Reviews and Comments

Jules, reading

Joined 3 years, 7 months ago

Hi I'm Jules,

I read a lot of disability related more academic stuff, anarchism and whatever else looks interesting or helpful. And then mostly queer fantasy, science fiction / speculative fiction to relax.

I read mostly e-books for accessibility reasons. So if you're interested in a book on my lists, just send me a DM. I can point you to sources or just send it over.

I'm also @queering_space@weirder.earth

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Jules, reading commented on Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha: Care Work (2018)

"In their new, long-awaited collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award-winning writer and longtime disability justice …

I'm stuck. I really like the ideas in the book but the whole style is in this US social justice style and it really annoys me. I'm going to finish it because I've come so far and there is so much good stuff in there but I really don't enjoy the reading experience. It's like fighting your way along a very unpleasant hiking path to reach a spot with a nice view at the end of the day. Not the kind of hike I enjoy. But the view is still worth it, so keep going

Jules, reading commented on Adas Raum by Sharon Dodua Otoo

Sharon Dodua Otoo: Adas Raum (Hardcover, 2021, FISCHER, S.)

Dieses Buch ist echt gut und echt heavy und gut. Hab bisher die Hälfte gelesen und es ist keine Bettlektüre für mich. Aber echt gut, sagte ich das schon?

Sprachlich so spannend und man muss sich einfach mitnehmen lassen.

Jules, reading commented on Adas Raum by Sharon Dodua Otoo

Ich bin morgens um vier wach geworden, weil ich aufs Klo musste. Dann konnte ich nicht mehr einschlafen, weil ich über dieses Buch nachdenken musste.

Es ist echt gut bisher. Aber geht gleich richtig heftig los. Nichts mit langsam reinfinden. Man wird direkt hinein gestoßen.

Jules, reading started reading Adas Raum by Sharon Dodua Otoo

More German books, because it is more relaxing and there actually are good German books. Just not so much queer sff. I wanted to read this one since it came out and today is a good day to start.

I got it as e-book through my local library on the new e-reader, which adds to the enjoyment 😊

Jules, reading rated Wir Strebermigranten: 4 stars

Emilia Smechowski: Wir Strebermigranten (Hardcover, 2017, Hanser Berlin)

Wir Strebermigranten by Emilia Smechowski

Jules, reading started reading Wir Strebermigranten by Emilia Smechowski

Trying my new e-reader -> local library connection with this book and it's working perfectly <3

Jules, reading commented on My enemy, my ally by Diane Duane (Star trek -- #18)

Diane Duane: My enemy, my ally (Paperback, 1984, Pocket Books)

No rating

It's going slow. But I do enjoy it. I like Duane's writing and the details are great (sometimes a bit too much so I get bored).

I like how technology isn't just magic and every day tasks and life play a bigger role than in the tv series and of course the movies.

Jules, reading stopped reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #1)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice (Paperback, 2013, Orbit)

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing …

I just can't with the generic she/her just replacing he/him and calling that "not caring about gender"... there was a chance to go with a neutral word but nope. It feels worse than reading just plain old he/him default stuff.

Jules, reading commented on Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

"In their new, long-awaited collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award-winning writer and longtime disability justice …

I really enjoy this book! It makes me feel good and hopeful but sad at the same time (just a little, because all these stories about disabled community remind me of how isolated I feel where I currently live).

Jules, reading started reading My enemy, my ally by Diane Duane (Star trek -- #18)

No rating

I finally found the first 2 books I was missing, so now I can start reading the Rihannsu series.

Jules, reading started reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #1)

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing …

Finally starting the series

Jules, reading started reading Regarding the pain of others by Susan Sontag

Susan Sontag: Regarding the pain of others (2004, Picador)

No rating

Twenty-five years after her classic On Photography, Susan Sontag returns to the subject of visual …

German version: Das Leiden anderer betrachten

Jules, reading wants to read Regarding the pain of others by Susan Sontag

No rating

Twenty-five years after her classic On Photography, Susan Sontag returns to the subject of visual …

Reading the German version though

Jules, reading reviewed The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty (The Daevabad Trilogy, #3)

S. A. Chakraborty: The Empire of Gold (Hardcover, 2020, Harper Voyager)

I can no longer do this, I quit

2 stars

Content warning pretty much destroying the book, I quit

I really tried to get to the end of this series, but especially being forced to read from Dara's perspective while he is constantly commiting brutal violent acts like it was nothing and justifying everything while feeling as he was the victim... it is just a really terrible reading experience and at this point, it's no longer worth it for me.

There is just so much stereotypical character and story development in the series, it's boring and disappointing. The interesting parts get lost in the annoying.

I liked the complexity of how the political landscape was introduced at first. Not just black and white, but complicated and messy as it is in real life. That's what war and hate does to people, for generations. But it is beyond messy and just devastating at this point and I really don't want to do this to myself any longer.

The author dragging the story unnecessarily doesn't make it any better. And I do enjoy taking time and painting colorful pictures but that's just not it. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to endure if it was all more condensed, but it isn't.

I really tried hard to like this but... I just don't.

Jules, reading commented on The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty (The Daevabad Trilogy, #3)

Content warning The empire of gold, vague spoilers but mostly complaining

Terribly annoyed by Dara. I just want to skip his chapters and get on with the story and see how it ends and be done with this already. I really don't enjoy reading this but I invested so much time already, I really want it to have a good ending. It gets better in parts, certainly better than the first book. But there is still so much annoying stereotypical stuff and I really, really don't want to read more from the perspective of a mass murdering person who sees himself as the victim in the story because he is merely a weapon to his masters. I don't get it, it's just bad.

I do want to know what's going to happen to the others though. And I'm always trying to see the good aspects of a book. But there is so much annoying stuff and really not enough queerness going on.