Beth > Recent Status Updates

This book feels like Salman Rushdie + One Hundred Years of Solitude and I'm so here for it.

Finished the first story. Holy hell, it was so good. Hard to describe without spoilers, very much worth it for the slowly dawning realization of horror.

Tilda Swinton as Diziet Sma

The Fifth Element??

This book is stupid. The spaceship they're riding created a tiny furry Ewok to be their interface. Reads like a little boy's depiction of future space travel.

So far, this book feels like space opera Snow Crash, all neon and trenchcoat katana-esque weapons....

Hooked.

Did not realize how relatively new the geisha profession is. Originated in the 17th century, formalized in the 19th, always being challenged by other entertainment modalities. Geisha are like...historical artistic cosplay of a time already gone by their heyday??

"...a sailor...told her drowning was a friendlier way to die...wrapping a rope around his arm tattooed in roses..."
Sailor tattoos became common after the American Revolution, not during Jamestown, when this book seems to be set. 😛

Chapter 16 sucks - tldr: kids these days lack morality. Hard Disagree - it's a late-stage capitalist world focused on greed and permissive power that taught young people that amoral behavior is acceptable. Gen Z has a strong moral compass - it's Boomers/Gen X that are spinning that compass poorly.

So many grains of salt with this book. I like the insights he's drawing, and I see the relevance in my professional work with college students. But the tone is a bit patronizing, and the book seems to be written for parents primarily. Using as a thought guide, not gospel.

Feels older than it is, like an adult male imagining what it would be like to be a supergenius toddler (no way a 4 year old speaks like Bean does). Reminds me of Ready Player One. We will keep on it, since it's #27 on my top canon sci-fi list...

This book is James Cameron's Avatar, but with only women. Like, no male characters, except the hero's father. And just humans, not blue cat aliens. It's fascinating and I love it.

Interesting so far, but feels pretentious or sensationalizing at times. Maybe I know too much about language already to be impressed?

Cannot figure out why this book reads so slow, but I find it a bit boring so far. Maybe just not interested in the Aeneid.

It's okay. It suffers from being a trope-setter. I feel like I've read this book already. It also suffers from being a noir heist thing - not my favorite genre.

A Midwich Cuckoos reference!! We love to see it.

Reminds me, at this stage, of The Andromeda Strain. Slow investigation of a disease from origin to....narrowly averted catastrophe? Keep reading to find out.

This book is pretentious. Very proud of itself for having read all of Tolstoy multiple times. I'm finding if I have to do this slog, I'd rather do it with Tolstoy himself....

Oh man, this book is about deja vu, and the Mandela Effect. I'm in.

Just finished Story of Your Life.

This book is reminding me of World War Z, but with climate change instead of zombies.

I do not care for this book. I'm gonna keep reading, but the book is frustrating. Jazz is annoying and feels uncanny, somehow. And when the celibate Moon nerd asked Jazz to test his space condom, I nearly lost it. Very stupid.

Omg Merthin came back, but Caris just got promoted. Aaaaugh THIS BOOK.

Need another break, after the Battle of Crécy, and too many shenanigans from Godwyn and Ralph. 😩

Narrative short story chapters. Reading slowly.