panNope. When I go into a book knowing there's a semi-absurd premise, something where you're going to work extra hard to suspend disbelief and not think too hard about the details, I'm looking for the result to be charming or meaningful. I feel like this book didn't manage either.
Started out thinking it could have been a novella, now convinced that amount of plot and original rumination minus the redundancies would have fit in a short story. 1/?
pickIf you have an interest in how our government has become so entrenched in our economy and eroded our private rights, this is your book. It is eye opening to see how they've done it and how so many went along.
How did we get "Big Government"? This is going to be heady and informative
Final #BookSpin wrap up for the year. I completed 9/12 picks. Not my greatest year but as always I enjoy making my monthly list and I enjoy seeing the titles coming off my tbr pile. Thanks for hosting another great year of reading @TheAromaofBooks now off to complete the google doc.
pan⭐️⭐️out of 5️⃣ Folks, it was pretty unpretty.
pickAs a veteran bus traveller, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was deadpan and absurd and at the same time felt 100% accurate, probably because Mills himself works as a bus driver. The ending was perfect. Highly recommended.
pickAnother not widely know serial murder. In the 70s several children went missing and were then found dead. Nobody has ever been charged with the murders. This happened in the suburbs of Detroit. What was uncovered was a deep and thriving child sex/porn network involving auto executives and children of executives.
There was/is speculation of cover ups and incredibly bungled police work.
👇🏼 more
pickJanuary #bookspin
Book 4 for #JumpStart2023 and first #bookspin of the year complete! I enjoyed this short story that is a thought provoking look at happiness.
#adventrecommends, @emilyrose_x
It's a clever blend of dystopia, absurdism and Kafka, but it is mostly conveyed dispassionately. While this wasn't a favorite book of 2022, it is one I am glad to have read and one I would not have read without Litsy's #FoodandLit challenge.
I think it's among the scientific literature nowadays that people's natural happiness level varies person to person, something to do with genetics and brain chemistry, beyond what outside factors could modify it, and this story felt like a 5d
The text just barely grazes against the whole, 'many types of privilege, reasons why he's actually very lucky even if one might not rate his life spectacular' which at this point feels so well covered in attempting to gain a more intersectional understanding in non-fiction of how various minorities 5d
And really most of this book, wherein one might assume the author wants us to recognize the many sources of contentment and simple joys in our lives, is chock-full of anxiety-generators: a large unpaid expense coming out of the blue, the idea that 'the best things in life are free' is no longer a reality, and you 5d
Maybe there's an unconvincing romantic thread that's supposed to be blossoming in those phone conversations but for most of it he's being a whiny, entitled ass.
5d
I just - if the author was sincere then I'm sorry I didn't receive whatever he was trying to get across. If this was actually a cynical cash grab in the YOLO/self-help adjacent/contemporary feel-good genre than I'm not surprised and also very comfortable with the fact that I basically just roasted it. 🔥 (edited) 5d