Small signals,
sent into the world.

They are not concrete.

Thinking about the physics of time in knowledge systems ...

As I begin a long weekend of writing, reading and resting ...

I wanted to like Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar more than I did. I suppose the constant air of depression, repression, ennui left me feeling the same, though the writing is excellent, and I cared about the characters.

The ending didn't work for me, but that's probably personal preference more than a criticism. I often dislike books everyone loves. This has always been true but increasingly, I no longer represent the book-loving mainstream.

Finished Reading: None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell 📚

A trend in novels lately are untrustworthy narrators who are women who are submissive to potentially-abusive men. (See also the soulmate). I don't love being in their heads as characters. It feels stifling, as it's supposed to. But also, suffocating, which perhaps it's not supposed to.

This book had some of that yet also wove lives and experiences together while walking you through a mystery. Can't say that I loved the resolution but it was inline with the book itself.

Okay, Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert was a straight up modern romance novel. Don't let the lack of Fabio-on-the-cover fool you.

But it was a book friend, keeping me company when I needed some rest. Cute, clever characters, snarky banter. There are too many "will they won't they" plot drivers in the world already (see most television series and romance novels.) But this time, I didn't mind one more.

I just finished reading The Bee Sting by Paul Murray 📚

Nope.

I'm not a fan of novels that switch between voices, shifting between main characters. But this book did it brilliantly. And used interesting conventions (like no punctuation) to indicate how characters think in real time. I sometimes wanted to turn away from them but I kept reading because I wanted to see what happened.

I don't want to post spoilers. You might like how it all comes together (it's certainly novel). But for me ... nope.

Clerk in Carters (US baby clothes store): May I help you find something?

Me: OMG no. There should be a sign saying “Are you a new grandparent with a credit card? We provide supervision.”

Clerk: [beat] I’m gonna get you a basket.

“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are." -- unknown

If you haven't read this already ... today might be the perfect day.

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

Started reading: Infomocracy

I just finished reading the first two books in Malka Ann Older's "The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti" series. I couldn't wait for the third one to be published ... so picked up her first (and perhaps best known) book.