cryscross's reviews
79 reviews

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino

3.5

makes me feel a little bad about being a cog in the capitalist machine but at least i don't eat at sweetgreen! nor have i ever taken a barre class!

anyways. the standout is "reality tv me" by far

Counting Descent by Clint Smith

4.0

a punch to the gut—especially "how to make an empty cardboard box disappear in 10 steps"

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.

"the trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. this is the treason of the artist; a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain." — ursula leguin

pretty apt summary of my feelings on this one. yanagihara should take some notes

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3.0

impressed as always by how the primary conceit is so convincing, and also as always slightly annoyed that it convinces me

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.

words can't even begin to express how awful this was

Pamela by Samuel Richardson

0.5

literally was reading this like "wow this is so incredibly boring i can't believe everyone talks about clarissa when this book exists"

turns out they're written by the same guy AND clarissa is longer. but at least she

doesn't fall in love with her rapist & popular consensus at the time of publication wasn't "this book is so bad because it's a detailed guide for lowly servants to seduce their wealthy lords!"

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

1.5

i can respect having an intimate relationship with nature but i don't think it has to involve doing all the messed up stuff that she does! don't think i'll ever read a mary oliver poem the same way ever again...

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

4.0

forever jealous of the trees overflowing with oranges in california and freshly squeezed orange juice with gin

Lessons by Ian McEwan

4.0

i'm just ian mcewan fan

The Princesse de Clèves by Madame de La Fayette, Terence Cave

2.5

i, too, express my feelings by stealing their court portrait while making direct eye contact with them over the shoulder of their husband