Just finished The Power by Naomi Alderman, about how a newfound ability in women turns the world into matriarchy societies. The book started strong and engaging, but didn't reach its full potential and was at times a tad all over the place.

But combining the fast-paced writing and told from the perspectives of multiple characters, I think it's an interesting read.

Going to start Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket by Hilma Wolitzer.

They are! Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket is a collection of short stories that Hilma Wolitzer has written throughout the years. It's been a while since I've read any short stories. I'm only a few stories in and I like the way she writes.

Do you think The Midnight Library is worth a read? I'm thinking that or Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson after this.

Snow Crash because it's where the term Metaverse (recently popularised by FB's change of name to Meta) was coined, and it'll be interesting to see how much of what Neal's written almost 30 years ago is still relevant today.

Gonna trust you on this, The Midnight Library it is then. I couldn't imagine finishing books that are only 1-3 stars. So many good books, no time to waste on bad ones.

Any good fanfic to recommend?

Ah, might explore that some time. Totally new to fanfics. Ended reading Snow Crash now since there's a long wait for The Midnight Library. Surprised at its popularity.

Will check that out, thanks.


Just finished reading this too, a 7/10 for me. I was expecting a twist because I read your post, lol. I expected too much, expected something like Shutter Island (only the movie, haven't read the book).


Finished Snow Crash prior to this, his Metaverse is awesome, though not much character depth. Even though I give it a 6.5/10, it's worth a read.

Sound good, I'm gonna give that a read.


Dropped The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. It was Goodread's Choice Awards 2021's Best Mystery and Thriller category winner, so I thought I would give it a try. Not sure if the story is good, it was just too draggy and had too much flashback that aren't mysterious or thrilling. Tried my best but kept falling asleep.


The Midnight Library 6.5/10. Relatable, but writing style draggy and dull at times.


Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 9/10. Might deserve a 10. Learned a lot about space from it. It's memorable, plausible, exciting, and heart-warming, with great pacing.


The Guest List by Lucy Foley 7.5/10. Disappointing ending.


Caught up on some classics that I should've read in high school:
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding 8.5/10
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 9/10
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie 9/10

I'm less familiar with first person pov, but extremely well executed in Project Hail Mary. It's great too in To Kill a Mockingbird, the pov of an 8-year-old girl, it's refreshing, adorable, and funny too sometimes to see how an 8-year-old understands the world. I think it's much harder to tell the story within the boundaries of a single person's knowledge.

You didn't miss much giving up The Guest List, all the build-up to a mediocre reveal. I just stuck with it because it deals with some social issues such as groupthink and some of the characters were very relatable to me.

Even Goodreads' reviews are not very reliable. Or books might be like food or art, where everyone has their own preference.

Lots of books are draggy, they rephrase the same thing over and over, nothing new to say. Is this the trend now?

Still looking for what to read next...

Despair not! Haha. I think there are good books, they just take more effort to uncover. There could be a similar number of needles, but just a much larger haystack and lots of dishonest salesmen.

I used to read lots of manga but, just as miyakochan said, they're different things. Books require a more holistic imagination; manga just gotta imagine the motion. Any good manhwa to recommend? They usually have better art and some are even coloured I heard.


Btw, just finished The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. 8.5/10. Witty, fun, and light.

Any manhwa/manga/manhua that you think was really good? I'll just take the needles you found and skip the haystack, lazy me. I'd take seinen over shonen though.


Yeah, Benaroo, isn't writing the way you write harder than writing proper? Makes my head spin too.