Amanda Stone > Recent Status Updates

excellent content, obviously! i haven’t read all that much from the time of second wave feminism so it was nice to read audre lordes critiques and push for intersectionality. the reason it lost a star is just bc i’m not really into philosophy - it was very theoretical and not grounded in events and specifics, I’m too much of an anth student lol

found this book captivating and also highly stressful, i did not enjoy being inside Enid’s mind! excellent plot though, highly enjoyed the reveal

struggling with this one, think it will be a DNF - feel like i don’t know anything about the characters, the background, or anything really - the narration is very matter of fact, almost without feeling. i just can’t be bothered reading on

this book was really sweet! occasionally was annoyed by the narrators over-explaining of the obvious but mostly found it quite an endearing part of her character. loved the exploration of grief and queer guilt.

enjoyed this more than i thought i would! it’s quite grim, reminiscent of the road by cormac mccarthy, not a lot happens but just enough to keep me going. enjoyed the questions on the meaning of life, reflections on being alone and unaccounted for, didn’t enjoy the lack of answers although i at least never thought that answers were coming

really gorgeous and devastating. a fantastic lesbian euro summer read, a little too on the nose for my current situation (why do i always do this to myself) but loved nonetheless. the main characters both annoyed me at the start but became more captivating as it went on. just so so sooooo sad. also intrigued to hear bisexual ppl’s thoughts on the portrayal of erica’s bisexuality - seemed v lesbian coded

i liked this! like a more hopeful version of on earth we’re briefly gorgeous, with more plot. can’t say i fully understood the poetry littered throughout, i did enjoy the dreams though and the crazy ending. saw the plot twist coming a mile off but i still enjoyed the ride

really battled with this one, it didn’t ever really transfix me the way i want novels to do, it felt too poetic or perhaps too nonfiction/memoir. i guess basically there was not enough plot and too much depressing shit? was beautifully written though

really gorgeous gay kids in rural france story, lovely short read. love any book that gives me a glimpse of queer history, this has such big threads of secrecy, AIDS, shame, etc. made me cry a little right at the end

just fantastic! ate this up - irish, catholic, and lesbian, what more could i want in a book! really loved the description of her complicated relationship with the church and her family, and how hiding that of course impacted all the rest of her relationships. so much tension and release in her finally having the convos she needed to have! such a good read

really tore through this one, finally got me out of my reading slump!! a lovely gay beach read, sooooooooo much sapphic yearning, quite cringe at times particularly all the religion stuff but i enjoyed and it was what i needed

listened to the audiobook and it started great but but got depressing so fast. it was non chronological so that made it hard to follow, and was essentially a prolonged trauma dump of some really horrific stuff. was considering giving up then i read a couple bad reviews on goodreads, that was the nail in the coffin

another late update - enjoyed this! was quite depressing and didn’t like how the ending didn’t go anywhere, nothing really happened but it was funny and the characters were interesting

a bit late at updating this but i ADORED this book! unexpectedly gay, gorgeous slice of life, annoyingly lovable characters, chaotic family dynamics, just excellent

didn’t really love this tbh but it was a speedy read and my current accidental special interest of motherhood (particularly women who don’t really want to be mothers deep down/feel trapped by it) so had to keep going. weird blend of essay, stories, letters, first/second/third person, and way way too self aware and meta - writing about writing about writing. supporting local i guess?

a fun quick read!! loved the intensity, the plot, the jumping around in the order of telling the story. it’s a shame i’m such a scaredy cat because i think i really like mysteries!! i just couldn’t read this at night because it got my heart rate up too much (and it’s not even that scary). enjoyed the pictures and how they really spelled out all the clues and details for someone slow like me to pick it up

so so gorgeous!! one of the most easy to read memoirs i’ve ever read, so beautiful and also painful to hear the perspective of a Māori queer person in the 70s. loved it!

really not enjoying this!! the title and concept is brilliant but it’s actually incredibly cheesy and self help-y, not sure if that’s made worse or better because i’m listening to the audiobook rather than reading it. she’s also not saying anything new for me, the target audience is probably middle aged women. disappointing!

love the bringing together of scientific biological features of becoming a mother, the emotional landscape, and the socio-cultural context and way our insane society impacts mothers. such an important book, wish i could make every mother and potential mother i know read it! although it’s extremely repetitive, not structured particularly well, and completely fails to mention queer parenthood and gender nonconformity

kind of a crazy read! for most of it, it was like if a sci fi plot was written in beach read style, then suddenly got super intense plot-wise and now I think it was a form of historical fiction? was really easy to read, i feeeel like there were maybe plot holes/inconsistencies but really i wasn’t trying to be observant enough to clock them. enjoyed! plenty of gayness too

another embarrassing title to add to my shelf - extremely trashy beach read vibes, ridiculous and very flawed plot, cheesy writing, but i still somehow couldn’t stop listening to- ya gal loves a lesbian book. “coffee girl” and “subway girl” - this book is like a premonition of chappell roan (but of course chappell does it better)

ugh this one is from the perspective of a vaguely insufferable straight white guy who lives in wellington and he’s just so unlikeable i can’t do it. in a slight reading slump and this sure isn’t pulling me out of it.

okay this one was recommended by friends but i didn’t realise it was like a thousand pages?? and also i was moving flats last month so not much reading happened before it was due back to library. maybe will try again someday

very very cute lesbian coming of age vibes. enjoyed the writing on vietnam and its cuisine, made me reminisce on my visit there, and got surprisingly emotional at the end. nothing serious though, very much beach read vibes, a great audiobook for the walk home from work

pausing here on this one bc it’s overdue at the library - enjoying, it’s pretty crackup, not like sold on it but still want to see where it goes when i eventually read the rest

loved this book, important topics that don’t get enough attention and so nice to have so many NZ perspectives. the one issue i had was so many people talking about overpopulation and climate change as a reason to not have kids - that kind of thinking has been shown long ago to be so problematic when a few companies and billionaires are the real cause of climate change, not ordinary people. other than that fantastic

this whole book had me in fight or flight ngl. didn’t love the start writing style-wise, felt like we leapt straight into things without a compelling intro but i was completely gripped and couldn’t put it down towards the end. a truly horrifying portrayal of leaving domestic abuse, a really powerful telling of that story. sobbed a lot.

hmmm not sure about this one - probs unpopular opinion but the language is kinda old fashioned and at times unhelpful (ie talking about “lies” when she mostly meant people not really listening to themselves/being honest with themselves), reads as very preachy, and is kinda giving common sense nothing new? idk if i will persist

okay so this was a fascinating concept and lowkey read like a slow burn horror at some parts, but wow the first 300 pages kinda sucked. i had to see where it was going but the buildup made the plot twists predictable (and i am not usually one to see things coming) and it just took so long to get to the point. the last 80 or so pages were better but damn that story was so grim!!

stunning, beautiful, gorgeous, astoundingly easy to read for a non fiction. for anyone who loved braided sweetgrass, this is for you. love the blend of poetry and essays and memoir, not many people do the cross-discipline writing in a way i enjoy but nadine has nailed it. definitely will read again.