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Recent Reads
Aug. 6th, 2023 02:53 pmI'm trying a new thing where I'm reading a non-fiction book at the same time I'm reading a fiction book. So far it's gone well. I've read almost 2 books of fiction and 1/2 of a non-fiction book.
My relationship with non-fiction has mostly been "but I don't liiiiike it" which is silly considering that I enjoy long articles on the internet. And what's a non-fiction book than a series of articles with a common theme? Hence, my decision that any non-fiction I read should be read in conjunction with a work of fiction.
Another new thing I'm trying is a new bit of HTML I found somewhere. Hopefully this works!
Most of my vlogbrothers content has been consumed via their podcast "Dear Hank and John." That's on haitus with Hank's recent cancer diagnosis. Wishing him well on his recovery! In any case, I listened to them promote The Anthropocene Reviewed when it came out in hardcover. And with my recent non-fiction decision above, I wanted to make sure this book was on my shelf. I am unfamiliar with the podcast the book is based on, but I am delighted by these essays. The topics range from the big (Humanity's Temporal Range) to the small (Halley's Comet) to the random (Penguins of Madagascar), and the end of each essay is paired with a rating on a five-star scale. I made it a personal project to pencil in the final rating on the Table of Contents of the book, which makes finishing the book a completionist game. I must record what all the ratings are! And it must be recorded after I read the essay in question! I rarely rate a book on a five-star rating, but I give The Anthropocene Reviewed four stars.
I picked up this book solely because an online friend posted about it on BeReal and said the transmasc love interest was almost literally them, right down to the French. So I read it and loved it. The characters were lovable and there was pining and fake dating and everything was so queer. I wouldn't call myself a stranger to the transgender experience, but I am not transgender myself so wouldn't know if this book takes a simplistic approach for the sake of a cisnormative readership to some type of detriment. Anyway, this book is worth picking up if you enjoy queer romances of the rom-com variety.
I'm not done reading this yet, but I am having an absolute blast! I will definitely be finished sometime in the next day or so after this post is posted. This reads to me more like an adventure story with a major horror component, but that does not take away from my fun. I love the main character. She starts as an ardent Christian but develops away from that mindset in a realistic way. I like how, throughout the course of the book, faith is not actively discarded as being the source of evil, it's the people who manage the big religious institution (cult) of her hometown. A book that acknowledges the difference between faith and bad people is rare to find. Normally its faith that's given a bad rap. Let me know what you thought about this book if you've read it! I'm dying to talk to others about it.
Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought of them. Meanwhile, here's some various and sundry to keep you updated on my life.
>> I recently acquired my dad's old record player and a small percentage of his records. I can get it to play if I hook it up through my television, but it really needs a speaker set of its own. So I'm putting that on my birthday list for this year, in addition to a few other items I already told my mom about.
>> I also have my dad's old guitars. He wasn't much of a musician, but he did love music. I have two guitars now. For a long, long time, I thought his old Kay was hard to play because the strings were high on the frets. But I plucked around on both guitars the other day and learned that no, I'm just a whimp with no callouses on my fingers. :P I'll be building those up in the next few weeks as I look for a guitar teacher in my area.
>> I have a date tonight! I've been trying to do more with dating, and I'm fearful that I'm somehow doing it all Wrong because this is the first time in my life I'm actively pursuing it. If my date decides to reschedule again (we rescheduled last week, probably because it was too soon for her), I might tell her that we have one more shot before I call it quits on my end. This will be our first date too, so I hope we hit it off. She's into superheros and went to a Superman convention earlier this year. If we start going steady (omg what an old term!) I'll have to start watching the DC shows on the CW, an act I would not mind AT ALL. Anyway, I'm excited to get to know her tonight. If you have tips for flirting or tips on finding dates, do let me know!
[EDIT] I just posted this and not an hour passed before she texted to cancel for tonight TT-TT Said she got interested in someone else. So I guess I'm treating myself to some yummy takeout for dinner. But first, I think, a walk for ice cream.
