crybabybea commented on a post
it's over šš i can't believe that despite everything, N.K. Jemisin was able to leave me feeling hopeful at the end. a beautiful conclusion to a truly extraordinary trilogy. it's gonna take me some time to reflect on it all and i really wish i had my hands on the first book so i could go back and read certain parts. i'm in awe of Jemisin and the way she crafted such a deeply layered world and story. i feel like you have to approach this series with an open mind because it's definitely not your typical fantasy in the way its structured and its use of second person narration. i can easily see how it may not work for some and how it may seem intimidating (ngl there were times i wasn't able to fully grasp what i was reading, just a vague/general notion) but despite that, i was willing to go on because the world-building was so amazing and the story so interesting. i also ended up reading the acknowledgements at the end and it broke my heart all over again knowing the state of mind she was in while writing this book. it makes me appreciate this story and its themes so much more.
crybabybea commented on OhMyDio's update
crybabybea commented on notbillnye's update
crybabybea commented on a post


We could add āthe story of art without menā to this! I havenāt read it yet though, but it seems super promising
crybabybea commented on a post
i know this is NOT the point of the chapter but girl if you don't pick up your damn crying baby and stop worrying about arguing with your mom
crybabybea commented on crybabybea's update
crybabybea started reading...

Poverty, by America
Matthew Desmond
crybabybea started reading...

Poverty, by America
Matthew Desmond
crybabybea commented on crybabybea's update
crybabybea DNF'd a book

The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships
Harriet Lerner
crybabybea DNF'd a book

The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships
Harriet Lerner
crybabybea commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
So I've been reading through the reviews written by people I follow (love being able to filter the feed on profiles!) because I'm nosy and looking for recs - and to help me learn to write better reviews.
It got me thinking about what type of reviews I like to read and are helpful to me, and I just know that everyone has different 'requirements' for what makes a review good for them. It's making it really fun to look through them, knowing that what doesn't quite work for me will work for someone else.
For example, I prefer an almost negative amount of 'spoilers' (this is probably just my disinterest in hearing/reading premise recaps - if I wanted to read the blurb I would have, and I generally don't), an overview of the vibe (including tone, setting/time, genre/sub-genre), and a couple of reasons why the book worked (or didn't work) for the reader.
What about you? What do you prefer to see, and write, in reviews?
crybabybea commented on jordynreads's update
jordynreads started reading...

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
Stephen Graham Jones
crybabybea finished a book

