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“Our Michael,” replied the host, “had the look of a dog with a bottle at its tail, and wore a coat, every rag of which was bidding good-day to the rest.”

If it wasn't for FOMO on the great stories sprinkled throughout the book, I would have ditched it. Too many are bait and switch... an author will write a paragraph, or two sentences about being disabled and then the story will be about Feminism in general, or what it's like to be LGBTQ in general. There are tons of books about political movements and broader human rights activism; the stories should reflect the title

"In the discussion that follows, I argue that choice is illusory in a context of pervasive inequality. Choices are structured by oppression. We shouldn’t offer assistance with suicide until we all have the assistance we need to get out of bed in the morning and live a good life. Common causes of suicidality—dependence, institutional confinement, being a burden—are entirely curable." — Harriet McBryde Johnson

"How nice it would be if...," in Giovanni's Room was, according to Tóibín, too formal for American speech. Really? I hate it when all Americans are thought to be knuckle-dragging boors. Plus, this book was written mid-50s when more Americans spoke properly. He says it's British English. I think he has forgotten how many Brits spoke Cockney/Londoner back then. David's use of this phrase is said to be "performative".

Oh dear... this is some of the worst writing I have ever read. Ha ha. I am going to have to push through, though, because I need it for the March "unlikely friendship" square on a reading challenge I'm doing.

Of course he's made her fickle in love matters and almost heartless. Oh those wicked women. Ugh. UGH!

The main character is intelligent enough to excel in her law classes at college, but unable to grasp simple concepts about baseball after having them explained to her. Characterizations like this are why I usually don't care for female MCs written by male authors. It's definitely not Literary Fiction as I was led to believe. I would ditch it, but I don't have enough time to find another Irish themed book for March.

And just when the story was finally taking off... insta-love. UGH.

It's taken until 34% for this story to get going in any kind of interesting way. I have been entirely disappointed up until now compared to the first two books. I hope it continues on this higher storytelling path. And I thought authors had finally gotten the hint that most readers don't care to see the F-word in every imaginable configuration on every other page. I guess Baldree missed that conversation.

“Know that, in this time of crisis, it is the role of the Library to gather data so that it may be preserved for the future. Destruction of information impoverishes us all. We must preserve, for there will come a time when they shall come who will need what we have saved.” “But where is the Library?” the Wonk demanded. “All roads lead to the Library,” the librarian said unhelpfully. “Knowledge must not be wasted!”

He "goes", I "go", she "goes", and they "go"... like a merry-"go"-round of "goes"; like "go" gnats swarming around my head. She has already degraded hippies, and she totally misunderstands the true Punk scene of the late '70s early '80s if she thinks people with freckles and pimples would be made fun of. And the guy saying a Punk bass player didn't have "good technique"; it's PUNK! The author doesn't get it.

I think I am going to make it to the end with enough time to read a play and a music book! If I'm not wrong then I will have read at least one book in each of my personal challenge categories for this year. ☺

Post JFK assassination quote: "For civilization to survive it must remain civilized. And if there is to be any hope for our children and theirs—we must never again allow violence to offer itself as an excuse for our own insecurities, our weaknesses and our own fears. This is not an arguable doctrine for simply a better life. It is a condition for our continued existence." — Rod Serling

“I happen to think the singular evil of our time is prejudice. It is from this evil that all other evils grow and multiply. In almost everything I’ve written, there is a thread of this: man’s seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself.” — Rod Serling 1967 It's sad this quote still has strong relevance today.

This author in all of her "indigenous author" glory thinks patchouli is an "indian" (Native American) scented oil/incense when it is Indian as in the country India. Good grief.

I checked Edelweiss and this book was published as Magical Realism, not Science Fiction. The only weak association it has with Sci-Fi is its post-apocalyptic setting. The apocalypse was catalyzed by paranormal/mythical elements, so either the recommending blogger never read the book or they think a post-apocalyptic story doesn't need Sci-Fi elements to be SF. I am angry that I wasted a Hoopla borrow on this book.

At 30% I thought the Science Fiction element was finally unfolding, but no... it's more paranormal-like activity. I'm going to go to the publisher's page on Edelweiss to see what genre it was published as. It's also written like a paperback Romance without any romance. It gets cheesy at times.

This author is not tribally affiliated. She says she has "indigenous ancestors"... well, so do a lot of people, but if you do not have sanctioned nation enrollment you cannot call yourself an "indigenous author", and have no right to be writing about tribal culture as if you are. The book has also been boring so far. :/

I am looking at tremendous amount of catch up reading in December in order to finish by New Year's Eve. Ha!

This story becomes absolutely glorious when Part Two begins around twenty-nine percent!

"... several sprays of beech leaves. These, he explained, were thrown in with her purchase. Laura took them into her arms. The great fans of orange tracery seemed to her even more beautiful than the chrysanthemums, for they had been given to her, they were a surprise. She sniffed. They smelt of woods, of dark rustling woods..."

"Midday twilight", there is no such thing. The sun has to be below the horizon for twilight. This story has also turned paranormal, now, at almost 50% with no foreshadowing, to make the plot come together. I wonder if he started out writing with this intention, or if it was out of desperation to make the story work? His writing can be beautiful, but there is also a lot of dry boring content.

Around 40% it jumped back to the dog, dogs in general, and cats and continues to wildly jump around in a disconnected manner with pivots on dog feces, men with sexual thoughts about dogs, and bizarre ideas about dog ownership in general. The author is one of those unhinged "all men" Feminists. She says all men have been with a prostitute at least once in their lives and if they tell you differently, they are lying.

HUGE CONTENT WARNING! This story includes: child abuse, child molestation, sex trafficking, and suicide. I think it is irresponsible that the Goodreads summary doesn't mention them. Up until now there has been a lot more about these topics than about the dog and her relationship with the dog.

I made it to 32%, but at this point I should be past 50%, ha ha. I will get there... I promise.

Oh chapter 43 how I love thee! I wish the previous chapters had been this divine. This is the writing style I love from Jane Eyre.

One of the main characters in this story has face blindness, or prosopagnosia: the inability to recognize faces, even familiar ones. It's just been introduced, so I am curious how the author will handle it. This was a Kindle freebie from a few years back and it's been pretty good so far. It's supposed to be LGBTQ, so I thought I would read it for Pride Month.

"... saying you don’t see race disregards my identity. I’m Asian. I’m proud of it. If you don’t see race, then you’re ignoring that part of me.” “Oh, okay . . .” “And if you don’t see race, then you’re turning a blind eye on racial injustices."

Again, have a musician read your draft if you're not one because Blues are most certainly played on acoustic guitar. Blues music was being played before electric guitars existed. Oh! Darling by The Beatles is not Blues anyway. The only Fender Starcaster you might get for $20, even in 2015, is a broken one. Authors owe it to their readers to make Realistic Contemporary factual. At least Google for goodness sake.

If you are going to have guitar lessons and a music teacher in your story, you might want to have a music teacher read those parts of the book. You don't have to learn "all guitar chords" before you start learning songs, and it doesn't take "years" to learn a Beatles song. Why would a public school music teacher say this when band students have a winter concert after less than four months of playing? Good grief.