tbrnichols's reviews
157 reviews

Today Tonight Forever by Madeline Kay Sneed

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I didn't love that the endings for the women seemed a bit one-note and that the endings for the men felt like they happened so much earlier and with so much less emphasis. But overall this book was a beautiful meditation on memory and experience and the complicated nature of living in the present and the past at the same time, that living in the present can mean living in your memory too and embracing that fact of recollection, of triggers, of the ghosts of past moments playing over your thoughts, truly a conquering of forgetfulness not by excising memory but by embracing only the remembered, and forsaking the unrecallable. Also despite the writing seeming not that great at times, and the limited character perspective being emphasized by experiencing the same events multiple times making the third person narration kind of awkward, this books limited expanse of time covered makes this an ode to language and description in a way I really adore (though the descriptions of sex were abhorrently floral and seemed to betray a lack of faith in the word to do it justice). 
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

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dark hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I found the world-building to be kind of bewildering and under theorized and I didn't super understand how like remembering that subsistence agriculture existed was such a super power for Lauren and made her vision more compelling. And also I'm not totally convinced that this is what societies actually look like when they're in collapse or really hard times. But I really liked the theological aspect of it and her determination and self-reliance and desire to use knowledge as a shield and trying to control only what she could but accepting and shaping change was very compelling but with the squirreling away and refusing to trust society it did at times feel a bit paranoid. Something that occurred to me about Earthseed's success was that she cooperates to a kind of otherwise unseen degree in a way that reminded me of the ACX post about early Christianity and game theory but also she is not quite as extreme as they are, since she does murder in self defense quite often. But that good Samaritan instinct still seemed vital in achieving her goals. I found the pacing a bit odd, like the extra world building that happened when the slaves joined felt very distracting and like it took up part of the book where I was expecting a climax that never really happened, but I still thoroughly enjoyed those portions and the theology and I'm excited to read parable of the talents. Also it was nice to read this at the same time as Old Path White Clouds and make some of the connections between Earthseed and Buddhism and I heard a surprising amount of people say "God is change" in the real world while reading this book so maybe God is change and coincidence and maybe the most compelling part of this book is the theology which feels really impressive for a fictional text.
Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don't See by Richard D. Kahlenberg

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hopeful informative medium-paced

3.25

Mostly I thought this book was pretty good, especially in its examination of the class biases of educated people in this country. And I think that it does a good job of showing why housing ought to be the most important political issue in America today, though I thought more case studies of people impacted by housing rather than just a bunch of single mothers looking to escape violent neighborhoods would have been good. Also would have liked to see more time dedicated to the idea that the problem is actually concentrations of poverty rather than poverty itself, since some of the statistics made it unclear if crime is proportional to poverty levels in an area, so it actually makes zero-sum sense for rich residents to maintain segregation, or if poverty climbs non-linearly as poverty concentrates, so reducing segregation is positive sum in reducing overall crime levels. additionally some of the parts seemed like a worse color of law, especially made less convincing by his addition of survey data that seemed like it could easily be read to just say that both black and white people prefer to live in predominantly white neighborhoods and away from high concentrations of black people. the economic fair housing act stuff didn't strike me as that compelling, since I doubt you'd get freedom focused republicans on board for social justice judicial review of zoning, that just doesn't accord with my mental model of republicans. to me it seems like the solution looks more like 827 while beating the "affordable housing" advocates into submission by pointing out that more abundant housing and zoning for additional headroom will make it easier for governments to build income-restricted housing since that is generally also subject to zoning laws and that an overall reduction in price will allow government to concentrate subsidies on the neediest families. and I think you can top down influence Democratic party thinking on the topic without losing some freedom and growth minded republican support, especially in blue states where the issues are the most pressing. Feels like a book I would like more people to read even if I wasn't fully convinced by it. 
Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I found this to be one of the most realistic and resonant romance novels I've ever read, the conceit of Joe forcing them together was really interesting and overall I just thought it was a really great time and it justified a lot of the storytelling it did quite well. I did struggle somewhat with understanding what struggles rosemary had and what Logan needed from her, in some sense the falling out was much more one sided than I typically expect in a romance novel, but I thought the ways that Logan demonstrated a commitment to stay multiple times and not just in some single grand gesture gave me some confidence in their relationship. Also the single sex scene was really interesting and different in ways that felt respectful to the characters and their history and therefore felt realer. Also I think the way the book referenced past events and characters outside of frame felt very naturalistic without actually needing full context all the time that felt like how I tell stories in a way that some people find really irksome but that I found very pleasant.
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The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

