Erin > Recent Status Updates

Was this written by AI? At least five times per page a sentence ends in an em dash:

“it couldn’t be, and he had—“

“What would they think if they knew he—“

“just a little, to see if—“

Omg finish a thought ffs! It’s too many times!

I don’t read books by white men as a practice, but I’m reading this for book club and omg is it delivering a little homoerotic vignette of Emerson and Whitman?? I may need to rethink my policies.

For Book Club. 21 pages in and it’s already a wild ride.

“…the damp charms of the Pacific Northwest…”

Okay, rude, but fair.

I absolutely should not be rereading this book. I have book club books to crush. But I once lent this to a friend who never returned it and who is no longer a friend so that horse is out of the barn, and I never buy books unless I’m going to think of them forever, and I found it hardcover used today, and guys, I literally cannot resist.

Oh my fucking god, you cannot DRIVE to the San Juan Islands!!!!!!! Argh! If you’re going to set your book in this area, the BARE MINIMUM of research will tell you this!!! The SJI aren’t a “two hour drive” from anywhere, because you cannot drive to them! I will not stand for this ferry erasure.

For book club. A sapient octopus POV is gonna be rough, yall.

For book club

I have been reading this for 84 years.

(Keeping it vague to avoid spoilers, but I WILL KNOW WHAT I MEAN.) I’m calling it right now: this decision on this page will be what ultimately brings down The Villain.

For Book Club. (And I know it’s premature but as of now, what a deeply, deeply underwhelming premise.)

Whew, Part One was a ride. Beautiful and sad.

Okay. This book is ridiculous and I’m eye-rolling every single page just trying to get it over with, but, here on page 292, I need to make especial note of this:

“…from a cashier at the 7-Eleven, collecting $3.30 for a Slurpee.” I’m sorry, hwhat? Of all the silly implausible things in this book, the idea of paying THREE DOLLARS AND THIRTY CENTS for a slurpee is the one that finally broke me.

“Instead of building a hermitage, he fell in love! Made glorious music with his fellow, travelled widely, drew tears from an emperor, melted her hard heart, bumped history out of one groove into another. Strand 22 crosses Strand 56, if I’m not mistaken, and somewhere downthread a bud’s bloomed bright enough to taste.”

I have no idea what I’m reading but I’m all in.

For book club

Why would Hypsipyle try to convince Atalanta to stay on Lemnos? Atalanta has no sway here! This book is illogical and, for its short length, boring.

This book is so rough that I just took a break to let myself read the acknowledgments, usually a happy little treat I save for having finished a book, and now I’m even more wrecked.

For book club. Is this YA? It feels like YA.

For book club

DNF at halfway because there’s no way I’m finishing this in time for book club tonight and there’s no other impetus for me to read it after that. I know I *should* like this book and I certainly loved moments of it…but ultimately I just felt bored. I even tried alternating reading and listening to it, but even that couldn’t see me through. I can’t tell if the book is super unfocused or if it’s me.

For book club. The copy I got at the library has incessant handwritten underlining and footnotes and it just makes me want to die.

For book club

Page 31: I was right; this is going to be a hate-read. So!

Because of:

1) the author’s apparent inability to understand the difference between the vagina and the vulva (for instance, you do not wax a vagina!), and

2) her incessant mocking of therapy-speak and its adjacents…

do we think she’s a MAGA conservative? I’m going to read it through this lens even if I’m wrong, just for the LOLs.

I’ve been saving this for a happy little treat after finishing the books I’m currently working or slogging my way through, but you know what, times are tough and I just want to read something fun, familiar, and confectionery. So fuck it.

I know I complain a lot about about editing, but I swear I only do it with books from major publishers, not small presses or self-published.

On that note, WTF Random House? In one short story, the rancor is referred to as “Patessa” almost as many times as he is referred to by his correct name, “Pateesa,” so frequently it almost seems deliberate. AND he is referred to once as “she.” It’s embarrassing.

For book club omg page 7 and it’s already so tedious.

Omg Laurent POV!

For book club