abij's reviews
65 reviews

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

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Really fun

"I was planning to make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner," Sabine said. "But I'm over it." p.30

In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

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'She gave one final smile as the wheels touched down on the tarmac in Singapore, still just the first stage, remarking that the original science-fiction story - the impossible adventure full of wonder and awe - was merely the existence of the species, all the moments she and her sister and their family and every other living person had shared.' p. 455

'A family is a group of strangers with a destructive desire for common nostalgia. We had privileged access to so much of each other's life, our early life in particular, but I'm not sure we ever really knew what to do with that.' p. 464
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

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Fun book to start the year.

It probably isn't of as much interest to people who know more about the time period/British history but personally I had a good time.
Definitely reads like a thriller but I appreciate that Grann kept up an interesting historical narrative while linking it all back to imperialism as a cause.
He's a great accessible historian if you're looking for a read that isn't too heavy but does analyse colonialism, class, and racism while also being super gripping.

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

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Has its moments I suppose 
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

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This rearranged my braincells 
Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

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"lla is a political being, with a political body, in a political situation, in a political house on a political street, in the middle of a political city, and this political city has a political history, it used to house the headquarters of the British Union of Fascists, the political city is in a political country in a political world where the bombs are always five minutes to midnight and, did you know that there are still ghettos?"
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

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It's 1am and I just cried at the last few pages of this book I'm going to sleep
Killers of the Flower Moon: Oil, Money, Murder and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

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This was INSANE
I consider myself a person who isn't surprised by what people do to each other anymore but then I learn about another thing that white people have done and I want to go feral. Governments pay compensation to oppressed people now challenge