emma > Status Update

Emma, the fact that you only loved 2 of them, doesn’t surprise me. The quality of books available has declined over the years. AND the reviews on every book we read make it sounds like the greatest written masterpiece ever. When did book reviewers get a pass on being honest about the drivel available to read? Read one old classic and the difference in quality is so obvious. Have we substituted quality for quantity? Thanks for our honest assessments of these books.

Trying to compare the bulk of what is released now to books that have stood the test of time is a classic case of survivorship bias.

july was a rough reading month for me as well but among those reads was this hoe got roaches in her crib so i kinda did that to myself

June was pretty good, I‘ve discovered a few great new books, but, to be honest, I don‘t have very high standards. I really love your reviews though and I‘m always quite inspired by them. I‘m fairly bad at writing reviews since they are always so blund and all sound the same. Best were „The Bone Season“- Series (Samantha Shannon) and „Greek Lessons“ (Han Kang). Also, „We Have Always Lived In The Castle“ (Shirley Jackson) was surprisingly good. Just in case someone is interested.

In July, I read Elena Knows by Claudia Piñero (quite good), Seeing Further by Esther Kinsky (VERY good and life-changing even—it’s ignited a passion in me for the vitality of the cinema and its shared experience of wonder), The Suicides by Antonio Di Benedetto (very good, perfect for a suffocating summer day when you feel like dying), and Yi Sang: Selected Works (also very good, a collection of Korean Dadaist and surreal poetry and short stories). So you could say the past month was a success. Sorry about your abundance of duds. Hopefully August will be a good one.

anise wrote: "In July, I read Elena Knows by Claudia Piñero (quite good), Seeing Further by Esther Kinsky (VERY good and life-changing even—it’s ignited a passion in me for the vitality of the cinema and its sha..."

i love the way you described these — and i loved elena knows!

Smilla wrote: "June was pretty good, I‘ve discovered a few great new books, but, to be honest, I don‘t have very high standards. I really love your reviews though and I‘m always quite inspired by them. I‘m fairly..."

thank you so much! i love han kang and shirley jackson

julianna ☽ wrote: "july was a rough reading month for me as well but among those reads was this hoe got roaches in her crib so i kinda did that to myself"

laughed out loud

Sara wrote: "Trying to compare the bulk of what is released now to books that have stood the test of time is a classic case of survivorship bias."

hmmm

Denise wrote: "Emma, the fact that you only loved 2 of them, doesn’t surprise me. The quality of books available has declined over the years. AND the reviews on every book we read make it sounds like the greatest..."

i don't agree that every single contemporary book is drivel comparatively! i like reading both current and past literature