I have #mecfs so I have a lot of time for reading, mostly #fantasy and #SciFi but I'm happy to dip into nearly anything.
Ratings: 1 star: I didn't like it 2 stars: it was okay 3 stars: I liked it 4 stars: I really liked it 5 stars: it was brilliant
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Poetry with a hiphop steetwise feel. On prejudice, a broken world, and lost love. A few were great, but a bunch missed me.
'We know that the world is a horror story, but we also know it's got love notes at the margins.'
Reading time 5 days, 20 pages/day
A number-one New York Times bestseller when it was originally published, The Silmarillion is the …
Biblically dull in parts, making for a perfect sleep story. But some chapters were great standalone stories full of action & high drama. Otherwise, only for world-building nerds.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ-yRQ8_dw8&list=PLp6dwtXsi8Ps6A3vWuaOA9JFOULn-WLzI&index=3&pp=iAQB
Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, …
A girl is trapped in a mirror world inhabited by doppelgangers with black buttons for eyes. Can she escape becoming a meal for its architect? Creepy! But excellent. Too much tension for a sleep story.
After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) …
To be, together, and for each other, is enough. Soulfully therapeutic. Mosscap is gorgeous, charmingly thrilled with the world: 'my very own satchel!'
Reading time 3 days, 50 pages/day
Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath …
Trauma is a major unrecognised public health issue. Talk therapy and drugs are not effective; emotional & social engagement has to be revived. Not as useful as I hoped for my own issues, but neurofeedback and EMDR are intriguing.
Reading time 24 days, 18 pages/day
Fictionalised autobiography of an Aboriginal stockman in the pastoral outback. Despite simple prose, it absorbingly evokes that long gone world with its tall stories, colourful characters (so much grog!) and damages of colonisation.
Reading time 13 days, 19 pages/day
The future is blue. Endless blue...except for a few small places that float across the …
The last remnants of humanity are adrift on a flooded earth, clinging to a giant life raft built from the refuse of the 'fuckwits' who destroyed it. Morbid & irreverent, with everything taken to extremes.
Reading time 3 days, 49 pages/day
Xander Maze is a list-maker. But can his list of 100 Remarkable Feats really save …
A dying grandmother gets her autistic grandson to write & complete a list of difficult but everyday challenges. In the process, he engages with a cruel & scary world and finds it full of love & connection. Sweet & reaffirming.
After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on each …
A dark children's story about three orphans who get farmed out to their evil & conniving relative, who has eyes only for their fortune. The baddies are over-the-top, and the good adults frustratingly disregard the children's inadequate cries for help. Some questionable plot points.
"A practical guide to the vagus nerve and polyvagal theory, emphasizing exercises and self-help techniques …
Using manual therapy to regulate the nervous system based on polyvagal theory. Worthwhile, but repetitive and long-winded. But most importantly, the self-help exercises actually seem to work, giving me that post-osteo chill.
Reading time 32 days, 7 pages/day
Growing up #gay in an all-boys Catholic school in 70s Australia, then straight into the horrific tragedy of the #AIDS epidemic. Lots of explicit sex. Jesuit priests surprisingly supportive. Lost my attention part way through - got a bit then-this-happened. Thankful we provided a supportive medical system for AIDS victims.
Reading time 9 days, 32 pages/day
In A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the universe of …
A decent escapist holiday read, otherwise overly long. Well done gender reversals and critique of monarchy as a womb trap. Characters never quite gripped me, and climax is a bit of a deus ex machina let down.
Reading time 7 days, 121 pages/day
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel …
(3 stars = I liked it)
Being an awkward teenager in the era of grunge and mix-tapes, when homosexuality & neurodiversity were still Untouchable.
Reading time 4 days, 58 pages/day
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a …
Spiders undergo enhanced evolution, building an extraordinary new civilisation. Meanwhile the last of humanity searches for a new home, bringing its destructive tendencies with it. Impressive & audacious vision, but lacks engaging characters.
Reading time 6 days, 100 pages/day
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the …
A neurodiverse female scientist skewers the unprepared patriachy of the 1950s with her forthright progressive values. Hilarious, infuriating and deeply serious.
Reading time 2 days, 193 pages/day
