In April I read six #books : The Rules of Attraction Bret Easton Ellis, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, My Education by Susan Choi, Mao II by Don DeLillo, On the Beach by Nevil shute, Dispatches by Michael Herr. #booktok #bookrecs #reading #classicbooks

Why is #AI everywhere? Part of the reason is that its core uses are unprofitable, so #tech companies are desperately searching for ai use cases that will justify some of their trillion dollar Capex. That and they want to replace human experience with endless dull consumption of generated slop.

Nevil shute’s 1957 #book “On The Beach” is a haunting case study in the power of resignation and narrative reservation. #bookrecs #reading #booktok #scifi

Here are 5 #bookrecs under 200 pages for when you need a small read to break you out of a #reading rut. 1. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, 2. Fraternity by Benjamin Nugent. 3. Hiroshima by John Hersey. 4. Knight’s Move by Viktor Shklovsky. 4. By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolano. #boo

Mike Davis’ “City of Quartz” is the book against which I measure all other urban #history #bookrecs #booktok #losangeles #classicbooks

Mike Davis’ “City of Quartz” is the book against which I measure all other urban #history #bookrecs #booktok #losangeles #classicbooks

In March I read Lorrie Moore’s “Self-Help,” Vendela Vida’s “The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty,” Rachel Kushner’s “Creation Lake,” Mike Davis’ “Late Victorian Holo Causts: El niño famines and the making of the third world,” Emily Nemens’ “Clutch,” and Gore Vidal’s “Burr.” All quite interesting #books

Emily Nemens’ #newbook CLUTCH is an interesting example of how polyphonic novels can approach realism and the social totality. #bookrecs #reading #fiction #Booktok

I did not enjoy Rachel Kushner’s 2024 novel ‘Creation Lake,’ because of small choices made in prose style that undermined the novel’s genre concerns and sense of action. #booktok #reading #writing #bookreview #fiction

February #reading roundup. I read The Snares, by Rave Grewal Kök, Oromay by Baalu Girma, The Net an ya hus by Joshua Cohen, Day of the oprichnik by vladimir sorokin, American Pastoral by philip roth and the Spanish Republic and Civil War by Julian Casanova. #bookrecs #booktok #fiction #cla

Is most #writing advice bad advice? I think so, especially if you are looking for technically interesting or formally inventive writing. Concepts like the Hero’s Journey flatten the differences #books ans conceal more than they reveal. #bookrecs #booktok #fiction

What can Klaus Theweleit’s book “male fantasies vol. 2” tell us about contemporary #masculinity ? Unfortunately, quite a lot. #looksmaxing #bookrecs #booktok #history

Joshua Cohen’s 2021 novel ‘The Net anyahus’ is an interesting attempt to blend the sensibilities of the contemporary comic novel with the project of the 19th century historical novel. #bookrecs #booktok #reading #fiction #history

Here are three #books about the Ethiopian revolution thatEthiopia that I think are valuable entry points for anglophone readers looking to expand their horizons and understand just a little more about African #history and literature: 1. Oromay, by Baalu Girma, 2. Wore Negari by Mohamed Yimam, 3

What goes into #writing a short story? and why don’t more #Booktok creators talk about the short story? This form of fiction, I think, is more interesting than full books, and much more difficult to write, because every piece of a short story is absolutely vital. This week, I published a short

This semester my #tbr list for my #MFA program is focused on novels that play with point of view and novels that handle politics. Some of the books I’m really excited to read are Oromay by Baalu Girma, Mao II by Don DeLillo and Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte. #booktok #reading #bookrecs

Fell behind on #reading in january, heres what I got to. Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland and Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights Big City are two examples of high postmodernism, but at the sentence level they couldn’t be more different. Between these two books, I vasty preferred Vineland #booktok , #bookre

Seth Harp’s book, the Fort Bragg Cartel, follows the evolution of American special forces from the phoenix program in the 60s to the fall of Kabul in 2021. His work foreshadows the current crisis and shows the dangers of a permanent, secret army answering to an imperial presidency. #booktok #boo

I read 5 books in December: Nomonhan, 1939 by Stuart Goldman, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, In the Absence of Men by Philippe Besson and The Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth Harp. All five were pretty good. #booktok #reading #bookrecommendations

In advance of #StrangerThings ’ finale, I think the show’s issues offer us a chance to reflect on, and maybe change, our relationship with art. In 2026, be a critic, not a fan. You might find it rewarding. #booktok #newyearsresolution #horror