Month: March 2024

A clear, well-written guide to improving writing. I found the studies and examples helpful in understanding the concepts. Useful indeed. 

A beautifully illustrated story that I think is let down by its overall narrative structure and reliance on sudden narrative jump cuts; it was hard to tell the passage of time and the authors growth throughout the story. I liked, very much, reading the author’s afterword, but I wish more of that had of come across in the text itself.

Decent analysis about the upcoming domination (or not) of AI in our lives. While I thought the actual rules weren’t so useful, I thought the nuance Roose adds in to a debate that is often presented as AI being all good or all bad was what made this interesting to read. 

Lawson has a lot of great stories, and while I found the analysis and history of Meditations (or Jottings as I am tempted to call it after Mary Beard) to be a little so-so, this is a fun, breezy sort of book. I especially liked the use of blue ink throughout the book.

Firstly, the fat-shaming descriptions of the librarian were painful to read and felt rather at odds with the rest of the book, which is an entirely lovely thing that I couldn’t wait to read every night. If you can overlook the fatphobia, you’ll be delighted by this warm, comforting book.  

I find dipping my toes into the world of minimalism always a curious experience: it is a topic overwhelmingly dominated by white middle-to-upper class tech-adjacent bros, who hawk their ideas and solutions as if they were a panacea. I think this book is perhaps a little better than that bleak prognosis, but not by much alas. I found his argument interesting, and I think I will try the digital declutter he suggests. 

I had a ghastly time reading this—it was simply too much for me, the delicate violet that I am. Yet I think this is, in some ways, a necessary book: the hate and violence towards our trans-brothers and -sisters is appalling and needs to be called out and explored within fiction and outside of fiction. The body horror elements of this book turned my stomach, and I don’t know whether to congratulate the author for creating something so genuinely shocking or run away from thinking about this book. Provocative, gross, and brave. 

Note: I have pixelated the cover for the front page. If you’d like to see the original, it is here.

Guha puts forward a concise set of skills that we all need to thrive in an increasingly chaotic and uncertain world. This book is smartly designed, readable, and infused with real wisdom and wit. Plus bonus points for Ahona being a fellow greyhound carer and advocate.

A masterpiece. I’ve long admired Professor Beard’s work on Ancient Rome, and this her most recent work is a triumph of delving into the complexity and the fact and fiction of what it was to be a Roman Empire. By taking the Emperors as a category, Beard teases out so many fascinating details and stories, while also being very clear about what we actually know. Fantastic! 

Press (what an Author’s name!) presents chilling case study after chilling case study, humanizing those society has forced to do our collective dirty work. However, the book falls down in that it does not offer a way forward or solutions to the issues expressed. Still, Press’ plea that we see these people are not only people but our agents and we be willing to bear witness to their stories is a powerful conclusion. 

Few people write like Patchett, and so reading this, a collection of her essays, is a true delight. The topics she covers are varied and shine a light on her fascinating life and her evolving relationship with that great old inevitability of life, death! Reading these essays makes me want to be both a better writer but also, and I can think of no better testimony than this, a better person. 

A book that confused me; it invoked a feeling I haven’t had since a teen of reading serious novels and just feeling slightly off put; almost as if I was missing something fundamental. Torres has created a smart novel with some metatextual tricks and delights. While I did not love it, and skimmed the back half, it is an interesting and valuable piece of modern queer literature.