MackCheese14

A very slow reader with extremely picky taste but I’m trying to step out of my comfort zone <3

258 points

0% overlap

My Taste

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How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

MackCheese14 started reading...

23h

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

Jason F. Stanley

“With unsettling insight and disturbing clarity, How Fascism Works is an essential guidebook to our current national dilemma of democracy vs. authoritarianism.”—Jelani Cobb, New Yorker staff writer “No single book is as relevant to the present moment.”—Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • With a new preface • A Yale philosopher identifies the ten pillars of fascist politics, and charts their horrifying rise and deep history. As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to fascism: Nations don’t have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism’s roots have been present in the United States long before Donald Trump. Alarmed by the pervasive rise of fascist tactics both at home and around the globe, Stanley focuses here on the structures that unite them, laying out and analyzing the ten pillars of fascist politics—the language and beliefs that separate people into an “us” and a “them.” He knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations. He makes clear the immense danger of underestimating the cumulative power of these tactics, which include • exploiting a mythic version of a nation’s past • propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals against themselves • anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts • law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals • fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare These mechanisms all build on one another, creating and reinforcing divisions and shaping a society vulnerable to the appeals of authoritarian leadership. By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics—charged by rhetoric and myth—can quickly become policy and reality. Only by recognizing fascists politics, he argues, may we resist its most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals.

MackCheese14 wants to read...

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man

Mary L. Trump

In this revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him, Mary L. Trump, a trained clinical psychologist and Donald’s only niece, shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric. Mary Trump spent much of her childhood in her grandparents’ large, imposing house in the heart of Queens, where Donald and his four siblings grew up. She describes a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse. She explains how specific events and general family patterns created the damaged man who currently occupies the Oval Office, including the strange and harmful relationship between Fred Trump and his two oldest sons, Fred Jr. and Donald. A first-hand witness to countless holiday meals and family interactions, Mary brings an incisive wit and unexpected humor to sometimes grim, often confounding family events. She recounts in unsparing detail everything from her uncle Donald’s place in the family spotlight and Ivana’s penchant for re-gifting to her grandmother’s frequent injuries and illnesses and the appalling way Donald, Fred Trump’s favorite son, dismissed and derided him when he began to succumb to Alzheimer’s. Numerous pundits, armchair psychologists, and journalists have sought to parse Donald J. Trump’s lethal flaws. Mary L. Trump has the education, insight, and intimate familiarity needed to reveal what makes Donald, and the rest of her clan, tick. She alone can recount this fascinating, unnerving saga, not just because of her insider’s perspective but also because she is the only Trump willing to tell the truth about one of the world’s most powerful and dysfunctional families.

MackCheese14 finished reading and wrote a review...

MackCheese14

Sep 03, 2025

4.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.5Plot: 3.5

🩸

🏡

☕

Yes, the twist was expected, did i still enjoy it? 110%. This is officially one of the books im adding to my yearly fall TBR <3

MackCheese14 commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

maeja

Reading in a foreign language?

Hi ! I'm French and I live in Iceland. Obviously, there are no books in French in the bookshops, but there are lots of original versions in English. I'm comfortable with this language in my everyday life, but I have to admit that it's very difficult to immerse myself in novels that aren't written or translated in my mother tongue... 😅 Have you encountered this situation? And do you have any tips? The last thing I found was to listen to the audiobook while reading the book.

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250 points

Post from the The September House forum

MackCheese14

Edited

Thoughts from 80%

Ykno when a book is just so good, it draws a visceral reaction out of u so u have to put it down and walk away for half an hour? Yea… I think u should read this book.

MackCheese14 commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

MackCheese14

Bookish hang out ideas?

What are some bookish things me and my finds can do together that’s not just hanging out and reading together or going to a bookshop? Some of my friends are seasonal readers and I dont want them to feel like they have to be reading something to talk abt books together. I saw his idea on instagram where this girl suggested a book club idea where everyone sits down together, does a little craft, and listens to an audio book together, and i love that idea, my only problem is that my friends and I all have very different taste. I’ve also thought abt doing a “diy bookmark/picnic” and will prob plan that soon (hopefully) TLDR; Any book related things me and my friends can do together that’s not going to a bookshop, reading together, or making diy bookmarks?

MackCheese14 wants to read...

Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes, #0)

Travis Baldree

When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn't always what we seek. In Bookshops & Bonedust, a prequel to Legends & Lattes, author Travis Baldree takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books. Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned. Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it. What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do? Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine. Still, adventure isn't all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.

MackCheese14 wants to read...

Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)

Travis Baldree

A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes. After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success—not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone. But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

MackCheese14 commented on a post

MackCheese14

No Romance Book Recs? Thoughts from 100% (page 384)

I’m reading this book and I love the vibe and the atmosphere, I especially love reading abt the MC just doing mundane tasks (gardening, cleaning, making jam), my only thing is that I dont love is the romance (nothing against the author, Im just personally not a romance girlie). So basically, I’m just looking for a cozy little book that I can read in the fall with no romance <3

MackCheese14 commented on a post

Veerific

Thoughts from 18%

This feels like Stardew Valley, except I'm reading it xd. It's a very neat cozy fantasy, although the mc is a lil too silly at times, and I've been in her shoes xd

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Fall 2025 Readalong

Read at least 1 book in the Fall 2025 Readalong.

MackCheese14 commented on moonbeam's review of The Spellshop

moonbeam

Aug 30, 2025

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 4.0Plot: 4.5

🥐

📚

🌿

This was so good I need moreeeeeeee. The creatures are so cute and I like Sciona and Larran and Caz so much. I also loved how the magic system is very witchy and anyone can do it, not the born-with-a-specific-power type of magic. 🧎🏻‍♀️ < this is me realizing it's a standalone book and I have nothing to look forward to.

MackCheese14 commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

santizo

What's Your Fall Readalong Order?

I just got some amazing tips from everyone on how to approach my first readalong!! Thanks all. I'm so glad its the Fall one, such a cozy season to start with. Thought I'd share my order: 1. Don't Let the Forest In 2. A Dowry of Blood 3. The Spellshop 4. Blood Over Bright Haven and 5. Tender is the flesh! I'm most excited for #5, I chose #1 since I got the audiobook from the library and #2 looks like its coming up as available for me soon! Might swap #3 and #4, not sure yet. LMK yours!

MackCheese14 wants to read...

Blood Over Bright Haven

M.L. Wang

Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling. An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant. What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power. Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance? A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist. (Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)

MackCheese14 finished reading and wrote a review...

MackCheese14

Sep 01, 2025

3.5

Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 4.0Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.5

💫

🧚‍♀️

🍂

As someone who mainly reads horror/ thrillers, this was a nice break from expecting everything to go wrong lol. As someone who never reads romance, I didn’t love those parts but they weren’t as hard to get through as I expected (nothing against the romance genre, just not my vibe <3). I think my fav parts abt the book where when the MC was just talking abt doing mundane tasks (cooking, cleaning, reading, gardening). This was such a cozy little read and I def recommend it!!

MackCheese14 commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

MackCheese14

Bookish hang out ideas?

Post from the Pagebound Club forum

MackCheese14

Bookish hang out ideas?

MackCheese14 commented on a post

Stephlove.reads

Reading Update from 10%

Really enjoying this one! Loving all the paranormal vibes. But my hold lapsed on Libby because I was reading too many books at once 😩🤦🏻‍♀️ Now I wait

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