Take a photo of a barcode or cover
pineconek's Reviews (816)
This book is so painfully perfect I don't even know what to say. I'm a sucker for strangers who connect with each other and help each other get through life, and that's what this book is. A big five stars, no questions asked.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/ph6RGiTwc18
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/ph6RGiTwc18
Wow.
I feel like I learned so much. This book really opened my eyes to how cursory of an understanding I'd previously had of apartheid and race in South Africa. I loved the narrative choices, including those that were a little strange: the weak middle section of mundane teenage things like first love, the reintroducing certain major events as if they were new, the weird timeskips... It all paid off. The last chapter alone warrants giving this book a resounding 5 stars.
If you should read it, I recommend the audiobook above all else. Trevor Noah does voices, sings songs, various languages, etc... That really bring everything to life. I'm in awe of this book and will be widely recommending it.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/ph6RGiTwc18
I feel like I learned so much. This book really opened my eyes to how cursory of an understanding I'd previously had of apartheid and race in South Africa. I loved the narrative choices, including those that were a little strange: the weak middle section of mundane teenage things like first love, the reintroducing certain major events as if they were new, the weird timeskips... It all paid off. The last chapter alone warrants giving this book a resounding 5 stars.
If you should read it, I recommend the audiobook above all else. Trevor Noah does voices, sings songs, various languages, etc... That really bring everything to life. I'm in awe of this book and will be widely recommending it.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/ph6RGiTwc18
March 2022 update: I've been thinking about this book for 2 months straight, so I think I'm bumping it up to 5 stars. It really resonated with me.
Original Jan 2022 review:
I really liked this, but I don't think it's for everybody, so it's getting a three star "I liked it and would only recommend to a handful of people".
The memory police begins as a novel about surveillance, but really explores the idea of boundary erosion. The main characters in the novel are frogs in a pot of boiling water, noticing that it's getting a little warmer but not worrying too much or jumping out. But jumping out would be impossible, anyway.
I really liked how this theme was complimentarily explored in the main character's own fiction, and how we got to see things go from bad to worse in these subtle but jagged ways.
This is an extremely bleak book and is very ethereal. I recommend it if you're all right with a lot of bleakness, interested in the banality day-to-day of a surveillance state, and don't mind some absurdity in your magical realism.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/ph6RGiTwc18
Original Jan 2022 review:
I really liked this, but I don't think it's for everybody, so it's getting a three star "I liked it and would only recommend to a handful of people".
The memory police begins as a novel about surveillance, but really explores the idea of boundary erosion. The main characters in the novel are frogs in a pot of boiling water, noticing that it's getting a little warmer but not worrying too much or jumping out. But jumping out would be impossible, anyway.
I really liked how this theme was complimentarily explored in the main character's own fiction, and how we got to see things go from bad to worse in these subtle but jagged ways.
This is an extremely bleak book and is very ethereal. I recommend it if you're all right with a lot of bleakness, interested in the banality day-to-day of a surveillance state, and don't mind some absurdity in your magical realism.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/ph6RGiTwc18
Nothing weirder than reading about how covid conspiracies spread on social media while you're having covid for the first time.
I was born in 94 which means this book covers the time period of my entire post-secondary/adult life on the internet (~2012 onwards) and oof is it a doozy. I really appreciated the impeccable research that layed out online and offline events that fed into one another around the globe.
My main gripe with this book is that the title suggests a broader scope than what is actually presented. A lot of "obvious" topics weren't touched on (I expected more psychology and things about self esteem/perception, attention economy, sedentary lifestyle shifts, etc). Instead, the focus was specifically on how social media but especially Facebook (other social media was presented as Facebook -adjacent) affects the sociopolitical landscape. From gamergate to South Asian genocides, from covid hoaxes to pizzagate, from Alex Jones to election fraud, from incel murders to live streamed massacres, this book was incredibly dark.
My favorite part was the emphasis on which emotions drive engagement - outrage and morally-coded language. Ingroup/outgroup. The author really emphasized how posts about "x group did something Bad / our group did something Good" are gold for platforms that want users to stay online as long as possible. It led me to a reflection on if and when that kind of outrage is useful and left me wanting to be more mindful when I engage with Spicy social media posts.
One last terrifying thought this book really leaves us with: is the internet about the law? Which law? Why or why not? Who enforces rules, if any, and is it moral to do so? These unanswered questions feel increasingly pressing.
Recommended widely if you're interested in social psychology, wonder why some of your annoying relatives are in so many Facebook groups, and are in the mood for being very depressed and horrified about the state of the internet.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vni9kSfxaf0
I was born in 94 which means this book covers the time period of my entire post-secondary/adult life on the internet (~2012 onwards) and oof is it a doozy. I really appreciated the impeccable research that layed out online and offline events that fed into one another around the globe.
