Dawn by Octavia Butler

Happy Black History Month but really this book is more like Black FUTURE Month fr.

The world building is incredible, the imagery, the prose, everything about this book so well put together. I love Lilith, the main character, such a good character to have as the POV. The part of the book that really hooked me was the aliens though. Butler spends a good amount time describing this new species in full detail and I was loving every minute of it

My only complaint is that I think the book could’ve spent more time on the humans and their thoughts and motivations. It focusing solely on Lilith’s journey and perspective, makes some of the big moments sort of confusing and jarring to me. Overall though I really liked this first entry and will definitely continue this series.

My goat

Great book,breeze to read.
Loved the movie and this really expanded(and changed) on a bunch of stuff,so it was great to dive in into that world again.

Also Tarantino is a surprisingly good writer,aside from all that namedropping
Eagerly waiting on his next book.

4/5,really enjoyed

A great primer on Buddhism. Elucidated clearly on all major concepts from early Buddhism to Mahayana to Theravada to Zen (doesn’t have much on the northern transmission, but he’s Vietnamese not Tibetan so what can you expect). The discourses at the end are a nice touch. If you’ve ever wondered what Buddhism as a religion / it’s historical origins is really about this is a good book to read.

Boddhidharma is the semi-historical first patriarch of Zen. The bloodstream sermon may be the most profound spiritual teaching in the history of mankind. Don’t recommend as an introduction to anyone unfamiliar with standard Buddhist concepts
“ To have a body is to suffer. Does anyone with a body know peace? Those who understand this detach themselves from all that exists and stop imagining or seeking anything. The sutras say, "To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss." When you seek nothing, you're on the Path.”

This deviant really got Margot’s feet on the cover of his book too man

gonna cop the deluxe but look at that cover

Finished Deadhouse Gates, the 2nd in the Malazan series.
Amazing book. Love the series so far.

Feet aside that's a cool cover

Read this in Dafoes lighthouse voice

I was looking for a new fantasy series to start and came across this and saw a lot of praise for it. I didn't have too many expectations and ended up really enjoying it. It's high fantasy but it's written really well and doesn't have a bunch of unnecessarily long descriptive paragraphs like high fantasy (& scifi) books usually do. Stewart did a really good job at balancing world building & establishing a BUNCH of storylines with really good emotion which really allows you to connect with the book's main characters and makes you feel what's at stake.

The magic system is a tad bit confusing at times but overall it's pretty subtle and not cheesy. There are a couple moments where it came in clutch but at the same time it doesn't feel like just a convenient way of letting the main characters save the day.

Gonna definitely read the second book of the series soon and the third one drops later this year.

Easy 4/5 for me...

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

this was a really good but sad book. it's about 4 unfortunate people trying to get their lives together during an ugly period in Indian history. long read, but Mistry does a good job of weaving the characters and their stories together and portraying different parts of society in India. only knock on it was at times it was a bit too drawn out or descriptive, but the characters and their stories are very memorable and I can tell this one will stick with me for a while

9/10

About 50 pages left in Catch-22. I’ve had this book on my shelf since 2013 just could never get into it. The first 300 pages make it seem like it’s all just for jokes but the last 150 take a very dark turn. Super entertaining race to the finish. Can’t put it down and the first half I kind of had to force myself to read but I believe was very necessary for the dramatic effect of the ending

A look at the human condition and transformation of people during war that could only be told through black comedy to properly convey how absurd it truly is

It's absurdist humor in a very very dark book.

Chock-full of interesting stories about the Russian Civil War and it’s aftermath in Central Asia, Siberia, Mongolia, China, and India!

Finished Neuromancer recently pure cyberpunk kino with extreme noir influence. Everything I love about cyberpunk.

Like 3/4 through Count Zero, totally different vibe but still really good and a different aspect of cyberpunk.

Clockers by Richard Price

4.5/5

Richard Price is a name I've seen around for well over a decade, he was a main writer for my all time fav show The Wire. So when I came across Herc's classic joke about turning the hat sideways in this novel written back in 1992 it definitely made me smile. Like The Wire, Price's Clockers is a true slow burn police procedural that blends the lead detective's work into a realistic account of hustling on the streets with its co-protagonist, a d*** dealer named Strike. This isn't exactly a short book but what drives the novel is Price's knack for dialogue and authenticity, the slang and terms may have changed but the game remains the same. And when the two worlds clash in the final stretch it feels epic in magnitude. Loved this one

For fans of HBO's The Wire, the hard crime novels of Don Carpenter and George V. Higgins, and even Spike Lee's film.

This sounds good

saved,sounds amazing

are these official covers? because they're craazy, holy f***!

oh man, in in in!

Yup. It’s had several different official covers but I fw these ones the most.

This was interesting, a really well researched piece of non-fiction that reads like a political thriller.

In the 1960s, at a time when homosexuality was illegal in the UK, leader of the Liberal Party Jeremy Thorpe began f***ing a man called Norman Scott. As Thorpe's political star rose throughout the 60s and 70s his paranoia that the affair could end his career grew, culminating in the attempted murder of Scott. This book shows how he ended up at this point and ultimately the sickening lengths the British establishment will go to to protect one of their own.

I'd never heard about this case before and I found it hard to believe that this all actually happened. Just couldn't get my head around people in such positions of power acting so dangerously but also clownishly, with a steadfast belief that they were completely above the law and that their actions wouldn't have any consquences. Then I remembered the pack of c***s we have in charge at the moment and thought oh yeah makes perfect sense

This is #7 out of 40 for me this year and it's an intensely emotional story that deals heavily with death and specifically accepting death in its many forms. But it's also about so much more than that. TJ Klune does an amazing job at writing about found family and exhibiting character development. But he also doesn't just force the beautiful themes he writes about down your throat and makes you work to find the goodness in the protagonist, Wallace. The last few chapters were overwhelmingly emotional for me and I constantly kept having to gather myself.

Easy 5/5 for me... I've been choosing BANGERS this year if I do say so myself

whats ur list lookin like

this mf spittin