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

2.0

I think my biggest problem with this book was just that I did not find dev attractive, he was kind of slobbish, overly dedicated to this kind of shitty show, kind of dumb and a little proud of it, average Joe. This causes a bunch of downstream problems for enjoying the book, like spending the whole back quarter yelling that Charlie deserves better, finding it really sad that Charlie basically had to choose this guy who he is way too good for because he's never felt sexual attraction to anyone else, so he has no option but to commit or never find romance, which he's decided that he enjoys after a world spanning dream romance trip, not believing he's done the work to be a good partner for Charlie, and being disappointed by the lack of reveal about Charlie's tech future (which seems so implausible in the first place, it's SF tech, everyone's used to people being a bit odd, you really don't think you could find any rewarding job as a founder of a unicorn? yeah sure). And it leaves you wanting more exploration of the ancillary characters and their potential romances, which then get kind of ignored for the power of friendship at the end. It was a queer romance novel and it happily embraced the "everyone is gay" fantasy in a way that I do enjoy as escapism, but it sort of fell short on actually being charming for me.
The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center by Rhaina Cohen

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emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

This was not the book I expected it to be, it was much deeper, demanding, and better than that book would have been. I was expecting this book to be a bit more about instructing us on how to be intentional in our friendships, to build some scaffolding, but instead it explored the vast possibilities that people have built without that scaffolding and gave a sense of the territory that could exist, if only I am brave enough to go trail making with someone. 

I loved the examples in this book, even the ones that from my limited and culturally inculcated perspective seem a bit sad and repressed. But even within that there is a shed of something so outside the norm and foreign to me that it puts me in my place, in awe of the agency and openness that I couldn't have imagined without role models. The book I was looking for could only be written if this book really took hold in the way it deserves to and if our culture shifted with it, but that book would still be limiting compared to the raw freedom in this book. Intentionality can only come after visibility and The Other Significant Others convincingly argues for going looking for the diamonds in the dark. 
Book of Numbers by Joshua Cohen

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mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

pages enjoyed 1-~110, 182-~240, ~520-Fin.

There's an idea here and maybe that idea is slightly compelling but it's a bit of a slog to get to and it's wrapped in a plot that's boring and tragic and banal but I'm not really sure in the interesting slice of life kind of banality but more like the insufferable white dude aping other insufferable white dudes kind of banal. This book could have been a short story as like this review could have been comprehensible.

But was the interesting banality the author in the first place? Is the internet and it's fascination with the surrounding circumstances the the parasociality beyond the screen any more compellingly parasocial than that of the novelist? Though not of Cohen or RAJC, as my nomenclature dictates (distinct from FAJC) since the self insert is not in fact the self. 

Some parts of this book were really compelling, with FAJC's observational flourish and creative diarism, verbal dia- well no that seems low hanging. Unfortunately far more seemed a nearly personal vendetta to show how shitty an author must be, personally, again verging into the uninsightfully banal. And then the interview section, the making of the sausage rather interesting, but the sausage abandoned in favor of the raw, uncooked, unfinished, uncurated, in fact natural and perhaps organic feedstock. Which I did not find particularly nourishing slurping it from the auditory trough. 