My main gripe with this book is that the title suggests a broader scope than what is actually presented. A lot of "obvious" topics weren't touched on (I expected more psychology and things about self esteem/perception, attention economy, sedentary lifestyle shifts, etc). Instead, the focus was specifically on how social media but especially Facebook (other social media was presented as Facebook -adjacent) affects the sociopolitical landscape. From gamergate to South Asian genocides, from covid hoaxes to pizzagate, from Alex Jones to election fraud, from incel murders to live streamed massacres, this book was incredibly dark.
My favorite part was the emphasis on which emotions drive engagement - outrage and morally-coded language. Ingroup/outgroup. The author really emphasized how posts about "x group did something Bad / our group did something Good" are gold for platforms that want users to stay online as long as possible. It led me to a reflection on if and when that kind of outrage is useful and left me wanting to be more mindful when I engage with Spicy social media posts.
One last terrifying thought this book really leaves us with: is the internet about the law? Which law? Why or why not? Who enforces rules, if any, and is it moral to do so? These unanswered questions feel increasingly pressing.
Recommended widely if you're interested in social psychology, wonder why some of your annoying relatives are in so many Facebook groups, and are in the mood for being very depressed and horrified about the state of the internet.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vni9kSfxaf0
A locked room mystery with an unrealistic early 2000s movie vibe. Teens sneak out, hook up, confess to murder on tumblr.
I read this in full on covid-brain and I ended up enjoying the journey quite a lot. It's an easy-to-read and easy-to-digest ya thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously.
The premise is absurd: five teenagers who are loosely acquainted at best are in detention for something they didn't do. One then goes into anaphylactic shock and dies shortly after. His drinking water was contaminated with peanut oil. Who killed him? The four remaining teenagers walk us through the weeks that follow, the investigation, and the small town secrets and lies that are revealed. While there were many tropes and cliches, I did find myself entertained and anticipating the answer.
Recommended if you're looking for an entertaining ya thriller and are ok with reading about a lot of dramatic teen romances.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vni9kSfxaf0
I read this in full on covid-brain and I ended up enjoying the journey quite a lot. It's an easy-to-read and easy-to-digest ya thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously.
The premise is absurd: five teenagers who are loosely acquainted at best are in detention for something they didn't do. One then goes into anaphylactic shock and dies shortly after. His drinking water was contaminated with peanut oil. Who killed him? The four remaining teenagers walk us through the weeks that follow, the investigation, and the small town secrets and lies that are revealed. While there were many tropes and cliches, I did find myself entertained and anticipating the answer.
Recommended if you're looking for an entertaining ya thriller and are ok with reading about a lot of dramatic teen romances.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vni9kSfxaf0
"What if Joe Goldberg wrote a book?" Turns out, I'd rather he didn't.
I should have loved this. I enjoyed the other books in the series so much. The over-the-top voice of our narrator, the hilarious improbable consequences of his actions, and the amount of chaos packed into every page kept me engaged. This book promised more of the same but in a university setting, with Joe contemplating his past.
It took me quite a while to finish this book and I kept wanting more. Big spoilers ahead.
There is exactly one on-screen murder until the very end of the book and it, along with that final second murder, feels lackluster. I kept waiting for something to happen and, a few times, I thought it was. There was a hilarious interrogation scene, which is probably the strongest passage in the book, where Joe is tied up and confesses all his crimes on tape. But otherwise?
I was left wanting more, constantly. So many past events felt almost forgotten, in the strangest way. Joe mentioned the existence of his son a handful of times (this is generous - I only remember one instance but hope there were more). Events from book 3 are addressed briefly at the beginning and then again when a true crime podcast is released about them (which was hilarious) but this also fades into oblivion as the novel unfolds. And Wonder? I'm not sure if characterizing Wonder as "Love Quinn but poor" was intentional, but that's how it read and she therefore felt largely forgettable.
I don't like giving low reviews to authors I usually enjoy, and I really did enjoy the other 3 books. But this one left me so unsatisfied that I'm nervous to compare it to the in-Netflix-universe events of season 4... but I hope they'll be better.
Recommended if you've read the others and are a completionist, enjoy reading about amateur writers writing and discussing their writing, and enjoy Joe's sassy quips. Reading vlog to come.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vni9kSfxaf0
I should have loved this. I enjoyed the other books in the series so much. The over-the-top voice of our narrator, the hilarious improbable consequences of his actions, and the amount of chaos packed into every page kept me engaged. This book promised more of the same but in a university setting, with Joe contemplating his past.
