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~ Braindead Microphone Essays - George Saunders ~
read in fall 2022
this book is a collection of George Saunders' articles that were published to various magazines throughout the last few decades. i found it to be incredibly entertaining, i've never read any of his work before but i thoroughly enjoyed his various voices and perspectives throughout the collection. a good amount of it is satire, and he's quite critical of US politics, but the 'essays' always end up being optimistic and he shows that regardless of political beliefs, we're all the same. the 'essays' in the collection range quite a bit in their contents, which kept it fresh. going from 'woof: a plea of sorts' (a letter from a dog to its owner asking them to stop getting drunk and dancing nude in the kitchen) to 'the great divider' (a series of interviews/experiences with various characters on the US-Mexico border, from impovershed immigrants to the leader of the Minutemen) was quite the rollercoaster and kept me gripped. at some points this book was laughably comedic and others quite insightful and thought-provoking, which to me means it was a good book.
recommend as casual reading
~ East of Eden - John Steinbeck ~
read in winter 2021
i would consider this to be my favorite book now. Steinbeck considers East of Eden to be his magnum opus, and i would have to agree with him. this book is truly phenomenal, and i found myself completely absorbed in the story every time i sat down to read it. the only other book i've read that can compete against the vast network of characters East of Eden contains is Imajica by Clive Barker (i read Imajica back in the winter of 2020 during a period when i was not logging, and i highly recommend you investigate it. it's been too long for me to write a full review, but it would sit with East of Eden in my top 5 books i've read). the unraveling of the story in this book just continued to shock me, and the relationships between the characters that are uncovered repeatedly stunned me. Sam Hamilton is one of my favorite characters ever, and i find myself thinking about him even though it's been months since i read this book. this was definitely a step above Grapes of Wrath in almost every way, and i'm very very happy i read it. interestingly enough, East of Eden is actually a retelling of the Book of Genesis too, which was fascinating to reflect upon.
one of my favorite books of all time
~ My Ishmael - Daniel Quinn ~
read august 2020
this book was not as groundbreaking or eye-opening for me as the first Ishmael, but i have a hunch that if i had skipped Ishmael and just read this one i would've had a similar epiphany. this book laid out ideas in a simpler and less radical format, and i would recommend this book first to someone who would have a difficult time accepting some of the bigger ideas in the first book. i preferred the narrarator in this book in comparison to the first book, and it included a nice amount of closure regarding the ending of the first book. the ideas in these books are extremely refreshing, and i feel like a conversation with the author would be infinitely intriguing. i now have my sights on The Story of B, which is the last book out of the three, and it looks like it's Quinn's magnum opus. i don't really have much to say about these books because i really do think that you should just read them, and recommend them to everyone you know. i feel as though i'd need to read them each three times before i'd feel confident reciting or explaining the concepts while being able to defend their integrity.
absolutely recommended
~ Ishmael - Daniel Quinn ~
read july 2020
by far the most thought-provoking and perspective-changing book i've read, period. im not going to say much about this book, but the one thing that you should take away from this entry is: read this book. i don't care about your age, nationality, political stance, or anything. it brought a new awareness into my daily life, and has me really questioning what we as a society should be doing differently. the actual plot of the book goes like this: an ex-dreamer finds an ad in the paper looking for people who genuinely want to change the world. considering the main character was essentially a retired hippy, he feels obligated to go because his seventeen year-old self would have without second thought. turns out the ad was written by a gorilla. a gorilla that teaches the main character how to think about mankind from an outside perspective through telepathy. sounds ridiculous, i know. all i need to say is that the book is a fairly easy and straight-forward read at face value, but look deeper and you'll find philosophy, profound observations about the past, and what we can learn as a species from the world around us.
strongly recommended
~ Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli ~
read july 2020
the first time i read this book was back in fourth grade for english class. it had left quite a positive imprint in my brain, and i found myself thinking about it on occasion so i decided to revist. fortunately it was just about as good as i remember. for context it's a young adult book, and i finished it in two sittings. Disney has gone ahead to make a movie rendition, and from what i can see in the trailers, it's hot garbage. in summary: manic pixie girl joins the public school system, acts strange in comparison to your typical cookie-cutter highschooler. main character falls in love with her, becomes embarrassed around peers due to her spunky behavior, attempts to change her, and ends up losing her. it was funny reading the comments under the trailer, everyone's asking, "so, this is basically 'im not like other girls…' the movie?". while i can't speak on the movie, i can assure that the book contains more depth than that. it's more like, "be yourself and hold onto your child-like curiosity" the book. the book explores identity and social pressure to conform, overall it's quite heartwarming and is a nice reminder to be unforgivably yourself.
would highly recommend
~ The Jungle - Upton Sinclair ~
read in july 2020
i thought this book was pretty good, especially for the time that it was written in and what it managed to do for our country. imagery was certainly its greatest strength. i read the non-censored first edition, and it had a list of every edit made to the other published versions. interesting stuff. Jurgis is one tough nut, to say his life was a horrific tragedy would be an understatement. the visual descriptions of his working conditions were my favorite part, i had very little difficulty feeling as though i were physically walking around inspecting the factories. this story was actually written as a commission for a socialist newspaper called 'The Appeal to Reason', and it became pretty obvious by the end. i started to lose interest when consecutive pages were dedicated to explaining how the socialist party operates and polling number discussions. a significant portion of the ending is full of party meetings and public speeches, but i really enjoyed it up to that point. i ended up drawing a few parallels to modern life which was concerning, and it was a humbling experience overall.
