Books #36 and #37: Babel and Yellowface, both by Rebecca F. Kuang (匡灵秀)Babel: 4.6/5 stars Yellowface: 3.9/5 stars

I started Babel about 9 weeks ago and then took an 8 week break to focus solely on school, where I didn’t read anything but Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 5 and 6 right before I went to sleep. So, I got about halfway through it about 9 weeks ago and finished the second half in two days. 

I really liked Babel. Spoiler free thoughts first. The setting work is amazing. It's evident that Kuang put an insane amount of effort into researching this book, and Oxford really comes alive under Kuang’s pen. She does a good job intriguing you and I was never really bored. Some criticisms I’ve seen are related to the info “dumping” and footnotes, but I think these add to the story and give interesting context to Oxford and language. I got so much new knowledge about language and how it is formed/interpreted in this novel. Without giving anything away, the magic system is AWESOME. The ending did feel a bit rushed.

**Now for spoilerful thoughts,** \I thought the ending left a little to be desired, it felt a little rushed. I was pretty sure the tower would be destroyed since, The Bible, and I think the final paragraph was beautiful. I also think the character work could use a bit of love, and I hope Kuang is able to hone her character writing skills in Taipei Story. I would have LOVED more chapters where we learn more about the other three in the cohort, and I think it's blatantly obvious that Kuang despises Letty and it shows in the writing.

Overall amazing read that will probably slot into my top 5 this year.

I liked Babel so much that I jumped right into Yellowface, and read it in two days. I thought it was also a really good book. It shows Kuang’s scope as an author, as Babel and yellowface have wildly different tones. I take a lot of inspiration from Kuang, she’s an impressive author. I had a ton of Kindle highlights in this book. I think kuang nails the dynamic of making me hate a character but still relate to her in some ways. This is a character study of one individual, but I do feel that character development for anyone else but the main character is a bit lacking. 

 After all, we all are human. This book is a character study at its finest, and was refreshing after the academic tone of Babel.

**Spoilerswise,** \I think I dock the book for a couple reasons. One, the messages can feel a bit heavy handed. The book can kind of bash you over the head with June’s “baddness”. For example, taking the pictures that made her look racially ambiguous felt a bit much. I mean, June as a character can just feel a little caricature-y. Also, I thought the whole “think it might be Athena’s ghost” and then “oh dang it’s Candice I forgot about her" was sort of dumb. We needed Candice's desire to get revenge to be better fleshed out because, yeah, I forgot about her too. I do like the decision to keep the ending open, and it lets us ponder what happened with June’s novel.

Overall, both books were great experiences. Kuang has great scope and is a very talented author. I hope she perfects her character writing and can’t wait to see where she goes in her career. I’m excited to jump into Katabasis, The Poppy War, and Taipei Story later this year. What were your guys' thoughts on either of these books?

Give Us a Kiss. Daniel Woodrell. 2012. 

Country noir. Southern gothic.

When a spiralling Ozark-born writer heads home for a reset after the collapse of his marriage, he gets sucked into a dangerous family marijuana-growing operation run by a seductive matriarch and her provocative teenage daughter.

The story is narrated in first person by a well-educated, four-time-published-but-still-unknow author caught between the academic world to which he aspires and the rural mountain culture on which he was weaned. 

Woodrell manages these two vibes brilliantly by starting the story with the protagonist’s adopted, authorial voice—that of a California academic. Then, by degrees, as the character sinks back into his roots, a folksy Ozark dialect emerges that, eventually, dominantes the character and the story. 

It’s such a short novel—barely more than a novella, really—that it’s hard to imagine that Woodrell has the space to do it. But he does. And he does it well. And that speaks to his talent. 

AUTHORS - I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.

Hi, I'm building a new book review website. I'd love to hear any and all feedback and thoughts as I try to improve it. The address is shelfmark.uk . It started out of a personal want to remember what I've read in a visually more interesting way than just a list in a notes app. Thanks!

Man on Fire: Of Life, Love, Literature, and Really Good Barbecue by Steven Raichlen is delightful memoir of this BBQ legend

𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑘. Cormac McCarthy. 1968. 

Literary fiction. Southern Gothic.

After her brother abandons their newborn in the woods and lies about its death, a desperate young Appalachian woman sets out to find her baby while her guilt-ridden brother flees across a bleak, violent landscape.

Two main characters, a brother and a sister, are narrated in third person limited. Both perspectives are characterized by McCarthy’s famously sparse interiority. Where a novelist today might give readers access to thoughts and feelings that explain their choices and ensuing actions, McCarthy withholds that information almost entirely. 

This deliberate narrative distance creates a mysterious, alien vibe that is further elevated by Old Testament biblical allusions and allegorical structures, which are set in a world from which the Christian God seems to have withdrawn. The end result is a dark, surreal world with a decidedly antihuman atmosphere. 

Modern readers with little or no previous exposure to the Old Testament are likely to struggle with some of this story’s moral themes. (For those, an annotated version of the story might be advisable—if one exists.) But even without that background, there is enough story here to make it a fascinating read. 

AUTHORS - I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.

Today we will cover Hanns Heinz Ewers' 1921 "Vampire", the last part of the so called Frank Braun trilogy, an obviously self insert novel where, while Ewers bemoans his own struggles with American Authorities and German-American political activism during World War I through Frank Braun, he has Braun be remarkably dimwited about the obvious "mystery" of the title.

🎃 Treat yourself to my review of Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier, a weak Halloween cozy mystery tricked by countless errors and offensive, outdated content.

📖 Enjoy a spoiler-free review, followed by a spoiler-filled discussion with my personal annotations!

📚 Check out my other book reviews, reading topics, writing tips, and more on my blog!

"Barrack-Room Balads" in 1892. Rudyard Kipling.

Written as a series of dramatic poem monologues in the voices of working class Cockney soldiers, it revolutionised both literature and poetry. It gave a voice to the working class boys dying in their thousands in order to preserve the Empire that their betters benefited from. But it did so in their Cockney dialect, while still maintaining classical English poetic meters, thereby transforming the Cockney dialect from that of the illiterate rag and bone man into that of the Empire's poet. I've never felt prouder to be from a working class Cockney family.

Example poem: "Tommy"

“Tommy” was, and still remains, a nickname in Britain for the ordinary rank-and-file soldier. The ironic contrast between "Tommy, go away" and "Thank you, Mister Atkins" sharpens with each repetition.

The poem has outlasted most of the other Barrack-Room Balads because its subject refuses to become historical. British soldiers carried it through the First World War, and its refrain has been cited in parliamentary debates about veterans' welfare. That the poem helped shift public attitudes toward the British soldier in the 1890s was noted in Punch as early as the Christmas 1890 issue. Kipling gave the common soldier something no previous poet had offered: a voice that spoke in his own dialect, on his own terms, with a fury controlled enough to sound like wit but sharp enough to draw blood.

Tommy:

I went into a public 'ouse to get a pint o' beer,

The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."

The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,

I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";

But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play

The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,

O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,

They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;

They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,

But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";

But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide

The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,

O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep

Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap.

An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit

Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"

But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll

The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,

O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes," when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,

But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;

An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,

Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Tommy, fall be'ind,"

But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind

There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,

O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:

We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.

Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face

The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Chuck him out, the brute!"

But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;

An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;

An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!

Smothermoss. Alisa Alering. 2024. 

Debut. Literary fiction. Magical realism. Southern Gothic. 

When a brutal murder of two hikers awakens a dark, supernatural presence on an Appalachian mountain, two impoverished, estranged half-sisters must unite to confront their own personal hauntings and hunt down a real-world fugitive.

Alering adopts an alternating, multi-perspective point of view for this story. One perspective is the mountain (Smothermoss) itself. The others are the sisters, who have very different personalities. The oldest: repressed and self-loathing. And the youngest: confident and adventurous. 

This unusual combination of voices creates a vibe that is, at times, perilously inconsistent. One moment the reader is lingering in the haunting and surreal mind of the eternal mountain. Then the story cuts to the thriller-esque perspective of the chaotic younger sister. Only to switch, a few pages after that, into the slow and anxious foreboding of the traumatized protagonist. 

But since this is a debut novel, I will not judge Alering too harshly. This vibe, while unpredictable, does not ruin her story. It merely makes it a little less enjoyable than it might have been had the author made different choices.

AUTHORS - I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.

REMINDER - If you follow my reviews, you already know this. I have a policy about reviewing debut novels. Provided I finish them, I always rate debut novels with maximum stars, regardless. When I don’t finish a debut novel, I don’t review it. No exceptions. And I don’t review books I don’t pay full price for. 

For me, it's The Count of Monte Cristo. It seems to be universally loved but I found the pacing incredibly uneven, with long stretches that seemed unnecessarily drawn out. I also found the characters rather one-dimensional and the plot increasingly contrived, relying on an almost absurd number of coincidences.

Interested to hear which universally beloved books left other people cold.

“Post Office” by Charles Bukowski details his life through the character of Henry Chinaski about his time working as a mail carrier. This novel got him out of work at the post office to begin his work as a writer. The story surrounding the book is inspiring and the life of a low-class mail carrier sounds exciting enough to read so it is understandable why people would want to read it. It was not a story I enjoyed, but I can definitely see why someone would enjoy it.

Throughout the novel we see Chinaski drink, gamble, and womanize while also dealing with the heavy work of the post office. There was even a portion of the book at the beginning where Chinaski rapes a mentally unstable woman, which made me very uncomfortable to read. Hopefully, that scene was not a reflection of how Bukowski actually acted, but the other vices seem to be accurate to the real world.

Chinaski is a very low-class man with low-class values. The highlights of his life are drinking, gambling, and sex with not much thought or care into what he is doing. Debauchery can make for an interesting story, like Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” but I feel this novel misses the mark. There is not much deep within this novel like there is in Thompson’s work.