It took me quite a while to finish this book and I kept wanting more. Big spoilers ahead.
There is exactly one on-screen murder until the very end of the book and it, along with that final second murder, feels lackluster. I kept waiting for something to happen and, a few times, I thought it was. There was a hilarious interrogation scene, which is probably the strongest passage in the book, where Joe is tied up and confesses all his crimes on tape. But otherwise?
I was left wanting more, constantly. So many past events felt almost forgotten, in the strangest way. Joe mentioned the existence of his son a handful of times (this is generous - I only remember one instance but hope there were more). Events from book 3 are addressed briefly at the beginning and then again when a true crime podcast is released about them (which was hilarious) but this also fades into oblivion as the novel unfolds. And Wonder? I'm not sure if characterizing Wonder as "Love Quinn but poor" was intentional, but that's how it read and she therefore felt largely forgettable.
I don't like giving low reviews to authors I usually enjoy, and I really did enjoy the other 3 books. But this one left me so unsatisfied that I'm nervous to compare it to the in-Netflix-universe events of season 4... but I hope they'll be better.
Recommended if you've read the others and are a completionist, enjoy reading about amateur writers writing and discussing their writing, and enjoy Joe's sassy quips. Reading vlog to come.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/vni9kSfxaf0
People from my bookclub who saw this review before we met: no you didn't.
Things that reduced my enjoyment of the book:
- adding random bits of dialogue in another language to better establish setting always bothers me. Blatant mistakes in that language that should have been caught by the editor bothered me more.
- some things didn't make sense to me. Mild spoiler ahead: our main detective gets suspended for a week, gun and badge pulled and then just...continues to investigate?? Goes to the funeral of the victim?? What???
- similarly, there were some narrative inconsistencies. sometimes I'd think characters were in one room but then suddenly they were in another.
- Nichol's character and the way others treated her genuine attempts at doing a Good Job gave me ridiculous anxiety.
- many characters are caricatures of themselves and do some truly irrational things. Yolande in particular is just... Confusing.
- the resolution ultimately made very little sense, to the point where there were paragraphs telling us, the reader, that there are definitely people in the world who would kill over this and like this.
And finally, my biggest problem with this is that the book is supposedly under 300 pages. And yet it felt so much longer and I kept losing interest. I'm glad to be free of it.
If you're looking for a cozy mystery, I recommend picking up some Agatha Christie instead.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/iNUD3wZlu7w
Things that reduced my enjoyment of the book:
- adding random bits of dialogue in another language to better establish setting always bothers me. Blatant mistakes in that language that should have been caught by the editor bothered me more.
- some things didn't make sense to me. Mild spoiler ahead: our main detective gets suspended for a week, gun and badge pulled and then just...continues to investigate?? Goes to the funeral of the victim?? What???
- similarly, there were some narrative inconsistencies. sometimes I'd think characters were in one room but then suddenly they were in another.
- Nichol's character and the way others treated her genuine attempts at doing a Good Job gave me ridiculous anxiety.
- many characters are caricatures of themselves and do some truly irrational things. Yolande in particular is just... Confusing.
- the resolution ultimately made very little sense, to the point where there were paragraphs telling us, the reader, that there are definitely people in the world who would kill over this and like this.
And finally, my biggest problem with this is that the book is supposedly under 300 pages. And yet it felt so much longer and I kept losing interest. I'm glad to be free of it.
If you're looking for a cozy mystery, I recommend picking up some Agatha Christie instead.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/iNUD3wZlu7w
The author says in the dedication (I love reading dedications) that this isn't to be taken too seriously - it's a pop song of a novel that puts a smile on your face. And I agree wholeheartedly.
This book reads like a movie, and should probably become one for our collective sanity. It's basically "Jurassic park during covid and make it funny" and something about it just works. My little scientist heart also loved the constant "wait, does everyone here have a PhD?? But they're also very casual and want to party?" and the sense of being immersed in a big project that reminded me of some mad grad school days.
Believe the hype, don't read the spoilers, and enjoy the ride.
Recommended even if you're not into Kaiju/godzilla stories but definitely if you are.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/iNUD3wZlu7w
This book reads like a movie, and should probably become one for our collective sanity. It's basically "Jurassic park during covid and make it funny" and something about it just works. My little scientist heart also loved the constant "wait, does everyone here have a PhD?? But they're also very casual and want to party?" and the sense of being immersed in a big project that reminded me of some mad grad school days.
Believe the hype, don't read the spoilers, and enjoy the ride.
Recommended even if you're not into Kaiju/godzilla stories but definitely if you are.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/iNUD3wZlu7w
A toughie to rate, as I'm torn between healthy skepticism and a strong sense of "go off, king".
