lucas > Recent Status Updates

i shouldn't be surprised that the book about a protest features long and detailed depictions of casual police brutality. it wouldn't be so frustrating to read if it weren't so real

thought i could smell smoke. looked outside. the neighbours have got their fire pit going again. suppose i should be grateful it isnt right next to the fence anymore. was not nice having a fire almost directly beneath my window

this was an impulse purchase a while back because of one of my favourite folk punk songs. the book was named after a print made by a friend of pat the bunny, who named a song after it, and it means a lot to me. so i hope this book lives up to it. also the second time i bought a book because of a pat the bunny song. the first one being the dispossessed, which is a masterpiece

the characters in this book would make a great cast for a monster of the week style tv programme

this is quite entertaining now that ive adapted to the narrative style and there arent quite so many penis references. there was even a kraken

there are good parts of this, but im not a fan of the humour. i get that kinch is a horny, cocky, and silly twenty-three year old, and sometimes the way that comes through in the narration works well, but there are only so many scat jokes and sexualised depictions of women and references to the hung stag god that i can take

i fear it will take me a while to stop instinctively comparing this book and its protagonist to locke lamora, lanky and sarcastic thief supreme. though my fondness for that series was what made this one stand out to me, so it isnt necessarily a bad thing

this book offers many eloquent criticisms of israeli propaganda, particularly the weaponisation of anti-semitism and homophobia. and i do think that sarah schulman offers a very good perspective on such things as a jewish lesbian. much food for thought and a lot of good messaging to fight against misinformation

i like the way this book is structured, and how the tales are contextualised with details of historical icelandic life and culture. it is always nice to learn something new. and i think i will listen to of monsters and men's first album on vinyl once ive finished this and ponder how the songs could have been influenced by their country's folklore

a nice bit of light reading (fucked up horror) for this train journey

might not read this all in one go as ive read several non-fiction books about politics and social justice recently, and spending too much time immersed in that does burn me out. not sure what i'll read on the side. there are more than ten unread books in my room waiting for their turn and it is hard to decide where to go

definitely appreciate the more evaluative perspective on partying and clubbing as part of queer culture, and the criticisms of accessibility for people who are not cis, white, and able-bodied. even being two of the three makes it hard sometimes. the most blatant transphobic verbal abuse i have received has been in clubs and bars known for being queer-friendly

there is some downright atrocious porn in this book. no sex scene should contain the words 'her secret passages'

i can see why several reviews say this book was obviously written by a man. what's going on with 'these breasts also were not as soft as others keith had known. they were problematic'. how do one's breasts become problematic. aside from when i take my shirt off and have to contend with them.

ive read a lot of somewhat serious books this year. it's time for vampires

'what is clear now is that the mere achievement of hegemony is not enough to set the anglo-american powers at rest: their mission is to remake every element of the world in their own image. and since no copy can ever completely replicate the original, it means that the task they have set themselves approximates the mathematical notion of an infinite regress' cannot fit the whole quote or my thoughts here. alas

a lot of the essays in the 'conversations' section seem to be rather dependent on the context of the works that they discuss. which makes sense, considering the intro to the section stated that some of its essays were essentially book reviews, and another was a 30 pages email chain about a book. it all remains very well-written and there are some great ideas within them, but without context it is a bit dry

wasnt expecting this book to feature 120 pages of essays on war/military history, topics i have never had much interest in courtesy of how history was taught at my school. they never once told us about the millions of indian soldiers recruited to fight on behalf of england in wwi/ii, or anything that happened in asia at the time aside from hiroshima. difficult reading but a valuable perspective. much to think about

first section of this book is dedicated to climate change and the environment. was at a public engagement event for work today and an older bloke came in to say he was quite fascinated by our offshore wind projects, and that he firmly believed in climate change now because of the weather we've had recently. im glad people are starting to take it seriously but i wish it hadn't taken this extreme heat and drought

briefly went to my visit my sister in law and my niece & nephew and discovered the kids have gotten really into the percy jackson films, so naturally i had to buy a copy of the lightning thief for their bedtime stories. for the sake of my seven year old self. it was only a couple of quid on world of books and an excuse to pick up a couple other books that arent easy to find

it was interesting reading about arne agonising over his lack of empathy regarding tove's breakdown, because all things considered i would say he did reasonably well. yes he drunk drove and crashed his car and communicated poorly with the kids and was relieved to have his wife committed, but she did decapitate the cat. if that had happened to me it wouldve been over.

knausgaard is good at writing flawed characters who feel like they could be real people, while also making them feel distinct from one another. which is quite impressive when youre writing this many povs, all in first person. intrigued to see how this goes

driving instructor pissed me off again today. told me off for gently swerving around a magpie in a car park because 'it's just a bird. there are a million of them' and also hit me with 'this is the technique i use for my most autistic pupils, i dont know why youre not getting it'. i dont even want to drive. put it off for several years and only doing it because employers like a license. number one foe

bought this back in april after seeing book three and buying it without realising it was part of a series, then put off reading it because i was worried my expectations were too high. it's been good enough so far for me to buy book two while out today

went up the city today, found a copy of sheldrake's entangled life for six quid in a charity shop, then got another three books from the book hive for sixteen quid thanks to my loyalty card. and five notebooks. i went shopping with the intention of getting some more shorts. which did happen, just after all the books

debating whether to brave a trip to london in october for the victorious tour, if to just get a digital ticket for edinburgh. my capacity to navigate london alone is kind of limited to the liverpool street to mayfair tube journey and that city is the one of the few places where ive had full-on meltdowns. but i do enjoy seeing vic on tour. holding out hope for a norwich date for threads two

i do like the way blackout poetry is interspersed throughout this book, and how fragmented it all feels. perhaps not what i was expecting, but i dont think ive ever read anything structured quite like this before, and ive got a soft spot for oddly-structured stories, courtesy of house of leaves. which i really need to reread

helping a colleague with some year ten work experience this week, and during a break we had a little chat about the books we're reading. she's reading a nice little romcom, i made a joke about us reading very different things so she opened this to a random page and started to read aloud. unfortunately she got the page where one monk asked another about sin and sodomy because of the sex they'd been having

went to york this weekend to visit friends, and made time for a detour to the new topping & co bookshop. finally got my hands on blackouts, which ive been looking for since last year, plus a book on icelandic folklore and another on monsters in fiction. could have spent hours in there

i was not expecting this book to feature a dysphoric monk