Zack > Recent Status Updates

Oh shoot. I'm going to have to reread this at some point when I have more bandwidth, or find annotated family trees.

I'm dragging. Stories typically fall into three categories: indigenous origin story, poetry, incredibly verbose excerpts from historical writings. If you are new to national park literature, this book is a good place to start. If you are well versed, it may not add much. At least the Bill Bryson selection is not obnoxious (like a lot of his writing is).

Put this one on hold. It keeps hovering back and forth between fun bad and bad bad. Geologist in Yellowstone dealing with supernatural stuff. Geography is sometimes really bad, sometimes looks like the author actually looked at a map of the park. Geology goes similarly.

Basically Wynonna Earp, but she’s a geologist in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. How could I stay away?

I usually space out books in a series (not sure why), but I thought I’d do something different this time.

First time I've gotten the "Skip the Line" prompt on Libby!

“When the Israeli military opens fire on starving civilians clambering for flour, ‘The Guardian’ describes the killings as ‘food aid-related deaths.’ One struggles to imagine how food aid could do such a thing.”

“The story begins not when the wagons arrive, but only after they are circled. In this telling, fear is the exclusive property of only one people, and the notion that the occupied might fear the doing of their occupier is as fantastical as the notion that barbarians might be afraid of the gate. Any population on whom this asymmetry is imposed, will always be the instigators…”

It’s been fun so far, but I’m not sure I like the setup that’s approaching. Massacres of indigenous communities because they are literal monsters and those Rangers doing the killing are monster hunters, not murderers. We’ll see if that’s the case though. Looks like MC is going to realize they are trans and don’t want race issues to be a problem.

And the obvious centrist refrain - But do you want the deranged right wing to win? - should, after even a moment of self-reflection, yield to a far more important question: How empty does your message have to be for a deranged right wing to even have a chance of winning?

“It’s the person who in self-image professes to be a rule breaker, untamable, wild - and in the next breath sides question unquestioningly with every facet of state power. I’ve seen the Punisher decal on the bumper, the stylized American flag, denoting the thin blue line: I’m an outlaw; also, anyone who disobeyed the cops deserve to be killed.”

I think "Tender is the Flesh" is the only book to make me physically ill. We'll see how "The Unworthy" goes.

“The argument in favor of voting for the lesser evil is frequently made in good faith, by people who have plenty to lose should the greater evil win. But it also establishes the lowest of benchmarks: Want my vote? Be less monstrous than the monsters.”

“The afflicted don’t need comforting, they need what the comfortable have always had.”

Was really enjoying this, but I'm hoping we get out of this "Silicon Valley/The Social Network tech creatives get dragged the cutthroat business world and conflict breaks up the band" space soon.

Very early in the book, MC refers to how he’s mid-30’s and his new wife is a dozen years younger. Benefit of the is she’s 25, worst like 21. He’s also the teacher in their small village. My thoughts: “oh god, please don’t make her a former student. Just confirmed, she’s a former student. Gross. Why did the author make this choice?

Hmm between the setting and a name that popped up, is this a retelling of Fraggle Rock?

The character Writer Stephen King is basically a mortal god keeping the world together. Does this mean Stephen King is basically writing fan fiction about himself? Speaking of, has anyone written an AO3 or something on Wattpad cleaning this series up?

Ugh discussion of literal plot armor by the character Writer Stephen King gave to the characters so the story wouldn't end too early.

Group reunited after almost an entire book apart. Husband cups his wife’s breast so he can feel her heartbeat. That’s weird and probably not the best way to check a heartbeat. Has anyone asked Stephen King about his strange and inappropriate sexualizations?

Ah, classic King sexualization of things that don't need to (probably shouldn't) be sexualized: baby is born with a large erect penis

The Tower is in sight

2018 Presidential Election Cruz v Gore was a landslide. Interesting matchup.

Oof. This Republican presidential candidate is waaaay further left than most 2025 Dems, but I guess that's what 30 years of zombie apocalypse will do.

2018 Presidential Election was Cruz v Gore was a landslide. Interesting. If only!

Really interesting how many parallels to 2020 from a zombie book that came out in 2010. On the other hand, some of it feels dated with all the talk of "bloggers," especially as how they act would make them "influencers" in the modern parlance.