It became apparent this was never going to do much for me. Had a strong start, and a rambling haunted mansion which helps. Ultimately too exaggerated and not very engaging, my mind kept wandering. The final straw was the multi page yawnfest intro of the protagonists siblings, all high fliers. Doctor, entrepreneur etc. Like Kelman was trying to make this ultra cool set of people but no family is that perfect, and I don‘t care much for them.

A journey of hideouts, waiting, drinking, surviving, desire. I did find it a little immature, a teenagers impatience and desires. Enjoyed the settings and insight into a world of the petty criminal 60s France and she did have a great voice.

As much as I appreciated Sula, at no point did I feel hooked. I slogged through some of the winding lengthy philoso-prose, didn‘t get much of a picture of some of the characters. Kept feeling like putting it down. Through telling of black stories, black community I gained something, the story and book itself a bit meh unfortunately.

Like so many books of its type, there is some generally useful thought and a heck of a lot of filler. Should‘ve been 5-10 pages. It‘s aimed at leadership levels, I‘d be wary of anyone in leadership who got much out of it. One would hope that experience, self reflection and personal growth would have gotten you there. But then management are often some of the least capable people in an org. I wouldn‘t recommend wasting the paper this is printed on.

One of those books I just could not put down. Small town drama, class disparity, murders, pain, violence, inter generational trauma, care wrapped up and delivered in a masterful voice. Finished it mid morning in the bath, felt fitting given Camille‘s situation at that time. I‘m hooked and look forward to reading more Flynn.

I received this as a birthday present. Quick read and utterly enjoyable, just what I needed after recent non fiction. I think one would call this teen fiction. In some ways it reads younger but then some of the events and themes would certainly affect those too young. Really loved this world and tale, will be looking for more of the series now. Books as gifts always appreciated here!

Found the style a little hard to get into at first, but after easing in it was an enjoyable read. Some of the things said may not have got past the editors these days, but the use of these isn‘t so toxic, I believe anyhow. The topics still relevant today, a cynical, satirical dystopian ‘near future‘ with an entertaining plot. Conspiracy, espionage, murder, plenty of dark humour and there‘s even a car chase in there.

Coming from Aotearoa NZ I‘d always been interested to read Mansfield. Not really for me however. The characters and situations lean into ‘hysterical women‘, the events not all that interesting. I enjoyed the descriptions of places, furniture, clothing, transport but ultimately after 50 or so pages I had to put this down.

I‘d watched the multi-part Al Jazeera ‘al nakba‘ and was so impressed by an interviewee speaking fluent Arabic that I looked him up and bought his book. It is a wonderful work spanning the Ottoman occupations (1500‘s) to the mid 00‘s, utilising a vast amount of Arabic material rather than a usual western-heavy approach. Learned so much. If you‘re interested in the region and it‘s events, relevant to us all in many ways - please check this one out.

I‘m struggling to articulate this one. Important; intersectional; staunchly anti capitalist and decolonial. I‘m in agreement with much of the book. A lot of it is very academic in language, and very French in its history covered but not inaccessible. A summary could be single issues will not win in struggles for equality, decolonisation must be strived for and respectability politics is futile. I need to read some fiction to feel less glum now.

In Dark Emu we learn that pre colonial Australia was not populated by unsophisticated nomadic hunter gatherers, but by people who had established agriculture, lived in houses and villages, curated the landscape. Major crops included yams and grains. A people who lived for ~65,000 years with an attachment and respect for land and who did not rely on violence as an integral part of their society. We could all learn so much from First Nations people.

Insightful, heartbreaking, human. Loved this book, the world would be better if more people read this instead of social media comments.

I felt like putting this down half way through, and really I should have. Started strong, it wasn‘t perfect but I enjoyed it to begin with but once the ‘frighteners‘ started it was steadily downhill.

I‘m glad it‘s over! Which is sad to say of one I generally enjoyed. 933 pages was a bit much & would‘ve worked as two books. There is a lot in here. Adventure, danger, love, loss, laughs. Things I didn‘t like were the ego, much of the dialogue, philosophy without ever finding self, too many questionable decisions & unbelievably timed turns. First 2/3 enjoyable and I‘m glad I‘ve read it after occupying a thick chunk of shelf space for a few years.

Loved the vocabulary, the feel and visual writing, with a decent story. Very well done in writing to match the period. Much better than the movie adaptation.

Paul Jennings was funny when I was a child, turns out it‘s still funny. Moments of snorting laughter. Some of the settings feel less foreign to me now that I live in Australia. I enjoy his mix of supernatural into wild relatable life. Overall a welcome short break from my current studies.

I found this copy of Carrie for $2 while travelling. I‘d not read it before so the timing was perfect for a small village AirBnB read. I love the cover of this one.
It‘s much more fulfilling and multi-dimensional than the movie(s). Not my favourite of his work, I think he got a lot better but it‘s the perfect size for what it is, the story & characters & torment of Carrie developed well. I thought the closing line was stupid and unnecessary.

