Libby > Recent Status Updates

Liaising to this whilst I wait for another book to become available. I think I may have actually read most of this before - but I'm not sure I finished it, hence it lurking on my to-read list.

Just in the intros, and so far, marvellous.

Forgot to add this. Have been listening on and off for 3 weeks. It's good, but difficult to have on just in the background.

I'm agreeing with a lot of what they're saying, but I've got some criticisms. I find it a little overly defensive of gatekeeping, which in my opinion has actually caused some of the problems (at least in voter apathy). But we'll see how it continues. Oh PS quite vague/quiet on American influence into the rise of Pinochet....

So I'm nearly a quarter of the way through the book already, and I've got bad news for America...

OK so it's definitely an attempt at irony - if it wasn't clear before, it is now. But it's tedious still and I'm not sure that wins me over.

About 47% into this book, I got frustrated. It's mostly just her thoughts in her head, and God, does she repeat herself (often about God!). I check again at 55 and not much changes, even though LOTS happens in this time period. It just goes on and on. She is obsessed with hating the Queen, pines for her son, is quite delusional. I have thought several times now, just get on with it already.

Trying to read books I don't normally read. It's an audiobook, and it's kind of funny when she does the men's voices...

Started this 2 weeks ago. Audiobook. She's brilliant.

Gotta be honest, this was coming in at 2 stars until he started talking about acting...

I was listening to Noam Chomsky, but as I'm packing our last boxes today before moving tomorrow, I couldn't concentrate as much as I'd like, so put this audiobook on instead. So far, unimpressed. He is a good storyteller when he wants to be, but spends most of the time living up to his curmudgeon persona. Did I really just listen to him talking about buying printer ink??

Started this audiobook today. It's OK, but not much beyond that. Trying to remember if she's a problematic famous person. I will say, I'm a little sad she's caked herself fat or chubby, when she looks great. Her childhood photos don't really look fat either. Big cheeks but that's it. It felt like pretty unhealthy standards to perpetuate.

It's hilarious but oh god, that shite story

Listening to the audiobook, and I had to stop when he described being on radio, how you must imagine you're talking to one person, bc if you knew you were talking to several Wembley arenas in one go, you'd panic. I think that's why I did so well on my radio show in uni. I assumed it was late and maybe 5 people were listening, until a friend told me he was in a police car (innocently) and they were listening. Crazy.

This certainly had a bit of a dip in terms of interesting anecdotes (really didn't need a list and analysis of several palmist readings in my life) but even the slightly dull bits were an interesting look into the times. His commentary on the US inevitably heading to monarchy - I wonder what he'd say today?

I was defensive of the first volume of the autobiography because I felt it editor's notes at the beginning were engaging. However, some of what's being discussed (Grant's autobiography) feels quite a bit repetitive, and I can't remember how it was included in the first volume, but I feel like the editors could have been generous on their amendments here.

I mostly enjoy this book, but she is struggling a little with all the different advice to give on ambition and living in the present. One guru says don't focus on goals because you'll miss what's immediately in front, another says your goals are a mountain and should inspire you, or something. I'm not sure. But frankly, I think this is a real struggle to advise on as well as live by, future focus v present moment.

Haven't had a lot of time to read, but picking this back up again. And my god, the conversation I'm reading now is like a script from Andrew Tate. The scariest thing about Atwood's writing is that it's not based on dystopian future fantasies / sci-fi, but on things in the present, or at least the present when it was written.