more reviews:
up to 40 books on the year, best year since 2018 but not gonna make the 50, probably not 45.
1619 project: great, read it if you like that kinda stuff
On The Road by Jack Kerouac: this book was trash imo, had to force myself to finish it
Just Pursuit: A black prosecutors fight for fairness by Laura Coates: good look into prosecutor, i liked it
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski: I liked this, had never read any of Bukowski but figured i should check him out, my kinda writing, this one is biographical talking about him growing up, spoiler he had a shitty childhood
The Invisible Man by HG Wells: was ok i guess, wouldnt really recommend
Myth America by Kevin Kruse: love kevin kruse and this book is my favorite kind of history, recommend highly if you like history
What to do when I’m gone: a mothers wisdom to her daughter by suzy hopkins: graphic novel.
One sleepless night while she was in her early twenties, illustrator/writer Hallie Bateman had a painful realization: Someday, her mother would be gone. The prospect was devastating, and also scary—how would she navigate the world without the person who gave her life? She thought about all the motherly advice she would miss—advice that could help her through the challenges to come, including the ordeal of losing a parent.
The next day, Hallie asked her mother, writer Suzy Hopkins, to record step-by-step instructions for her to follow in the event of her mom’s death. It was fine, exactly what it sounds like, it was a sweet quick graphic novel, i think i randomly picked it at the library
Post Office by Charles Bukowski: more of the same bukowski, but covering his time working at the post office, liked this one as well
Drug Use for Grownups: Chasing Liberty in the land of fear: black professor advocates for responsible drug use and legalization, definitely agree with lot of what he said, author is a casual heroin user if i remember correctly among other drugs
The Third Reconstruction: Americas Struggle for Racial Justice in the twenty first century by Joseph Peniel: his case is that reconstruction, then civil rights was 2nd reconstruction and this period with BLM is the third reconstruction, lots of BLM stuff, I enjoyed it
Actual Air by David Berman: Poetry collection, I sometimes see people going on and on about certain poets and this was one so i tried it but didnt particularly enjoy it, but i dont really get poetry, im not able to read deeply into them and think about it
Welcome to Hell World by Luke Oneil: collection of essays by Luke Oneill, i fell in love with his writings this year and subscribe to his newsletter, the book is just basically newsletters from trump time period about trump but other shitty things in this country, his writing is great though, would recommend his newsletter too
How to be depressed by George Scialabba: Not sure how i came across this one but its basically him writing about a life of depression and all the treatments and therapies and drugs he’s been through and even includes his therapists notes and such, cant say i would recommend it really but definitely unique
Fairy Tale by Stephen King: I don’t usually go for his fantasy ones and this one i finished but i think I said upthread i didnt really enjoy. I didn’t really give a fuck about the main character and didn’t really find any part of the story compelling.
Soul Boom, why we need a spiritual revolution by Rainn Wilson: Rainn is the guy that played dwight in the office tv series if you didnt know. I liked this book alot, basically just makes the case that we need a new religion thats good? He is a member of the Baha’i faith and suggests something similar to that but not that. I liked it a lot and he has some good thoughts imo.
Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen: pretty good primer on Buddhism, would recommend if you want to learn about buddhism
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for difficult times by Pema Chodron: Lots of kinda random essays about buddhism and advice based in buddhism, would recommend if you’re into that sort of thing
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan: sequel? to A Visit from the Goon squad, i loved goon squad but this one although having a similar progression from chapter to chapter to goon squad, did not have the same magic imo
Poverty by America by Matthew Desmond: this guy wrote evicted which was a great book and this one is great as well
Invisible Child: poverty, survival and hope in an american city: was talked about in a post above by another poster and i replied, great book but prepare to be sad/angry but a really deep look over a number of years into a poor family in NYC
The Fifth Risk: undoing democracy by Michael Lewis: a good look into what department of energy and agriculture do and how important those things are and the risk of trump etc fucking all that up, i definitely learned a lot about those institutions
A Creature Wanting Form by Luke Oneill: collection of fiction short stories, I’m biased but i love his writing and a sucker for good short stories, his newsletter has plenty of samples from the book if you want to check those out
Lockdown in Hellworld by Luke Oneill: collection of his newsletter writings and such from covidish time period
Love and Solidarity by Brendan Joyce: took a shot on this poetry collection too after i saw one i liked, liked it more than the actual air poetry collection above but still didnt really hit me much
Devolution: a firsthand account of the rainer sasquatch massacre by Max Brooks: author of world war Z, i loved world war z years ago and decided to give this one a try finally, i liked it ok, the buildup was good but i thought the climax was a bit weak but not sure what i was expecting really
Watchmen Graphic Novel by Alan Moore: finally got around to trying this after trying to watch the show and having no idea wtf was going on, i liked it a good bit though, haven’t ever read a big graphic novel like that, although the ending was a bit wack imo
Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman: A low culture manifesto: collection of essays about populator culture in the 90s mostly, I had never read any of his writing but liked it alot, topics include dating, watching pam and tommy lees porno video every year and pontificating about the importance of pam in popular culture/sex, and saved by the bell, already picked up another one of his called Eating the dinosaur
The Postman always rings twice by James Cain: supposed to be classic noir but meh not a fan
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: fantastic novel about love and heavily based around video games and making video games
Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the new york commune, 2052-2072 by ME Obrien: science fiction about capitalism/the world falling apart in the near future and the commune based world that grows up from the ruins, pretty great imo and hopeful
Friends, lovers and the big terrible thing by Matthew Perry aka Chanandler Bong: not the greatest writing but gives you insight into how tortured a person he was and I related a lot to him so i enjoyed it
Alcohol Explained by William Porter: i have recommended this in the alcohol thread for people looking to quit drinking and this is third time i have read it but its great imo and you should read it if you’ve ever though about quitting
Gerald’s Game by Stephen King: quick easy read and liked it alot, I wasn’t sure he could hold it together for a premise that didnt have many places to go but i liked how he did it and he didnt fuck up the ending
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami: novel about a guy growing up in college and mostly his dealings two women one who has a lot of mental health issues, falling in love and a lot of loss, supposedly maybe somewhat auto biographical? the first one of his I have read, I have tried 1Q84 twice and made it through i think book 1 at least, going to give it another try now i think. Also a decent amount of talk about sex and fair amount of non intercourse sex acts, I think i read somewhere the author has a thing for tits but theres plenty of talk about those
Also i have 496 books on my to read list, is that a lot? seems like a lot, maybe in a decade i can get them done
