I've read like half of Flags on the Bayou by him before I stopped. It wasn't what I expected and couldn't get past what I wanted it to be vs what it was. I hope to revisit it someday with a more open mind as I loved his style and voice.
The Dave Robicheaux books are excellent. I'm on book 8 now. Has the grizzled cop pulp fiction shit mixed with some excellent, poetic prose.
I haven’t been here in a while but I’ve read a couple great books recently. The Fiddler in the Subway is just excellent essay/journalist writing by an excellent writer. And Demon Copperhead lived up to the hype. As someone who works a lot in Appalachia, she nails it. This fiction is so much more accurate than JD Vance’s dumbass book.
Yeah. It becomes an extremely pointed critique of consumerism, celebrity culture, entertainment, capitalism, empiricism, corporate indenture, the ruling elite, etc. It starts out absurd, fun, and hilarious--and then stays that way--but with every new book revealing new layers and critiques. It continuously asks what it means to be human in a world that is trying to take that from you in new and horrific (yet hilarious) ways.
read Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones in a day, incredible stuff. one of his best I've read
the last few pages are gonna stick with me a long time (I also said exactly this about Angel of Indian Lake and Teenage Slasher lmao)
Finishing the last stretch of Reinaldo Arenas' second in his five-book Pentagonia series, The Palace of the White Skunks -- took me awhile but it is fucking phenomenal. Really unlike anything else I've experienced in a novel though I suppose you could compare him to a Latin American William Faulkner, yet simultaneously more experimental and paradoxically accessible than him. I get shades of Robert Bolaño's 2666 as well, among several other great works, but Arenas really does his own thing. Glad I still have three books left. It's the kind of thing I never want to end because I dread going back to something more formally traditional. Like the greatest authors can do, it's inspired me to throw out every writing rule and follow my own creative urges. My next book will absolutely be hybrid as fuck.
Finished The Ancestry of Objects by Tatiana Ryckman and thought it was great, albeit heavy. Her writing is very lyrical and evocative; a quick read but not a fun one. "A glittering mass in the path ahead lures us. The undulating waves of reflected light make the object seem out of focus. We come close and stare at it for many long moments. Like the hazy dizziness of standing too quickly, our brain struggles to make meaning of what we’re seeing. Then we see teeth. And the stretched holes that once held eyes but now release a cascade of larvae, like a waterfall of individual tears. The white, writhing bodies spill infinitely from every hole in the rodent’s small carcass. We are repulsed and think of our own corpse—found one day in the house, months decomposed—that this is not how we would like to be found. But almost immediately we think that this is how we want to live. So full of life that it spills from every orifice. And for the first time we understand our grandparents’ blind pursuit of the Holy Spirit, a longing to be inhabited and consumed by it. We think it must look like this." I started David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I read Cloud Atlas my freshman year of college and I remember liking it, but never read anything else of his. The synopsis of this one didn’t sound particularly appealing, but a friend I trust recommended it a while back and I saw it come up on some lists when I was trying to think of what next to read, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I am definitely already liking it so far just 30-40 pages in - I’ve already met at least five different characters with distinct personalities.
I still have a long way to go but The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet has truly been such a delight so far.
At work, they said that we could read in between calls. Then they changed it so we can only read books that are personal or professional development books. It's super stupid. Like, I don't want to read How to Win Friends and Influence People again. Are there any of these books that are actually helpful and don't suck?
I mean... I'd argue that every book I read adds to my personal development! I'm in my romance book era right now which I never thought I'd say. Read Heated Rivalry and am waiting for the Long Game to be available. In the meantime I'm reading Red White and Royal Blue. Also I volunteer at a bookstore and book people are the best. Never judgemental and accept everyone's weird niche book genre and interests. I don't even think I read anything that weird. But it makes me happy that people feel accepted. I just love that a covolunteer can be like "yay I've been looking for this alien smut book forever" or like "ok I recommend this series where the woman is half vampire half dragon who lives in a world where men only exist to breed and she has to save the world from the demon that's also her brother" and nobody bats an eye.
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman Stolen Focus by Johann Hari I feel like you could justify these, and they're pretty interesting books. I stay away from self-help but these two made me rethink some of my habits. What field are you in? Can PD books include the history of your industry or something?
Hmm that's an interesting question. Probably. I'm in customer service for a pest control company. Thanks for your help!
Finished the audiobook of Cameron Crowe's autobiography and it was tremendous. If you are interested in 70s music, particularly "classic rock" you will find it so interesting. Full of emotion as well as he reflects back on special times spent with artists who have since passed as well as some family trauma. Though it's still good fun for the majority. Good stuff especially the chapters on the Allman Brothers Band, Bowie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin.