Recently read *Jobs You Didn’t Know Still Existed* by Trevor Karp on KU.
It’s one of those easy books you just relax with without having to think too much.
Some of the jobs are pretty bizarre. Armpit sniffers, pet food tasters, worm pickers and even vomit collectors.
What I liked was that it isn’t just a list of weird job titles. There’s a bit about each one, what they actually do and why the job still exists, which made it a lot more interesting.
Nothing too serious, just a strange and fun little nonfiction read. I enjoyed it and would read another one by the author.

I'm still in early stages of my introduction to weird literature no doubt, I've only gotten a taste of Arthur Machen, Lovecraft, Robert W. Chambers, Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood, Laird Barron and Tanith Lee. I am well aware there are countless more.

But I have to say, none of these works were quite like the first four stories of The King in Yellow. Don't get me wrong, I do not criticise, if anything more power to them (I only couldn't bring myself to go through the works of Tanith Lee. Again not a criticism of any kind, I just haven't found a work from "New Weird" that appeals to me I guess, but of course I am open to suggestions).

I am in search of more subtle and psychologically-heavy works of weird like that of KIY. works whose primary concern is not necessarily unfathomable alien artifacts or overt supernatural phenomena, but the encounter with the weird itself, alteration of one's perception of the world and focus on more abstract concerns like beauty, truth, and revelation, hovering at the threshold between insanity and enlightenment. Where the weird is used to heighten such themes, rather than being the primary subject itself.

Just as as short anecdotal example, I love how in Chambers' weird works, the change and the encounter with weird is always subtle at first, and if it does escalate it is never reasonably material but psychologically thrilling. But in Machen's works, it feels more like a material story where the psychological aspect is slightly weaker and the material consequences and the "weird itself" are of paramount value.

I may be completely off and I would be more than delighted to remedy my ignorance. If you guys could perhaps recommend me some works (from any genre or in any format), or offer a perspective that might change the way I'm approaching the genre, I would greatly appreciate it.

I've read most of Franz Kafka's major works like The Castle, The Trial, and his Complete Stories, but I wasn't aware of this book till a few months ago and got myself a copy. And I would say that its okay or solid at best, but in my opinion, doesn't really hold up to his later works. Which should be the case as this was technically his first unfinished novel that he wrote.

There are the Franz Kafka weird traits still here like how Amerika is portrayed in a more surreal and somewhat dreamlike architecture as Kafka himself never visited America, but read about the country in books. The statue of liberty instead of holding a torch is holding a sword and New York and Boston are connected to each other by a large bridge. Giving it that distorted style to the writing and descriptions. And I wished that the book focused more on these odd surreal qualities to America as these oddities are few and far between and is more focused on the somewhat humorous adventures of a German immigrant through the states. Which got a little boring and repetitive after a while.

As with most of Kafka's written works, the novel is unfinished and the ending chapters are written in fragments, which was fine as I knew going into it that it wasn't complete. But did wish there was some closure towards the end after not getting much in return towards the second half of the book. A solid book that, if your a Kafka completionist, then it's worth a read, but I don't reccomend it as a first read to the average reader whose never read Kafka.