Started Kingdom of Without by Andrea Tang today. It’s a cyberpunk heist set in alternate history Beijing and it’s great so far! I planned to read the first chapter and then go to bed but now I’m a hundred pages in and up late.

Just finished -

The Heiress, by Rachel Hawkins - advanced copy, releases in January. It's a good family drama/light thriller based around an heiress who first went missing for a bit as a toddler. She had a crazy life, ended up a widow four times, then ends up adopting a child, who becomes the new heir, much to the dismay of her sister & her family. Overall a quick read, 3.5 stars

Now I'm reading Matthew Perry's memoir and The Maid by Nina Prose (book 2 comes out soon).

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Infinite Jest. This was my second attempt. First time was about twenty years ago, but I did not have the patience back then. I still don’t understand how it garnered the good reviews. The major preoccupation of the book is depression and addiction. Lots of drugs, incest, abuse, under the guise as a grim portrayal of reality. In the book, there is an ultimate form of entertainment which is a film so engrossing that it kills its viewers by destroying their willingness to do anything but watch it. Aka pornography, etc.

Well, now you can be like those insufferable bros who tell everyone they read it!

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Infinite Jest. This was my second attempt. First time was about twenty years ago, but I did not have the patience back then. I still don’t understand how it garnered the good reviews. The major preoccupation of the book is depression and addiction. Lots of drugs, incest, abuse, under the guise as a grim portrayal of reality. In the book, there is an ultimate form of entertainment which is a film so engrossing that it kills its viewers by destroying their willingness to do anything but watch it. Aka pornography, etc.

I think you should buy yourself a trophy for actually getting through that book! I am not joking

Remember when EVERYONE had a copy of Infinite Jest on their bookshelf?!

I just finished Infinite Jest. This was my second attempt. First time was about twenty years ago, but I did not have the patience back then. I still don’t understand how it garnered the good reviews. The major preoccupation of the book is depression and addiction. Lots of drugs, incest, abuse, under the guise as a grim portrayal of reality. In the book, there is an ultimate form of entertainment which is a film so engrossing that it kills its viewers by destroying their willingness to do anything but watch it. Aka pornography, etc.

Three Clerks, Anthony Trollope. It’s really good, even if it is 150 yo.

Anonymous wrote:Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple. The book cover says it is "hilarious," which I haven't found to be true so far, just a few mildly funny or relatable bits.

I have yet to read a book that was described as "hilarious" in a review, either critic or reader, that actually was hilarious. Not sure what that's all about.

Just finished Just Another Missing Person, by Gillian McAllister. I picked it up because I loved Wrong Place, Wrong Time, but this gets about a 2.5 / 4 from me.

The first part of the book relies on completely idiotic and incompetent policing to get the plot rolling and all the pieces introduced. It was very distracting and made it hard to root for the main detective.

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple. The book cover says it is "hilarious," which I haven't found to be true so far, just a few mildly funny or relatable bits.

Just finished Sparrow by James Hynes.

What a read. SA, CSA, CA. Difficult to read at times, but i became attached to the characters and enjoyed the writing style. Coming of age as a slave, a wolf, a boy in the last years of the Roman Empire - riveting right until the end and then just like that it's over, and you are left wondering some things, but it's somehow okay.

Just finishing Counting the Cost by Jill Dillard (née Duggar). I never watched the show but have an ongoing interest in their type of fundamentalist Christianity since there are parts of their lifestyle that are appealing to me (lots of kids, community, homeschooling, gardening/homesteading type living, Laura Ingalks Wilder cosplay) but also they would hate me (I’m a queer single parent who believes in socialism and systematic racism and while I’m Christian the god I believe in is a genuinely loving and forgiving god) so it’s not like I’m even slightly tempted to think about converting. I read Jinger’s book in the spring and it was interesting to read about how the two girls looked back on their shared childhood differently in some ways and the same in others. They both talk a lot about the intense anxiety the combination of IBLP and reality television gave them among other things. Not sure it has appeal if you’re not already interested in the family but I’m glad I got it out of the library and would definitely recommend reading it in conjunction with Becoming Free Indeed which is more heavily theological than biographical.

I’m reading more than I thought I would this month. I’m almost done wit the little old who broke all the rules.
I just started “the traitors wife” it’s a historical fic about Peggy shippen.
And I’m half way through “the unexpected spy”. It’s a memoir of a women who was in the cia and fbi. My library Libby didn’t have the “sisterhood- women in the cia” but it suggested this book. It’s pretty interesting and a pretty easy read.

I’m glad you’re reading Big Swiss!

I’m about halfway through Our Share of Night. Compelling but very disturbing (content warning—child abuse) about a cult through the decades that summons a demon through unwilling clairvoyants. Set in Latin America, largely Argentina.

Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen - saw it recommended here months ago, just got around to it now. An enjoyable read with good flow. Story is mother is accused of being a witch, but is told mainly through letters of the mother and her guardian, as well as other family. The investigation unfolds with interviews scattered throughout the book. I liked it just fine.

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin - a sex therapist's transcriptionist begins an illicit affair with one of his clients. Saw someone mention it here and was reminded I had wanted to read it. Very enjoyable story and the characters felt quite relatable. I felt immersed in their lives and ike I could've ran into them at the dog park haha.

How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa - a collection of short stories I picked up from a used bookstore. I cried, I laughed, I felt this book deeply. Highly recommend, was a quick read and each story had its moment. The messages are excellent and I felt a lot of things reading this book, it very much touched my heart.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost done with Lessons in Chemistry. I put it on hold at the library over the summer and it just came in.

Is it worth the hype?

DP. I didn’t think so.