This Place/That Place by Nandita Dinesh - 8/10

Very interesting book, driven almost entirely by dialogue and the inner thoughts of the two main characters, but also with a good amount of exposition in the form of letters/messages. Some people see this book as an allegory for Ukraine/Russia, but I wasn't seeing it, when looking at the historical context of that situation compared to the history laid out in the novel although I suppose there are some fringe similarities. Regardless, the book does deal with military occupation and annexation of territory, but again, almost entirely through the eyes and dialogue of the two main characters. One, the woman, is from the occupying territory (that place) while the guy is from the occupied territory (this place).

Won't go into too much detail, but I thought the book was strongest during their conversations and when it dealt with the day to day of being under occupation. How you have to find things to pass the time, how at any moment things could change, how you have to try and keep your sanity etc., My favorite part was when they were watching a movie and tried coming up with ideas for a sequel, laying out their vision for a future version of "this place."

It's also a very quick read, simply because there is a lot of dialogue and because the two main characters clearly have romantic feelings, the author does a good job of capturing what those conversations might be like. Going from quick one-two word sentences of not wanting to say anything awkward or speaking just to speak, to longer conversations when they really get into depth on their areas of expertise (guy is a protest designer, girl is an army de-programmer)

I thought the ending left something to be desired. Not that there wasn't a bit of a surprise, but I think it felt flat in its idea for what a better future could be for the occupied territory, but because the book only contends to deal with this personal relationship between the two characters and how they navigate the political situation, and the situations are seen solely through their eyes, and the guy still is aware that even though this one interaction at the end may have been a positive but still happens under the context of occupation (and thus is not good enough) it can be excused in my opinion.

Help Wanted - Adelle Waldman

Not sure what I'd rate this book, but having worked in retail and done the actual job that the book is centered around I think I found it more endearing than the previous two reads, even if at the beginning the author repeats one of my biggest gripes; "she smiled _ly" or "he did this ly"

but beyond that, I thought the characters were all great, and the book mostly centers on the cast of workers and their different motivations, backgrounds, insecurities, etc., and I'd say that it is pretty accurate to what working in a box store is like in terms of the different personalities. It was very easy to get engrossed in the story and see just how their plot would end. They basically want their s***ty manager to get promoted so that they can get a manager, and one of them can get promoted into the role opened up by this chain of promotions. Book is a little sad at times too as you learn about the different backgrounds of everyone, and I thought the head manager in particular was very well written if not a little idealistic of what a store manager is

Earthlings - Sayaka Murata: 5/10

No idea what to make of this one. The prose is great and its very easy to read. But, its just too out there for me. On the one hand i'm sure you have a terrific story about dealing with alienation and abuse (of all kinds) and not fitting in, but the book takes those themes and the responses to them to, in my opinion, a not so logical end point and maybe that's the point? it just felt like A led more to D than it did to B. Just thought the ending was absolutely ridiculous too. At times it felt like the author wanted to just fit in all the trauma's and taboos that she could (and all those traumas are certainly realistic aspects of people's and children's lives).

wouldn't really recommend

Seeing a lot of murakami itt

You f*** with ishiguro at all?

I do fw Ishiguro but need to read more from him. liked Klara and The Sun a lot and Never Let Me Go was good as well but tbh didn't resonate with me like it did for others

which other book of his would you recommend?

well klara and the sun is prolly my favorite from him and my favorite book of the last few years.

i'd say you could get through both pale view of hills and remains of the day pretty easily, those are def his best two after klara and i've always like never let me go more than most

artist of the floating world i like more than remains of the dya tho

good read, makes me wanna run but I gotta wait for my broken toes to heal lmao

One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The story of a family from generation to generation as they go the through the highs and lows of life in the city of Macondo.

On the final day of the year, I finished this book! I blocked out my whole December to make sure I had the time and space to read this novel and... yea it's really good. The first two weeks of December, I started well, had a good pace and everything but I hit a stump. I think I was trying too hard to understand everything. There is a vast amount of characters, many that share the same name and that was difficult to keep up with at first. About midway through the novel, I was able to just let the book take me and eventually I was following along with who each character was and how they were related without a need to reference back to the family tree. If I were to say one major takeaway from this novel, it would be how it tackles the cyclical nature of life and family. Am I living the same life of my father? Making the same mistakes as my father's father? Falling to the same vice's as his father's father? And even more intimate than that, am I putting myself in the same places I've already been in my own life?