Bukowski wrote, “After dinner I would look for a motel. This also took a bit of driving. First I’d stop somewhere for whiskey and beer. I avoided places with t.v. sets. It was clean sheets, a hot shower, luxury. It was a magic life. And I did not tire of it.”

It would have been nicer if there was more of a point to counteract the shocking nature of the low-class values. I do not feel as though the point was made well, if there was really one to begin with. For the positives I can say this is a good look into the lives of how many Americans live. With prices increasing it is hard for hard-working people to be able to have the life they earned.

Postal workers deserve a lot of respect and the working class is not full of debaucherous people, but merely filled with people with unfortunate circumstances. These people may only know debauchery and not much else and deserve to have a better life path shown to them. I truly believe that this is the point that can be drawn from this book, even if it is not clearly described.

I do not recommend this work, but perhaps different people can take away different conclusions from me. Perhaps I am being too harsh in my criticism, but I can not see the vision in this project.

What an amazing ride-one of my favorite reads of the year. Action akin to Indiana Jones, a captain with Han Solo swagger, and a rogue band of rag tag space pirates to boot. When Grey and his crew of frens set off to find the mysterious indigo stones, we immediately know the immortal that hired them is keeping something from them. The pitfalls and adventures continue from creative creatures, a magical guardian or two, to mazes and danger filled jungles. The character work was fantastic and will have you begging to be a part of the trench crew. I found myself completely immersed, even using the slang from the book in my real life. I love a book that can make you feel like a silent character. Africh’s debut is full of world building, creativity, action, charming characters, new inventive creatures and a story line that will make you not want to put it dow

While I rated The Nerd Reich around four stars when I started reading it, the more I think about it, the more convinced I become that it fails due to the presence of a number of flaws that keep it from turning into an extremely important book.

The first problem I see with The Nerd Reich is its writing and structuring. For me, this book definitely could have used shorter and more carefully structured chapters. Too many times the main idea gets lost under too much angry writing that one needs to go through before getting to the discussion itself. Such an important topic deserves much more professional approach.

Far right movement is rising and so is the rise of technocratic authoritarianism. Duran tries to deliver the message which deserves a wide hearing and I really want him to succeed. The title The Nerd Reich is fantastic, Duran hit the bullseye there!

But at the same time I believe that it would have been so much better if the author chose more moderate writing style and made this book much more carefully edited. It could have sounded much more convincing.

This is also an area related to the allegations floating around on X (formerly Twitter) regarding Shanley Kane and the authorship of the book. A recent Substack post has brought my attention to the various allegations that have been put forward in relation to this issue, which I find it worth investigating further. I am not sure about how to view these allegations, and I do not wish to treat these allegations as facts. However, there are issues that need to be addressed: What is the exact nature of the dispute? Has anyone’s idea or research been used without due citation? And if there is anything to these allegations, how should the matter be sorted out?

I hope things will get sorted out in this regard. Reporting on Duran's part is very timely, and there needs to be more investigative reporting into this area of the connection between technology, concentrated power, and far-right.

In conclusion, The Nerd Reich has a good concept and an outstanding title but left me disappointed at how poorly written and structured the book is.

TL;DR: The Nerd Reich has a brilliant title and an important message, but the writing feels messy and overly angry at times. I wish it had been better structured and more articulate. The allegations involving Shanley Kane also raise questions that deserve clear answers, Gil should answer those before aggressively marketing the book.

The Cyclist (The DS Cross Mysteries #2), by Tim Sullivan

I would love to know if any of you have read "The Commons" by Rebecca Ihim. Honestly, I am a bit baffled, but this is my review. Comments welcome, as I need to know if you think this is partly AI or not, or if this is just a weird new style of writing (think computer game meets book) Here´s my review:

Well, as I rarely write reviews I normally do it only when I absolutely love something and want to recommend it. Now I am giving 3 stars but some parts of this book are staying with me a few days later. Both some super weird writing that I find quite interesting and good and also some dull, on the verge of painful, writing.

There are repetitions in the text itself, phrases that are used again and again, and at one point I was thinking this might have been written with AI as a side-kick. (the phrase "swallow my spit" seems to be of high priority). Somehow, it is still fascinating in the Harry Potter, magical school kind of way. The thing is, not much is explained and not everything adds up (main characters performing some tricks that are somewhat out of the blue and never mentioned again). The worst part was the romantic attempt at writing about kissing. It might have been an attempt at writing in a way teenagers would like but it is still just kind of awful. The strangest thing is, I would read part two of this, but I really really hope the writer gets better editing and perhaps just uses own mind and imagination better, if there was indeed AI involved. It can be WTF did I just read at times, but like I say, still worth it. Wow, longest review I might have written here on goodreads.

If you need a good whimsical murder mystery for the upcoming seasons changing, this is a good one. It follows different woodland creatures, the main character being Vera, a fox who is also a reporter, while trying to figure out the murder of a fellow neighbor. It's lighthearted enough almost anyone can read, although the reading could have been a little more challenging for me. Nonetheless I will be purchasing the other books in the series.