page_nothankyou's reviews
81 reviews

The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy by David Graeber

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

The Poetry Reader's Toolkit: A Guide to Reading and Understanding Poetry by Marc Polonsky

informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

A fine textbook for getting started with poetry. It has the vocab you need to describe poetry, as well as poems it uses as examples. It tested my academic reading skills and my taste. Pretty easy to read for a text book.

It's pretty old (1998), and seems to have a pretty old view of the literary cannon, but it was a great jumping off point for me to feel more confident reading poetry. (By old, I mean literally. There are some diverse voices, women and Black folks represented, as well as some international poems translated.) There were some poets I did not vibe with, but some I did. Because of this, I know what book to pick up next.

This is a book teaching to READ poetry, not WRITE poetry, but there are some cool prompts.

Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton

dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

3.5

Her life has had some very difficult points, and she is incredibly candid about it in this book. 

I think it lacks structure, but her decision to follow her ADHD around topics is charming and it works. 

From a socialist analysis perspective - it's hard to forget she's a billionaire, and she's pretty frequently shilling her NFTs, sunglasses, and hotels. But it's also a pretty candid argument that the rich are also hurt by capitalism. 

Overall - worth a read if you were ever fascinated by Paris, watch reality TV, or are interested in early 2000s pop culture. 

Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto by Legacy Russell

challenging slow-paced

2.0

Made me feel dumb. Maybe I am dumb, but points felt really unnecessarily abstract.

I did enjoy the references to the New York digital modern art scene, but that is not why I picked up this book. The last chapter and the bibliography ('notes') are worth perusing.

Overall, it was all to abstract in a way that didn't seem necessary to get the main points across. There were few lines that stuck with me, because everything was so bogged down with clauses and new vocab. I like when an author makes a complicated thing easier. This book seemed to make a easy thing complicated.

Maybe just not my style, or maybe I was missing the necessary context.

Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum

4.0

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It's a YA book, and I am coming at it as an adult, so keep that in mind. I thought it was a lot of fun. It resisted some of the worst tropes in YA, and even played with them to make interesting characters and cool plot lines. Killjoy's writing is always accessible yet communicates complex ideas. I found the queerness to be pretty true to my experience. I also think there are characters are extremely relatable, even if you're not queer, so don't let that turn you away. 

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective

4.5

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Douglas Carlton Abrams, Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama XIV

5.0

My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love by Dessa

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

5.0