My relationship with non-fiction has mostly been "but I don't liiiiike it" which is silly considering that I enjoy long articles on the internet. And what's a non-fiction book than a series of articles with a common theme? Hence, my decision that any non-fiction I read should be read in conjunction with a work of fiction.
Another new thing I'm trying is a new bit of HTML I found somewhere. Hopefully this works!
NONFICTION: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (click me to read more)
Most of my vlogbrothers content has been consumed via their podcast "Dear Hank and John." That's on haitus with Hank's recent cancer diagnosis. Wishing him well on his recovery! In any case, I listened to them promote The Anthropocene Reviewed when it came out in hardcover. And with my recent non-fiction decision above, I wanted to make sure this book was on my shelf. I am unfamiliar with the podcast the book is based on, but I am delighted by these essays. The topics range from the big (Humanity's Temporal Range) to the small (Halley's Comet) to the random (Penguins of Madagascar), and the end of each essay is paired with a rating on a five-star scale. I made it a personal project to pencil in the final rating on the Table of Contents of the book, which makes finishing the book a completionist game. I must record what all the ratings are! And it must be recorded after I read the essay in question! I rarely rate a book on a five-star rating, but I give The Anthropocene Reviewed four stars. FICTION: Chef's Choice by TJ Alexander (click me to read more)
I picked up this book solely because an online friend posted about it on BeReal and said the transmasc love interest was almost literally them, right down to the French. So I read it and loved it. The characters were lovable and there was pining and fake dating and everything was so queer. I wouldn't call myself a stranger to the transgender experience, but I am not transgender myself so wouldn't know if this book takes a simplistic approach for the sake of a cisnormative readership to some type of detriment. Anyway, this book is worth picking up if you enjoy queer romances of the rom-com variety. FICTION: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (click me to read more)
I'm not done reading this yet, but I am having an absolute blast! I will definitely be finished sometime in the next day or so after this post is posted. This reads to me more like an adventure story with a major horror component, but that does not take away from my fun. I love the main character. She starts as an ardent Christian but develops away from that mindset in a realistic way. I like how, throughout the course of the book, faith is not actively discarded as being the source of evil, it's the people who manage the big religious institution (cult) of her hometown. A book that acknowledges the difference between faith and bad people is rare to find. Normally its faith that's given a bad rap. Let me know what you thought about this book if you've read it! I'm dying to talk to others about it.Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought of them. Meanwhile, here's some various and sundry to keep you updated on my life.
Other Life Sundries (click for more)
>> I recently acquired my dad's old record player and a small percentage of his records. I can get it to play if I hook it up through my television, but it really needs a speaker set of its own. So I'm putting that on my birthday list for this year, in addition to a few other items I already told my mom about.
>> I also have my dad's old guitars. He wasn't much of a musician, but he did love music. I have two guitars now. For a long, long time, I thought his old Kay was hard to play because the strings were high on the frets. But I plucked around on both guitars the other day and learned that no, I'm just a whimp with no callouses on my fingers. :P I'll be building those up in the next few weeks as I look for a guitar teacher in my area.
>> I have a date tonight! I've been trying to do more with dating, and I'm fearful that I'm somehow doing it all Wrong because this is the first time in my life I'm actively pursuing it. If my date decides to reschedule again (we rescheduled last week, probably because it was too soon for her), I might tell her that we have one more shot before I call it quits on my end. This will be our first date too, so I hope we hit it off. She's into superheros and went to a Superman convention earlier this year. If we start going steady (omg what an old term!) I'll have to start watching the DC shows on the CW, an act I would not mind AT ALL. Anyway, I'm excited to get to know her tonight. If you have tips for flirting or tips on finding dates, do let me know!
[EDIT] I just posted this and not an hour passed before she texted to cancel for tonight TT-TT Said she got interested in someone else. So I guess I'm treating myself to some yummy takeout for dinner. But first, I think, a walk for ice cream.
