Ann > Recent Status Updates

"The specialist was attractive, Latin, intelligent and beautiful. Seb's urge to flirt had deserted him totally, but he found himself obsessively focusing on her nipple, clearly outlined beneath the medical white of her jacket. There was nothing sexual in his gaze, but he found himself unable to look away as he registered her words."

THIS DOES NOT BODE WELL

If there's a boob in the vicinity, you can be sure that Ms. Hignett will point it out. Loudly. Over and over.

Also I think she missed the SHOW, DON'T TELL memo. The whole book is like she's describing a crime scene to a judge. "The door immediately to my left led out to the rooftop garden." "He was wearing midnight-blue pants and a sharp jacket with a crisp white shirt, no tie, and two buttons undone." Jesus.

oh my god this book is awful

“No generative AI used at any time in the story and artworks of this book.”

…maybe it should have been.

oh my god this is awful

I'm finding it really tedious so far. It's just a guy trying (and failing) to impress readers by reciting technical jargon about weapons. I just. don't. care. It doesn't sound smart, it doesn't improve the story, and it's boring.

If you want an actual GOOD book about rebuilding society after disaster, try Octavia Butler's Earthseed miniseries.

part 2/2

"And poor Patrice, the ceiling couldn't have been more than 6 1/2' high. If he went on his tiptoes, his head would go through the ceiling panels. With Patrice, Dana, and Apollo all together in here, it felt like they were stuck in a broom closet."

AND THAT IS HOW YOU DESCRIBE A ROOM, ELIZABETH ADLER

part 1/2

"Such a small room, this spare bedroom. It seemed even smaller because of the wood paneling. The dull walls ate the light, leaving the room in gloom. The shaggy brown carpeting didn't help. It was like being inside a Wookiee's armpit..."

"The question of how ill-qualified you can be for the American presidency yet still end up in the White House has already been definitively answered." 😏

Burkeman quoting Jung: "quietly do the next and most necessary thing." yes 100% love it

Burkeman quoting Karen Rinaldi: "[T]he freedom to suck without caring is revelatory." FUCKIN YES

Will this book change my life? Time will tell (heh). But it's definitely pressing some buttons right now.

I'm soaking up LaValle's writing in the hopes that it'll sustain me through more challenging authors. It's just so beautiful: ordinary language made lyrical, a depth and lushness that extends beyond the boundaries of the story. So far I'm loving this novel.

“He has a softer voice than you’d think, from the big frame and the hard eyes. ‘I see...the way you’re always searching. How much you hate anything fake or phony. How you’re older than your years, but still... playful, like a little girl. How you’re always looking into people, or wondering what they see when they look back at you. Your eyes. It’s all in the eyes.’”

Oh no.

I'm about 40% of the way through. Right now it's a 2-star novel. Here are two notes:

1. I don't like any of these characters. They're all horrible. I don't like reading books in which I hate everyone.

2. I feel like Lippman is being manipulative by doling out information so slowly & so ostentatiously. I like stories that unfold, but I don't like stories that tease.

Having completed half the book, I've realized that I'm not its target audience, namely: older white men in high leadership positions. It has some good points and raises interesting questions (what happens when you prioritize your customers/clients/"guests" above everything else?) but so far it's just a bunch of words that don't reflect what's happening in my life and work, and it feels exhausting.

There's a chapter where people have to take a test. I frickin love books where people have to take a test.

Oh also I was kind of excited to find a chapter set in Grounds for Sculpture, a sculpture garden in New Jersey that I've visited several times. It's a cool place and I could see it in my head while I was reading.

Two notes so far that I'm pretty sure aren't spoilery: 1. "Blackout season" is a terrible name for what it is. It doesn't make any sense. 2. In one scene, a female character initiates sex, and a male character gets, you know, satisfied--but the woman doesn't, and seems to be fine with it. COME ON. We can't even get any in fiction?! I am unimpressed so far with Palmer's depictions of women in general.