4/5

Only read Remains of The Day and it was fantastic

my last read of 2024 and it was a absolute banger. time to watch the movie

^ One Hundred Years of Solitude is my fav book of all time, read it in 2020 and have been considering a reread but I will def have my one reread of the year next year be The Odyssey now that Nolan is making the movie— read it in high school in 2015– Magic

I am about 200 pages out from finishing Anna Karenina. Good lord. An absolute feast but man … it’s huge!!

I got fired from my job on November 1st so I’ve been able to finish the year off strong with Queer, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Memory Police, the oral history of The Office, Nickel Boys, Beowulf (Seamus Heaney), Giovanni’s Room, and A Tale of Two Cities.

Next up … I def want to read some commie books again, I want to thumb through my Tom Waits Interviews & Encounters book, I got The Work of Art by Adam Moss for Xmas and read a good bit of it that day as a break from AK. It’s an amazing work.
As far as novels go, next up I got Radicalized by Cody Doctorow, Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima, and a ton of others on my shelf and out of sight. Hiroshima is one of them and Into Thin Air, both Xmas gifts lol.

I would love to read another Toni Morrison and oh wait I have to re read Othello since I got tix to see Denzel and Jake Gyllenhall do it live on Broadway in May for Christmas lol sorry to flex.

S*** I got a long list lol. I might have to stop taking edibles every night so I can have an extra 2-3 hours to read them all lmao

Literally reading it for the first time rn.
I mean I literally opened ktt while taking a break from reading it and saw this

100 Years I mean

Everything about this series has been epic and gripping. The Hunger of the Gods turned everything that made The Shadow of the Gods great up multiple notches. This is how a sequel is done. John Gwynne does an amazing job at creating characters that you will go to war for. The mythology is based on Norse mythology but isn’t a straight rip off of Norse. There’s giant Wolf gods and Dragon gods and Rat gods. The warriors are badass asf… I mean there’s a warband called the Battle-Grim! Can’t wait to finish off this trilogy with The Fury of the Gods soon!

Six-star read tbh! One of the best book 2’s I’ve ever read.

What is this series about?

It’s about 3 main characters— a mother whose kid was kidnapped, a former slave (thrall in the book) who is trying to find out how his sister died & avenge her death, and a female-warrior who grew up privileged & is trying to gain “battle-fame” (her own reputation). The story’s set in a world where the gods warred themselves into extinction and destroyed the world in the process ~300 yrs before the story takes place. Now anybody descended from any godly bloodlines is called Tainted and hunted down to be enslaved (with magic thrall collars) and so a lot of people are secretly Tainted. There’s a lot more to it as well ofc.

In the Distance - Hernan Diaz: 9/10

Thought this was beautifully written. Very apt descriptions both of nature and the central character of the novel as well as a host of very interesting and sometimes mysterious side characters that Hakan comes across on his journey to New York. Funny enough on the back of the book one of the reviews likens it to moby d***, and I haven't read that in a while but I can see it, with Hakan's brother taking the place of the white whale, but with that longing replaced by the desire for being alone after experiencing tragedy after tragedy.

There's also a very frankenstein esque quality to the main character (as well as a very clear callback to the monster in the end of the book) in terms of how he comes to see society, as well as be seen by it. I don't know if I'd call it a coming of age story, but it has those elements as well, as we see a young foreigner come to understand the natural world around him. There's a point in the novel where everything absolutely picks up and from that point on you won't want to put it down

one of my favorites and go to recommendations

might need to reread it this year, think I would appreciate it even more the second time

I figured it'd be really good once I got to the part where lorimer was talking about the hare the grass and a piece of coal containing the whole of the world within themselves

But then the attack by the brethren scene happened and that's when I just had to read through no stops

Next up pachinko

banger. 9/10. I am a pan-species communist fr

I liked it but I'm used to Vonnegut's prose and style by now. The ending really made the whole thing worth it. You kind of have to strap in for the whole thing. 4/5

Osamu Dazai is the most cynical and depressing dude lmfao. I liked the second story with Mt. Fuji, really builds a relationship between osamu and the mountain. The first and last stories are meh. 3/5

what can I say that hasn't been said abt this one y'know...9/10