Reading, Writing, and Me

Universality  by Natasha Brown Overview: The novel opens with a lengthy magazine feature revolving around an assault that takes place at a countryside farm outside of London that's been taken over by a group of anarchist. The night of a rave, thrown by the anarchists, in the middle of COVID lockdown, ends with one man hitting another over the head with a gold bar and then disappearing into the night with the stolen riches turned weapon. The piece bounces around between the man who owned the farm, the anarchists that took it over, the culture wars columnist that links the anarchists and the owner of the farm, and additional unique characters. The second half of the book narratively follows some of these characters as well as the journalist who wrote the piece in snatches that further their portraits. Overall: 4 I'm not entirely sure what to make of this very short novel. My main impulse is that it doesn't quite feel like a novel as a reading experience. It doesn't feel l...

You all know that the first thing I was going to do when I got to Dublin was get a library card. Well, I did have phone/cell service, a government appointment, a Leap Card, and a few other admin things to sort out first, but by week two, I was on my way to my local library branch to get access to even more amazing books. You all know I love to collect library cards from all the places I've lived to add them to my quiver.  So what was it like to get a library card in Ireland? Very similar to getting my LA library card, not surprising as this is another quest in a major city. It's a two step process. I got online through the library's outpost of the government services website and registered. This gives you access to a few basic online parts of the library by providing your address, phone number, email, and other details. Then, to use the physical library, you take a confirmation number to a local branch along with some form of proof of address. For me, I used my ultimate pro...

Culpability  by Bruce Holsinger Overview: The book opens during the car accident that ensures that Cassidy-Shaws's life will never be the same. Their autonomously driven minivan collides with another car, killing its two passengers. While various members of their family are injured, all five of the Cassidy-Shaws survive and are left to reckon with the roles they played in this fatal car accident where the two people in the second car died. A family vacation to attempt to regroup only makes things worse as a second tragedy befalls the family, further complicated by the involvement of the tech billionaire next door. In the backdrop of these incidents and the family's attempt to cope through the investigation, Holsinger demonstrates how AI and LLMs are pressing in on everyday parts of being alive, interfering with our lives, and calling certain freedoms into question. Overall: 3.5 Bruce Holsinger attempts to package a kind of crime thriller with a family drama and then swirl in a ...