Rase McCray > Recent Status Updates

This gets my vote so far for most prophetic novel of our current century. In a scary way, it feels like it could have been written this year.

I realize now that I didn’t really know what this book is about. Perhaps I did once, when I put it on hold at the library, but it’s been a pleasant surprise to let it simply spin out before me.

The shape of this book is unexpected and interesting

This is a book about a serial killer, as stated on the jacket flap. What's NOT stated is that the killer targets children, so this book is much darker than I thought it would be.

I'm still enjoying it a lot, but I bet a lot of folks couldn't stomach that revelation, especially since the crimes, though only hinted at and not fully described, seem gruesome.

I had mixed feelings about Storied Life, but I so far really love this one.

This book is incredible. So unexpected and rich!

I’m not sure I’ll finish this. It’s not really engaging me right now.

The second story, “Come Rain or Come Shine,” was hilarious!

I was not ready for this book. Wow, and also ouch.

Further proof that NK Jemisin Is possibly the greatest science fiction/fantasy writer working today. I love this world, and I find the descriptions of the battles absolutely fascinating and exhilarating! A very different kind of “urban” fantasy that feels unlike anything I’ve quite read before.

This is one of my most anticipated box of last year, and I’m so excited to finally be starting it! Already had just five minutes in the audiobook I have already chuckled three times.

This will be so good.

TW: Suicide

“[Gary Cooper’s] most serious entanglement was a tempestuous two-year affair with Lupe Velez, a passionate, self-destructive starlet whose disastrous taste in men would lead her to commit suicide a decade later.”

WTF! I’m reading this book to learn about a movie and HUAC, and this dude’s BS editorializing is really ruining the vibe.

“The Cooper men were drawn to the Montana territory...by the romance of Indians and cavalrymen and gunfighters and pioneers. It was, after all, less than a decade since George Armstrong Custer and his men had faced death before an overwhelming force of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians at the Little Bighorn.”

So the author of this book sympathizes with Custer? Am I reading that right? 🤮🤮🤮

This book is dark but amazing. I can’t believe I haven’t read more Jesse Ball.

(Also, I think my reaction suffers from what might be called the Monty Python problem, which is when you hear all the jokes out of context from someone else who's a fan. Then, when you actually go read/see the thing, it's not as funny as if you'd been fresh to the material. I therefore wonder if I'd enjoy the lesser-referenced sequels WAY more, bc I generally would find geeky British humor enjoyable.)

I've read this once before and thought it was so-so, but now am re-reading it for a book club. I don't expect to love it any more than I did last time but here's hoping I won't love it less.