But and so I must admit that RAJC ties it all together quite nicely, though still I think the misanthropism towards his fellows Joshs Cohens as like considering himself roko's namesake inverted, a rather Catholic notion for a Jew, entirely unnecessary, though perhaps all print condemns to samsara until recycling, and so may the cloud holding this review return to rain and the bucket holding the reflection of the moon fall and may it's water leach into the ground, my anguish and triumph in the book of numbers lost as like C beam glitters near the Tannhaüser gate. 
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Kimmy by Alyson Greaves

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dark sad 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? No

4.0

The book makes a very interesting conception of thought and personal identity being downstream of agency and a rich inner life being something that can only come from seeing yourself as someone that can interact with the world and create in it, as a means of caring about and respecting your wishes. And I think makes some compelling points about the limitations of play agency over actual agency to allow for growth and personal development, rather than  weird simulacra thereof. Also I found the book generally enjoyable to read, though the violence against the main character was a lot and was often emotionally exhausting but it was really hard to put down and really consumed me while I was reading it.
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Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle

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dark sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

An odd book, like maybe being adept at observation of small things, and in blurring the lines between observation and invention, makes the small life admirable rather than sad or harrowing, despite its circumstances, or perhaps because of them. On some level it seems like maybe too many words to devote to the mystery of putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger, it doesn't really seem that mysterious to me, despite never having done it, and frankly the poetry of needing to contemplate what your done during the fall makes it so I never would. I guess it feels kind of cheap as a reason to write really gorgeous prose about unglamorous daily life and I'm not sure prose needed to be justified through this romance of cold steel. Anyway, I'm going to go listen to going to Georgia.
Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It by Richard V. Reeves

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dark informative fast-paced

3.25

Overall I thought the problem statement and the call for honesty about the problem were good. But I think actually existing masculinity among boys was deeply under theorized, leading to a set of policy prescriptions that make little sense to me. Probably would have benefitted from a narrower focus on what solutions would achieve individually (e.g. the focus on CTE seems reasonable, but what are we trying to solve with it and would we not see fewer college bound men if it succeeded?). And I think I would have been open to more facially neutral proposals that happen to fix culture among boys and therefore aid them in schools, rather than just throwing up his hands and saying that neutral proposals mostly benefit girls. Also the education portion seemed much stronger than the labor market or fatherhood portion, both of which seemed to suffer even more greatly from the absence of analysis of the mechanics of masculinity. 

Assorted more specific gripes:
It seems insane to both say that boys are underprivileged in college admissions and that private colleges select for them, why are boys self selecting out of education? Is this a policy issue or a cultural issue?
Similarly, he talks about both men and women being interested in only relationships where men make more, so clearly men are also culpable in creating an inequitable culture where low earning men have no marriage prospects (similarly true for high earning women ofc).
Also more men kill themselves because they are more likely to use violent, efficacious methods, where women are more likely to try and poison themselves and fail. 
The examinations on boys being less mobile and more prone to being negatively influenced by environs feels like solid evidence for "cultural issue" diagnosis, like boys don't reach out to friends as much, are bad at staying in touch because letting a friend know they are important is too gay, boys internalize the violent expectations they are raised around and so fare worse if they are raised in poorer zips, wealthy boys do fine because their culture is softer and more effeminate. 
While his point about gaps and overlaps is well made, the lack of applying it to social forces is confusing: is it applicable to social forces? Does society affect different men differently via their genetics? Their agency? And it seems odd as your signature policy to have a fully gapped policy, redshirting boys, instead of coming up with some metrics to acknowledge the maturity gaps within adolescent genders as well as between them. 
The other policy prescriptions seem also unclear: if one of the indicators of male underachievement and bisiegedness is their absence from higher education, how will CTE and apprenticeships help? Won't these policies lead to even fewer men in HEAL jobs? Why does he think the solution to getting men into heal jobs would be scholarships and not increased wages in those sectors? Why would anyone want to build better infrastructure for men becoming home health aides (or even elementary school teachers) when those jobs suck (recall the new majority of parents actively disfavoring their children becoming teachers)?