generational trauma in the Palestinian diaspora out in September from @tornightfire.bsky.social! Great taste, Piper 📚💙

Lisa@runtalien· 28d

Just started Canon by Paige Lewis and it’s very charming and smart. I thought it might be too quirky for me based on the prepub reviews but I’m pleasantly surprised. Reminds me a little of Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red 📚💙

Cover of Paige Lewis’s Canon featuring a whale, salamander, and warrior with spear

Lisa@runtalien· Jul 12

Still having my migraine but when I can read I am really enjoying All This Want (And I Can’t Get None) by T Clark. Short, slice of life style stories that pack enormous depth. You get a sense of how much careful thought (and likely revision) went into each one 📚💙

Cover of All This Want (And I Can’t Get None) by T Clark, pink background with arm with Black skin tone

Lisa@runtalien· Jul 4

Female Life on Planet Earth is one of my favorites of the year so far. It’s a fresh and exciting take on the questions of what is womanhood, what is motherhood, and to what extent can these two identities comfortably exist in one person. 📚💙 Out in Sept from @harpercollins.bsky.social

Cover of Female Life on Planet Earth by Laleh Khadivi, featuring a hand holding a red flare surrounded by pink smoke

Lisa@runtalien· Jul 4

When you set off fireworks, this is who you’re scaring. I hope it’s worth it! She’ll be hiding in the bathroom for three days! 📚💙

An orange cat with greenish eyes looking into the camera. Her paws and chest are white. She sits on a windowsill next to some succulents

Lisa@runtalien· Jul 1

Claudia Rankine writes about some of this stuff in her devastating new book Triage, out next month, which I will be reviewing. What is worth doing, and what are we capable of, while in a near constant state of collapse? 📚💙@graywolfpress.bsky.social

Cover of Claudia Rankine’s Triage, featuring two Black figures dressed in orange over yellow background. The figures are crammed into the same hoodie or jacket

Lisa@runtalien· Jun 28

Without downloading any new pics, describe your gender with one image.

A black t-shirt with white writing that says Biggest Slut at the Public Library

Lisa@runtalien· Jun 27

She loves the laundry. For those of you keeping track

Orange cat on a pile of towels on a bed with an orange bedspread

Orange cat with white chin and chest on a pile of laundry with a hand petting her face

Lisa@runtalien· Jun 22

Our neighborhood is literally like living in a @kellylink.bsky.social story 📚💙

A rabbit standing on its hind legs in the grass

Lisa@runtalien· Jun 12

HIM #birds

A male mallard standing on the grass shaking his wings out

Lisa@runtalien· Jun 12

The boys #birds

A line of male mallards sunning in the grass

Lisa@runtalien· Jun 12

Night heron #birds

A night heron standing on some lilypads in the water, surrounded by more lilypads

Lisa@runtalien· Jun 7

Alex is working very hard on his next book review for Who Even Reads 📚💙

An orange cat standing up at a desk. It looks like his paws are on the keyboard and his eyes are looking up where a monitor should be

Lisa@runtalien· Jun 3

#birds this cardinal plays soccer for the local high school ⚽️

A male cardinal perched atop a sign advertising a nearby high school’s soccer team

Lisa@runtalien· May 31

Heron was getting harassed by this red-winged blackbird. I assume there was a nest nearby #birds

Blue heron stalking in weeds near a lagoon with a red-winged blackbird flying above its head

Lisa@runtalien· May 31

Cormorants! #birds

One cormorant stretching its wings on a a platform while another climbs out of the water

One cormorant spreading its wings on a platform with a mallard in the water in the background

Lisa@runtalien· May 30

What book should Alex read next? Feel free to cast your vote. The books he has already read and enjoyed are The Bible and The Price of Salt/Carol by Patricia Highsmith #booksky

Orange cat standing up against a bookshelf with his front paws on the lowest shelf, turning to make eye contact with the camera

Lisa@runtalien· May 25

Yeah! We love this one! 📚💙

Orange cat lying on a bookshelf featuring a copy of We Refuse. The cover features a Black woman in a long white dress holding a long gun

Lisa@runtalien· May 10

Lol #infinitejest indeed #booksky

Same orange cat in between layers of the ripple rug mat with his arm and head coming out of two different holes. Bookcase i the background contains Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Lisa@runtalien· May 10

What to read first 🤔 #booksky

Picture of an orange cat on a mat in front of a bookcase, next to four laid out library books, The Outer Country, Homebound, The Memory Museum, and Afternoon Hours of a Hermit

Lisa@runtalien· May 9

This Thrush(?) is like “This object was made with me in mind” #birds

A speckled thrush standing on a birdbath
looking to the side

Lisa@runtalien· May 4

Congrats to @torreypeters.bsky.social on being a Pulitzer finalist. Stag Dance (the novella) is one of the most linguistically exciting (and funniest) things I’ve read in probably a decade 📚💙

Cover of Stag Dance by Torrey Peters which features a painting of two stags overlayed with the title and author name in pink

Lisa@runtalien· Apr 26

lol #gay #verse #damnitstrue

Fortune from fortune cookie that says “Versatility is one of your outstanding traits”

Lisa@runtalien· Apr 19

SUCH A LITTLE CREATURE

Orange cat with white chest and belly and very pink toes lying on a bed looking wide-eyed

Lisa@runtalien· Apr 10

This squirrel really wanted me to see its big mouthful of leaves. I’m glad I did

A squirrel stretching out along a tree trunk with a large assortment of leaves in its mouth

Lisa@runtalien· Apr 2

Barn 8 is one of my all-time favorites and set me on a path toward vegetarianism, I look forward to seeing what Earth 7 does to me #booksky @debolinunferth.bsky.social