The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power
Noam Chomsky
Post from the The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships forum
i know this is NOT the point of the chapter but girl if you don't pick up your damn crying baby and stop worrying about arguing with your mom
crybabybea commented on crybabybea's review of Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country
A poignant and resonant piece of journalism that's equal parts frustrated scream of rage and melancholic release of grief.
I appreciated Evangelista's framing centering on the use of language, and how political messaging is intentionally weaponized to justify the unjustifiable. How dehumanization of certain groups leads to manufacturing consent for their erasure, and how language can be a colonial legacy used to uphold imperial structures. Especially interesting were her insights onto passive vs. active language. Somebody dying vs. somebody being shot by police. Since finishing this book, I see this intentional language choice everywhere, especially in traditional media such as news reports and headlines.
What struck me most about this framing was how it felt so close to home. Although The Philippines has its own rich, complicated history, I found the messaging used to enable Duterte's disappearing of people to be chillingly familiar. The eugenicist foundation of choosing who deserves to live and die, arbitrarily labeling people criminals while denying the systemic issues leading them to poverty and addiction, and dismissive handwaving of justice by allowing his police force to act with absolute impunity.
As an American, all of it felt so reminiscent of our own justice and legal systems, and how they target marginalized communities and create an endless loop of suffering and abuse.
Not only are the tactics the same, but the systems that create inequity and violence are identical. Evangelista paints a picture of how neoliberal Western imperialism harms the world. I won't venture to speak as an expert on Filipino history, but the throughline to Duterte hinges so heavily on colonialism and American intervention. Though Duterte's actions are absolutely inexcusable, I felt a deep sense of grief seeing how poverty, marginalization, and justified distrust of Western powers created an amalgamation of violence that seems to have no end.
Just as heavy was the confirmation that Duterte is not a unique figure, someone that can be voted out and replaced with a better future, but a result of toxic rot due to colonial powers. I have yet to read a book that better exemplifies the reality that strongmen are not aberrations in the system, but a colonial inheritance worthy of deconstruction and revolution.
While I sometimes wished Evangelista would have addressed the systems of power a bit more, I ended up liking how she kept things matter-of-fact and centered the framing on language and experience. This book isn't meant to be a takedown of colonialism and imperialism, though it can certainly be a weapon in the arsenal. Rather, Some People Need Killing calls out the false narrative for what it is, pointing out the language tactics used by the oppressor and giving voice to the victims that the government wants to erase.
The result is a book full of so much rage and grief that creates a sense of urgency, a desire for action, a demanding of justice. Evangelista's writing is deft, but emotionally raw, perfectly straddling the line between systemic political critique and personal, individual reflection.
crybabybea wrote a review...
A poignant and resonant piece of journalism that's equal parts frustrated scream of rage and melancholic release of grief.
I appreciated Evangelista's framing centering on the use of language, and how political messaging is intentionally weaponized to justify the unjustifiable. How dehumanization of certain groups leads to manufacturing consent for their erasure, and how language can be a colonial legacy used to uphold imperial structures. Especially interesting were her insights onto passive vs. active language. Somebody dying vs. somebody being shot by police. Since finishing this book, I see this intentional language choice everywhere, especially in traditional media such as news reports and headlines.
What struck me most about this framing was how it felt so close to home. Although The Philippines has its own rich, complicated history, I found the messaging used to enable Duterte's disappearing of people to be chillingly familiar. The eugenicist foundation of choosing who deserves to live and die, arbitrarily labeling people criminals while denying the systemic issues leading them to poverty and addiction, and dismissive handwaving of justice by allowing his police force to act with absolute impunity.
As an American, all of it felt so reminiscent of our own justice and legal systems, and how they target marginalized communities and create an endless loop of suffering and abuse.
Not only are the tactics the same, but the systems that create inequity and violence are identical. Evangelista paints a picture of how neoliberal Western imperialism harms the world. I won't venture to speak as an expert on Filipino history, but the throughline to Duterte hinges so heavily on colonialism and American intervention. Though Duterte's actions are absolutely inexcusable, I felt a deep sense of grief seeing how poverty, marginalization, and justified distrust of Western powers created an amalgamation of violence that seems to have no end.
Just as heavy was the confirmation that Duterte is not a unique figure, someone that can be voted out and replaced with a better future, but a result of toxic rot due to colonial powers. I have yet to read a book that better exemplifies the reality that strongmen are not aberrations in the system, but a colonial inheritance worthy of deconstruction and revolution.
While I sometimes wished Evangelista would have addressed the systems of power a bit more, I ended up liking how she kept things matter-of-fact and centered the framing on language and experience. This book isn't meant to be a takedown of colonialism and imperialism, though it can certainly be a weapon in the arsenal. Rather, Some People Need Killing calls out the false narrative for what it is, pointing out the language tactics used by the oppressor and giving voice to the victims that the government wants to erase.
The result is a book full of so much rage and grief that creates a sense of urgency, a desire for action, a demanding of justice. Evangelista's writing is deft, but emotionally raw, perfectly straddling the line between systemic political critique and personal, individual reflection.
crybabybea wrote a review...
I've floundered for so long on how to write a review for Otherlands, and I can't come up with anything in-depth and analytical because, to be honest with you, I didn't understand a single bit of this book.
I had to look up something every other sentence, which normally would be a fun experience, but since I don't have an extreme interest in the topic, made the book feel tedious. I was hoping this one would be a bit more beginner-friendly, because I do want to learn, but I needed a bit more hand-holding with all of the terms and species.
If you're a scientist or have a particular interest in the study of these time periods and the flora and fauna that existed, you will have an absolute ball with this book.
I will say, despite my personal struggle with the content, Halliday's writing is absolutely gorgeous. It's not easy to talk about something like this and make it interesting and immersive, and Otherlands created a beautiful narrative experience that really felt like stepping back into the old world. His use of sensorial experience made the atmosphere so palpable. Again, if you like this sort of thing, I can imagine this book is an incredible adventure.
And also... why did he write it going backwards in time?! I was so unbelivably lost (but I am sadly challenged when it comes to perceiving time and space) and I had to reorient myself each chapter, reminding myself that the creatures and events were now in fact before the creatures and events talked about in the previous chapter. This feeling of ungroundedness mixed with my already overwhelming confusion for the subject left me reeling, and not in a fun way.
crybabybea commented on crybabybea's update
crybabybea started reading...

The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships
Harriet Lerner
crybabybea started reading...

The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships
Harriet Lerner
crybabybea commented on crybabybea's review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth
DNF at 16%
This is a great book for people trying to deconstruct from Christian patriarchy while still navigating their faith. Despite being named after a woman in the Bible and growing up Baptist, I (very luckily) have not internalized a lot of Christian teachings. I've read a lot about feminism from a secular lens, so that + my lack of knowledge about the Bible, I wasn't gaining enough new info to keep going!
crybabybea commented on crybabybea's update
crybabybea DNF'd a book

The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth
Beth Allison Barr