I have a silly, somewhat rigid system for how I approach reading. Sometimes it's counter productive because it has the potential to put me in reading slumps. Here are some of my self-imposed rules:

• I have to read at least 1 dense classic or non-fiction each month

• I can only read something purely for fun when I have read something more challenging beforehand.

• if I own a physical copy of a book, I have to finish reading it no matter how shitty it turns out to be.

The first two rules help me (🤡) read more diversely, and read better books in general. the problem with great books though, is that they take so much more brain power on average. Enforcing this has put me in reading slumps in the past, so I'm trying to be more flexible with these two.

The third one serves to control my book shopping impulses:)) this one has also pushed me to stop reading at times.

I'm curious do any of y'all do this, or are you more easy going with your reading habits?

lowkey racist undertones? i never like when authors write dialect of non-native english speakers…and i especially don’t like when it’s a white author writing from the perspective of a white character who is frustrated with non-native english speakers. there’s a scene with an asian doorman that made me uncomfortable, especially with the casual way by which it’s mentioned that other workers blame the asian worker for things that go wrong. it had basically no impact to the story, too—i would have slashed it out if i were the editor.

in general, the passing nature by which the narrator refers to people of color is…weird. it feels like that scene in TSH where bunny (i think it was him?)goes on a racist rant that literally adds nothing to the story; richard doesn’t even react to it. so like…what’s the point of casual racism lmfao.

aside from that. this book is really wordy. like almost excessively so.

I take back my earliest comment about slow pacing (not that it's a bad thing anyway). each chapter hosts a major event that changes the story in a significant, meaningful way. Human characters are given much more depth as we progress, the spider colony- well i don't want to spoil this part but it suffices to say- grows to amazing complexity.

The story is rich with allegory.Themes of power struggle, colonialism and resistance, gender politics, climate change, religion and class are explored within a well-paced, engaging narrative.

I wasn't familiar with the author when i bought this book. i just really liked the title, but this has been one of my greatest blind purchases so far. Adrian Tchaikovsky, you're the man.