would recommend
~ Rage - Richard Bachman (Steven King) ~
read june 2020
absolutely fascinating. this book is banned, King himself pulled it from the shelves after Columbine in the hopes that it would prevent future shootings. supposedly, a school shooter (unrelated to Columbine) had a copy of this book in their locker, and that was when he pulled the plug. the story is straightforward: Charlie takes his algebra class hostage. he had an abusive upbringing, hated his father, found no solace in anyone else in his life, and is eventually driven to activating the fire alarm so he can take his classroom hostage. inside the classroom, Charlie explains his life and the events that brought them up to the present situation (it should be noted that not a single student is killed). it's extremely difficult to put the atmosphere of the room and his interactions with other students into words. i'll say that if you haven't read the book, or were a character in the story that watched the events unfold from outside the classroom, it's extremely hard to understand. unfortunatley, i feel as though banning the story ultimately does nothing helpful. the story of Charlie's upbringing and the interactions that he has throughout the book were exceptionally well written. the scary part is that by the end, it's easy to feel sympathetic for Charlie and the acts of violence feel diluted. he suffered from such a pitiful life that it's clear to see that every negative experience was bottled up until he acted out. ironically, in an effort to show how much he hates his father, he almost becomes him. the dialogue was really what caught my attention, and the verbal struggle for power against the principal and police was probably my favorite part. i do not condone his behavior in any way, and i also don't think that reading this book will immediately turn someone into a school shooter. this topic is extremely sensitive and it's difficult to write about, but if you have a dark sense of humor and can stomach disturbing stories, find a digital copy. i enjoyed this story thoroughly and could talk about it for much longer, but im going to try to keep these entries shorter.
would highly recommend
~ Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck ~
read in may 2020
i would consider this to be my first dip into 'classic american literature', and i was pleasantly surprised to say the least. this book in particular had been on my radar since i was a child, simply because i knew it involved the dustbowl. other than that, i had zero knowledge on the story until i picked it up for the first time. back in fifth grade, i had picked up 'Out of Dust' from my teacher's shelves and read about a quarter of it. i remember very little, bits about a barn burning down, and in general the feeling of suffering and misery in every line. the dust bowl has always been a fascination of mine, so i was very mildly disappointed when i realized that the dust itself was not primary the focus of the book. regardless, i was gripped and invested immediately. this book gave me an alternate perspective on what it was like to live during the early nineteen-hundreds, especially if you weren't a flapper or a great gatsby. this book is certainly a slow burner, however i personally didn't find the dragging to be a bad thing. the pace of the book reflects the pacing of of the Joad's life, and was perfectly appropriate. i also found the shifting in perspective every other chapter to be my favorite part of the book. the birds-eye view of the country's condition, and then the zoomed in, visceral retelling of the Joad's personal experience was amazingly well done.
would highly recommend
~ Of Mice And Men - John Steinbeck ~
read march 2020
quite a wonderful little story, this was my first time reading steinbeck and i fell in love with his style of writing. the characters were quite interesting, the tension between them kept me enticed. i enjoyed slim in particular. the ending wrapped it all up in a pretty little package, and overall i was very pleased. pleased enough to read Grapes of Wrath next.
would recommend
~ Brave New World - Aldous Huxley ~
read in march 2020
having already read 1984 and Farenheit 451, this was a breath of fresh air with its alternative take on the dystopian-future genre. i enjoyed the scientific mumbo-jumbo describing how to grow and condition humans, and the contrast of savage vs civilized living was especially intriguing. the focus on how the totalitarian government rose to power and how it works so well is what separates this book from the others in the genre. the ending was predictable and honestly disappointed me, however i have to acknowledge that there weren't many other realistic ending options. i suppose another perspective is that a predictable ending indicates good storytelling and worldbuilding, the characters acted as they would contextually in their situation.
would recommend, but i honestly don't feel like i'd be missing anything if i hadn't read it
~ Love Story - Erich Segal ~
read in fall 2019
super quick read. short, sweet, and absolutely worth the 45 min it took to finish front to back. oddly enough, i think this book subconsciously convinced me to stay in my shitty relationship in the hopes it'd get better (it didn't). beyond my own personal anecdote, this story captured my attention immediately and was difficult to put down. good characters, has a sense of humor, great pacing, and while i cannot remember details of the plot, it managed to leave a deeply positive imprint in my brain.
would highly recommend
~ The Last American Man - Elizabeth Gilbert ~
read in fall 2019
the first book i read since i started keeping track, and the first i read in college. a thank you to my mother for giving it to me - i enjoyed it thoroughly and it helped me remain mindful during my freshman year. going to school in a large city after living in a rural town was very exciting, but this book kept me grounded from the get-go. in summary: a man lives a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the 21st century and travels the country educating people about his lifestyle. in the meantime, he's building a land-preserve where he'll go on to host camps, and breaks the world record for traveling across the US on horseback.
would recommend