u/ActualRound7699

Just what the title is asking, really. Everyone has their own way to engage with their reading. Whether it’s writing footnotes, using audiobooks, dog-earring pages and things of that nature. Others feel more engaged with their reading by engaging with the author or social media, or are really into booktok or some kind of reading club as well.

For me, I have a few rules when engaging with literature. My rules are these:

1. I don’t take recommendations. I am sure you believe you have good taste, but I don’t know you and do not trust your tastes. So no recommendations for me.
2. I don’t usually engage in booktok or instagram book stuff. It isn’t like I don’t see things there that seem interesting, but I do not like the pretentiousness those communities tend to encourage.
3. I do not engage with authors or publishers. Frankly, I very rarely care about their lives. I may pay attention if I don’t think their politics align with mine, but I do not actually engage heavily with them.

I think for me, I like to go into a book completely blind. It means more to me to read something without any bias interwoven. So, how about you, how do you engage with literature?

I just finished this book today to cover two Goodreads categories (AAPI Heritage and Editors’ Picks). I read the 1-star reviews and at first, I was a little hesitant, but deciding to ignore them, I gave it a chance and was pleased To find I liked the book quite a bit.

The story Takes place in the U.S. during the height of COVID when the world was basically shut down, and as a result of the knowledge that the disease originated in China, there was a rise in Asian hate crimes. It follows Cora Zeng as she tries to navigate a world where she is dehumanized simply because of her race, while also dealing with grief over the murder of someone close to her. It is a social commentary on how unique grief is to each of us, but also on the xenophobic attitude many White Americans adopted during COVID against Asians and the dehumanization of Asian people during the pandemic.

The book is interesting because it is one in which the “monster” of the story is two fold, it is systemic as well as a physical manifestation of the dead. White people and cops are vilified during the story, and it is told from a unique perspective in how personal the systemic monster is. It is an interesting story for sure, but if you are someone who cannot handle the sweeping generalization of systemic blame then I can see how it would not be an enjoyable read.

The ending was bittersweet. There was some finality in a sense, but overall the ending was very muted and it left you the reader feeling like it is inconclusive. I thought this was fitting because of how accurate it is in life. Not everyone gets a finality to the end of their story.

Anyway, I thought it did a good job conveying what it meant to without being too in your face about things and the author did a good job of personifying her experience as an Asian woman and of telling her subjective truth.

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts on it?

I started reading The Iron Druid Series awhile ago, I was looking for fantasy books that didn’t feeling overly fantastic (one of the reasons I won’t touch Tolkien, no there is no point debating his point, you won’t convince me to give him a shot). So, I chose the Iron Druid since it mostly takes place in real locations (when he isn’t traveling through other planes with deities.

Atticus is a decently interesting character, I enjoy reading his adventures with Celtic deities, and The Morrison has been my favorite so far. She seems like a really fun character, and someone I would probably enjoy talking to. Oberon (his Irish Wolfhound) is fun too, and I love their inner monologues.

As a person who likes to fully complete things, I have also read the other short stories and novellas surrounding the first five books in the series. I feel like it adds more depth to the characters.

I have also enjoyed the deities that have appeared so far, Celtic, Norse, Greek, Roman, Christian, Russian etc. They have all brought something to the stories that make it even more fun for me.

Anyway, the story so far has had a really good balance of fantasy, reality, and the romance isn’t overwhelming, turning it into pseduo Romantasy, which is a genre I have little to no interest in.

If you haven’t read the series, I recommend picking it up. If you haven’t read, I would love to know what your thoughts are on it!

I started reading The Iron Druid Series awhile ago, I was looking for fantasy books that didn’t feeling overly fantastic (one of the reasons I won’t touch Tolkien, no there is no point debating his point, you won’t convince me to give him a shot). So, I chose the Iron Druid since it mostly takes place in real locations (when he isn’t traveling through other planes with deities.

Atticus is a decently interesting character, I enjoy reading his adventures with Celtic deities, and The Morrison has been my favorite so far. She seems like a really fun character, and someone I would probably enjoy talking to. Oberon (his Irish Wolfhound) is fun too, and I love their inner monologues.

As a person who likes to fully complete things, I have also read the other short stories and novellas surrounding the first five books in the series. I feel like it adds more depth to the characters.

I have also enjoyed the deities that have appeared so far, Celtic, Norse, Greek, Roman, Christian, Russian etc. They have all brought something to the stories that make it even more fun for me.

Anyway, the story so far has had a really good balance of fantasy, reality, and the romance isn’t overwhelming, turning it into pseduo Romantasy, which is a genre I have little to no interest in.

If you haven’t read the series, I recommend picking it up. If you haven’t read, I would love to know what your thoughts are on it!