Do I agree with everything the Mates posit? No. Do I appreciate the amount of nuance, compassion, and curious exploration offered in this book? Yes yes yes.
Gabor and Daniel (we're first name basis besties now, but besties that disagree sometimes) present an extremely comprehensive thesis about the toxicity of stress and our twenty first century late stage capitalistic culture. They touch on intersectionality, alienation, abject dismissal of alternate points of view, polarization, trauma relativism, and a bunch of other stuff that makes this book feel so modern and grounded in early 2020s. This book is a time capsule of our cultures experience with covid, a housing crisis, political theatre, billionaire oligarchy, search for meaning, the rise of wellness influencers and ahyuasca tourism, the obvious cracks in our burdened medical system, etc etc etc.
It's a huge book in scope and spans so much, from telomeres to Trump, from naloxone to Nazis. It's also an extremely bleak book, but that discusses the importance of acceptance of the bleakness. And acceptance not as tolerance, complacency, or endorsement...but simply as the opposite of denial. It's a book that champions authenticity while offering the nuance that said authenticity will look different for everyone. The author invites us to disagree with him (which in many places I do) but to do so while engaging with him and, broadly, with each other.
Having finished the book, I feel hopeful and largely want to criticize the title. I didn't feel like the book's central tenant was "none of us are normal/there's no such thing as normal" but, rather: "we can all be healed", where healing means wholeness not cure. And while one part of me wants to dismiss that as woowoo, another part of me embraces it wholy, and I feel comfortable holding that dialectic.
Recommended if you're looking for food for thought about our overarching psychosocial milieu, want to entertain ideas that you may end up disagreeing with (and are ok being upset by some of them), and want to increase your appreciation for how our experiences in this world shape us for better or worse. A feat of a book I can't help but give five stars to.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/iNUD3wZlu7w
Do I agree with everything the Mates posit? No. Do I appreciate the amount of nuance, compassion, and curious exploration offered in this book? Yes yes yes.
Gabor and Daniel (we're first name basis besties now, but besties that disagree sometimes) present an extremely comprehensive thesis about the toxicity of stress and our twenty first century late stage capitalistic culture. They touch on intersectionality, alienation, abject dismissal of alternate points of view, polarization, trauma relativism, and a bunch of other stuff that makes this book feel so modern and grounded in early 2020s. This book is a time capsule of our cultures experience with covid, a housing crisis, political theatre, billionaire oligarchy, search for meaning, the rise of wellness influencers and ahyuasca tourism, the obvious cracks in our burdened medical system, etc etc etc.
It's a huge book in scope and spans so much, from telomeres to Trump, from naloxone to Nazis. It's also an extremely bleak book, but that discusses the importance of acceptance of the bleakness. And acceptance not as tolerance, complacency, or endorsement...but simply as the opposite of denial. It's a book that champions authenticity while offering the nuance that said authenticity will look different for everyone. The author invites us to disagree with him (which in many places I do) but to do so while engaging with him and, broadly, with each other.
Having finished the book, I feel hopeful and largely want to criticize the title. I didn't feel like the book's central tenant was "none of us are normal/there's no such thing as normal" but, rather: "we can all be healed", where healing means wholeness not cure. And while one part of me wants to dismiss that as woowoo, another part of me embraces it wholy, and I feel comfortable holding that dialectic.
Recommended if you're looking for food for thought about our overarching psychosocial milieu, want to entertain ideas that you may end up disagreeing with (and are ok being upset by some of them), and want to increase your appreciation for how our experiences in this world shape us for better or worse. A feat of a book I can't help but give five stars to.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/iNUD3wZlu7w
What.
This is a compilation of about a dozen stories about Tomie - a terrifying young woman wholl drive you to madness and who cannot be killed. And who grows clones of herself from her burned body. Or her hair. Or your body if you're injected with her blood. Or her fingers. She keeps coming back. Again and again and again.
Due to its repetitive nature, I don't recommend reading all of this in one sitting. But I do recommend the stories to anyone into horror manga, who's enjoyed other work by Junji Ito, and who feels like being creeped out.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/iNUD3wZlu7w
This is a compilation of about a dozen stories about Tomie - a terrifying young woman wholl drive you to madness and who cannot be killed. And who grows clones of herself from her burned body. Or her hair. Or your body if you're injected with her blood. Or her fingers. She keeps coming back. Again and again and again.
Due to its repetitive nature, I don't recommend reading all of this in one sitting. But I do recommend the stories to anyone into horror manga, who's enjoyed other work by Junji Ito, and who feels like being creeped out.
More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/iNUD3wZlu7w