Okay, I have officially given up on trying to learn anything from the Idiot's Guide to To Throwing A Great Party. I have zero faith in any advice in there, since they recommended a "Minstrel Party" and singing Suwanee River for an ideal Memorial Day BBQ party. I'm thinking I don't care what you say is the faux pas of using an appetizer fork instead of a dessert fork is if you're busy recommending with a racist garden party in the backyard... #bookreview
For Asians, especially #TootSEA folks, Kishore's talking points will be familiar. But Western readers will find it confronting as it pops many ideological bubbles & it'll hit at the ego.
It is refreshing to read geo #politics from a SEA perspective. I'm used to Western narratives, so to see my thoughts represented here is quite validating. This was written in the Trump era, so it's painful to see his warnings come to pass especially with China, Ukraine & Russia😞
Ever wonder why when you were a kid in Oregon, you learned about the Iroquois and Cherokee tribes of the Eastern USA but nothing about local Native Americans? Why you learned about the pioneers crossing the plains on the Oregon Trail, but nothing about what they did once they arrived?
...Or maybe you didn't even notice how much was left out until this very moment, reading my words?
Here is the missing piece.
"Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley" by David G. Lewis.
Fair warning, this book made me so upset that I cried. Not at the author, he's done an excellent job. At the astonishing cruelty, violence, and dishonesty shown to native people by (many) white settlers. At how little they asked for, and still didn't get. At how little is left of the ecosystems that sustained people and wildlife and were carefully maintained by native people. At how much astonishing wealth has accrued to those who stole from natives, even to the modern day.
Land acknowledgement statements are not enough! If you are a white person in Oregon, you need to read this.
1/ A remarkable book that uses the singular titular document to unlock a much bigger, mostly overlooked story: the US's role in the birth of Bangladesh. Bass argues that Nixon and Kissinger's treatment of Bangladesh has been forgotten by history but shouldn't be. ↵ #BookReview
This book is outstanding. It's the mid 1980s, you're administrating a nascent fleet of UNIX boxen, and you are tasked with accounting for a 75¢ billing discrepancy. Naturally that eventually leads into an international conspiracy involving the FBI, NSA, and an excellent recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It is…
Rather pleasingly, I averaged one book a week this year, 52 in total. 24 by women - although that doesn't include compilations which had a mixture of genders. So fairly even handed. As per usual, I alternated between fiction and non-fiction. I find my brain gets confused otherwise. I also set my eReader to have […]
My #bookreview is brief/won't spoil, to spread good, great, & spectacular #horror#books far & wide.
Upon finishing NORTH AMERICAN LAKE MONSTERS I sat, quietly devastated by the elegant, bleak prose that spooled out stories of souls broken by fate, circumstance, tragedy, &/or the random cruelties of others. Beautiful, savage, resonant. A "must-read" collection.
(Small Beer Press)
Like it says in the beginning, you don't need to read all of it - I skimmed the sections about starting an instance & tools. I would vote for @Ivory be included in the next edition 😁
I'm still confused how the character limit gets set for replies. Does it follow the original post? or is is set by the instance you are on, or the app/platform? Maybe it's all in my head.
Excellent companion story to Nineteen Eight-Four told from Julia's point of view. A very clever plot and additional detail which fleshes out living in Airstrip One
My #bookreview is brief/won't spoil, to spread good, great, spectacular #horror#books far & wide.
HAUNTING LESSONS will haunt you. Patrick Barb has created a tragic little tale that packs a powerful punch of pathos & pain within its spare but effective/affecting prose. Caitlin Marceau's illustrations are the perfect compliment to this poignant, unique, memorable story. (Shortwave)
I just binged on Silo, the Apple TV series, and it's so hooking. Kind of a fresh take on dystopia. Now I want to read the books, they are by Hugh Howey, and I wonder if they are worth a read? Anyone got an insight?
1/ For some years now, @kashhill has been a leading journalist on privacy and technology. Here she mainly tells the human story behind the facial recognition company Clearview (whom she brought to national attention). But there's much more to the book. ↵ #BookReview
This book was absolutely unhinged. That’s the best way I can describe it. The main character was unhinged, the way the book took a turn and nearly became a horror novel was unhinged. The way it ended was unhinged. I was getting so enraged at the main character’s behavior that I was live reacting as I read in a mutual’s DMs who had just finished reading the book the week prior.
Would I read this book again? Probably. Not anytime in the near future though. Aside from the insane plot line, this book touched on themes like interpersonal racism, discrimination, identity and authenticity, representation, cultural appropriation, and cancel culture.
My #bookreview is brief/won't spoil, to spread good, great, spectacular #horror#books far & wide.
A HAUNTING ON THE HILL by Elizabeth Hand is fine, as a "haunted house" book. It's competent & relatively engaging AS LONG AS YOU DON'T COMPARE IT TO THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE.
The tone, plot, & writing is not at the same level- not even in the same neighborhood- as Jackson's. Hill House's horrors still walk alone.