The second Lindqvist I‘ve read - the first being Let The Right One In, of course. Harbour is not a horror. Sci fi and mystery. I enjoyed it, hooked from@the start and did not feel as long as it is. Good character development, I enjoy the Swedish Archipelago setting, it‘s a good read. I do think he cheated somewhat and the end felt a bit too easy, but it didn‘t ruin it for me. Looking forward to reading another.

How happy was I when I found this for a dollar? Pretty happy! A short one. Two brothers, one a teacher, one an addict. Trying to love & understand & survive. An insight into the time and place, conditions & struggles. Wonderfully Baldwin.

A collection of shorts. I enjoyed the first the most - Augustus. A little bit of sci fi here, and being Hesse his hope & struggle with humanity is evident although not so misanthropic.

I enjoyed this collection of short stories. Steinbeck's writing represents a time, place and culture and for a small while I felt like a very close observer of the young boy Jody and his experience, or at least a slice of his time. It isn't exactly an uplifting book, reminding you that growing up on the range kept one close to loss and death.It wasn't depressing though, it was just life.

Cute but also a bit tedious. Not sure if it's intended to be teen fiction but felt like it.
I enjoyed the framing of the invention in question (which I won't name as it's a spoiler) as being pivotal in the world and the bartering between angels and demons in its allowed use.

My first 1940s pulp fiction detective read. It reads like a noir detective film narrative - I suppose they actually are based on this narrative style. To begin with I was edging on bailing, so many ands in descriptive sentences! He's not exactly respectful of women which is at times uncomfortable, but not surprising for the time. Some incredible cutting wit, a fairly well pieced together mystery plot and overall a decent read.

Probably the favourite cover of all my books. A collection of short stories, very old novel extracts, and 'essays' on the occult, satanism & 'witchcraft'.

It took me a long time to get through. A bunch of old long winded & frankly boring pieces. A lot of ridiculous claims in the 'essays' in mid 20th century style.

Also some really fun and interesting stuff in here and it looks so cool so is still a pick from me and staying in my collection.

I was finding it OK but kinda boring.

When I hit a page mentioning "ni***rtown" followed by a plot of radical Sikhs planning to blow people up I bailed. Sure he might be trying to portray a dumb racist, & maybe in 1992 the idea of terrorist Sikhs wasn't so culturally problematic but I just don't have patience for it, especially when it's not very engaging otherwise.

The concept of hologram like thoughts that we all emanate was kinda cool though.

Informative, interesting book on the United Fruit company - which later became known as Chiquita - and their expansion across and exploitation of Central America from mid 19th century toward today. An empire unto itself - with close allies in the US govt - their practices in propaganda, intervening in govts, union busting, pollution, worker exploitation and generally rigging the game they were a blueprint for later globalisation.

I read this during long haul flights from Australia to Spain and back, which felt fitting to the discomfort. Overall it left me unsatisfied. Why is there a Long Walk? What are the Squads? Had any winner survived? What actually happened at the end? Interesting idea but not a book I'd recommend, probably would have enjoyed as a novella but pointless as a novel.

This book shatters the narrative utilised by politicians, corporations, billionaires & moral crusaders. The conditions underpinning Modern Slavery are neither modern nor slavery. Exploitation and the systemic issues underpinning our society are at the root and the Modern Slavery frame is used to deflect the focus while also further criminalising, controlling, deporting people while generating quite an industry for itself. A must read!

Motivating & insightful. King is humble, funny, human & engaging. It‘s all about the story baby. This is no writers retreat or 10 step program, it‘s not a social media gimmick, just advice and truths from one of the masters. Highly recommend if you have any creative pursuit, while I don‘t write a lot I found it very applicable to my music work.

Filing next to ‘Deep Work‘ and ‘The War of Art‘. What it all comes down to is doing the work.

Read this over the xmas/NY break. A top secret group kidnapping children with extra sensory abilities, a genius kid, interweaving storyline‘s converging to a showdown, small town USA. King doing his thing well yet again. The most recent book of his I‘ve read, weird seeing him writing about catching Ubers but he has kept up and stays relevant. Very enjoyable.

Picked up this box of books for $4 at a small town op shop yesterday and under the top layer of books was blown away upon finding a 1st edition (although ‘second impression‘) of Nobody Knows My Name as well as two Solzhenitsyn and a bunch of other great titles (and some straight into a trade-in pile). This was a fantastic op shop day.

It took me a long time to finish, I‘d pick it up, get through a small chunk & then read another book. A classic in anarchism & still generally a worthwhile and relevant critique of capitalism and statist communism. Kropotkin has an optimistic view of humanity and sometimes I found his assertions to be well meaning but unlikely, although much of the general argument is agreeable. Also enjoyed finding other material through the footnotes.

She should have shot him. I really liked how Ann Burden was so capable and a survivor, but constantly excusing this guy who tried to rape her, control her, starve her, shoots her, tries to kidnap her and then leaving him to have everything of hers was not something I admired in this story at all. The bit where she stands in front of his gun and he doesn‘t shoot her is also totally unbelievable. Big let down.

A recent op shop find and reread after 15 years. Very gory, lots of gay sex, necrophilia, the French quarter of New Orleans, drugs. What‘s not to like for a young goth? I‘d recently tried re-reading Lost Souls and found that hard to get into, like it was trying too hard to be super goth, but with this one it wasn‘t as cheesy as I‘d thought it‘d be and more enjoyable. By the closing chapters I was looking forward to it being over though.

Balked at 35 pages. It felt like a rambling teen fiction, was a bit unfocused and I had a high sense of this being very unexciting for me.

Although it‘s not overly long this was still slow going. I kept coming back to “If I was on this boat I‘d tell Marlow to stop waffling.” I didn‘t really get the reverence for Kurtz and his going on about him was a bore. I did like reading a first hand account of part of the colonisation of Africa and I felt like his distaste for it was apparent. Glad I read it but not heaps fun.

I got through 68 pages. It wasn‘t overly bad but I was completely disinterested. I skipped through to some later sections and the pace and tone remained and so am very happy to bail on this. A case where the movie is better than the book.

My British step father read this to me over a series of nights almost 30 years ago, and it left a lasting impression. I recently decided to get a copy for my niece but read it before sending it on. Still enjoyable, a great children‘s adventure book.

A short book where Marks reconnects with his homeland of Wales and researches some of the characters and history in his family. It‘s a good little read, even if you‘re not familiar with Mr Nice or into drug escapades (which hardly feature in this book) it‘s an enjoyable light read, although I would t go out of my way to find it.

Loved this one. Breaking the seldom challenged narrative and focus on the killer and ‘just prostitutes‘ to bring us the stories of the victims, their lives and the times they lived in. Victorian era London was HARD, especially if you were a woman.

I picked this up from a free bin at a local charity shop, hence the F. I‘d have bought it at the original 50c price. An enjoyable quick read, even if you‘re no longer a child in body. Mrs Frisby has an adventure along with some enhanced escaped lab rats. I somewhat wish the rats had read some anarchist lit instead of learning they need crops, electricity and their subsistence was theft ;) The plot was familiar but I only vaguely recall the movie.

Finally read The Shining. Did not disappoint, and I‘ve just ordered Doctor Sleep. Having not (yet) seen the 1997 mini series I was glad for a story that differed to the movie. And so powerful having the thoughts, feelings and history of the characters.

It was OK. I can‘t help thinking if a child read this they‘d get bored and shifty. It felt like he had a hard time with this one, and it doesn‘t end well. He actually started a third but only got into one chapter which is probably for the best. I did enjoy his disdain for politicians in here. The ‘Chinese speak‘ was a bit weird, but not actually that bad considering his vintage? Every time I looked at the cover I saw the elevator as a joint haha

Love George Orwell / Eric Blair, his humanity, empathy and adventurous soul shine bright here. Orwell finds himself broke and becomes very familiar with the lodgings and options available to the destitute in late 1920‘s London and Paris. An insightful look at the circumstances of the poor during the time and places. Lead me to go and read more about English workhouses which is an interesting and grim history.

I‘m trying to bail more rather than suffering. Could have been a pamphlet.

Some good insight & some lines I even copied into one of my notebooks, but generally after the intro and first chapter it‘s not inspiring. I like the concept of Interference & Self 1 / Self 2 but it‘s repetitive and not for me at least at this stage in my music life.
Overall: Awareness, focus on one goal at a time, don‘t listen to the inner (self 1/Interference) voice.

“Hazards of Time Spent Reading a Boring Book”
A protagonist who is irritating and I couldn‘t relate to or sympathise for, with a story that is not very good. The events that this dystopian future had emerged from being the immediate aftermath of 9/11 made for a quickly aged concept, but yeah, mostly just totally boring and annoying. Had to skim the last half and was glad I hadn‘t spent more time with it.

First finished book of 2021 (started 2020). After much reading of technical and heavy history & politics a good story was much needed, and this delivered. Secret government experiments, a father and child trying to survive, a good wholesome old American couple wanting to help out, pyrokinesis and a bit of mind control. Not overly long, disturbing, horrific or gorey and so it suited me well for a holiday read.

Wanted to read more RAW for a long time, but this was not great. Plenty of little chuckles and some lovely counterculture explorations but a bit of a mess to try to read and felt like work. It did have a good flow for around the second quarter but then lost me again. The apparent digs at women‘s lib and black panthers did not help.

A book for Instagram haha. I thought I‘d give a collection of Crowley writing a go, but while it might look good on my bookshelf to me it‘s impenetrable, exceedingly trite.

It seemed fitting to follow Wild Swans with this short memoir. A day in a soviet gulag. Insightful, human, strong and full of perspective. At times I felt physically cold while reading it. Highly recommend.