Reading Wednesday
Nov. 9th, 2022 07:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyJust finished: The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven Thrasher. This is a searing, spectacular book. It paints a stark picture of the divide between those who can pretend at immortality and those who quietly suffer and die from viruses. And it humanizes these stories, both from Thrasher's life and specific individuals who died from AIDS and covid. And it's just so, so well-written. Despite the grim subject matter it's ultimately a clarifying read, if not an uplifting one.
Currently reading: A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger. This is quite entertaining so far. It weaves the present day story of Nina, a present-day Lipan girl researching her ancestry, and Oli, a snake person in some kind of spirit world. It's sophisticated writing for MG and doesn't talk down to the audience—as in while I'm engaged, I have questions about what's happening. Although I'm not sure it's actually supposed to be MG. Like her other book, her main character is supposedly 16, though I had pegged her at 10-12.
A Hero Of Our Time by Naben Ruthnum. I heard Ruthnum talk about his writing on a podcast and needed to read one of his books. This one is almost too brutal for me to handle except that it's also funny as hell. It's a satire about a company called AAP, which is trying to automate higher education. A Nice White Lady named Olivia is rapidly climbing the company's corporate ladder, and the only people standing in the way of her ambition are Osman and Nena, two BIPOC employees who are less than keen to be used as pawns in Olivia's diversity initiatives. It's a nasty book. No one is likeable and everyone is too real. Osman is witty and self-loathing and cruel—his sex scene with Nena early on in the book is pure cringe—and it's a perfect pitch-black comedy about neoliberalism in the education system. My only problem with it so far is that it's highlighting how fucked up and dystopian my entire career is. This is not a knock on the book, by the way. You can't fault a book for being too accurate.
Currently reading: A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger. This is quite entertaining so far. It weaves the present day story of Nina, a present-day Lipan girl researching her ancestry, and Oli, a snake person in some kind of spirit world. It's sophisticated writing for MG and doesn't talk down to the audience—as in while I'm engaged, I have questions about what's happening. Although I'm not sure it's actually supposed to be MG. Like her other book, her main character is supposedly 16, though I had pegged her at 10-12.
A Hero Of Our Time by Naben Ruthnum. I heard Ruthnum talk about his writing on a podcast and needed to read one of his books. This one is almost too brutal for me to handle except that it's also funny as hell. It's a satire about a company called AAP, which is trying to automate higher education. A Nice White Lady named Olivia is rapidly climbing the company's corporate ladder, and the only people standing in the way of her ambition are Osman and Nena, two BIPOC employees who are less than keen to be used as pawns in Olivia's diversity initiatives. It's a nasty book. No one is likeable and everyone is too real. Osman is witty and self-loathing and cruel—his sex scene with Nena early on in the book is pure cringe—and it's a perfect pitch-black comedy about neoliberalism in the education system. My only problem with it so far is that it's highlighting how fucked up and dystopian my entire career is. This is not a knock on the book, by the way. You can't fault a book for being too accurate.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-09 01:01 pm (UTC)I've seen it marketed mostly as YA, but A Snake Falls to Earth really does feel like something in-between MG and YA.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-10 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-10 12:19 pm (UTC)Wasn't she younger when she got the assignment, though? (14, maybe?) She's 16 for most of the story, but ages from 9-10 (?) to 16 over the first couple of chapters.
I do agree her characters feel younger, overall, though. When I read Elatsoe, I was thrown every time it mentioned her driving somewhere because I was like aren't you 12???
no subject
Date: 2022-11-10 12:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-09 05:01 pm (UTC)https://kvetchlandia.tumblr.com/post/697074800717332480/uncredited-photographer-i-am-a-dog-not-a
no subject
Date: 2022-11-10 12:02 pm (UTC)