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spo0kyayden's reviews
336 reviews
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
4.0
4.7 can't wait to read this again. I need the physical copy on my bookshelf.
“I return to English as if to the arms of a lover and feel instantly safe and indigenous there. What are borders, anyway? Just lines in the sand. What are citizens? Just people fucking within the same lines in the sand - and their children and then their children”
― Noor Naga, If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English
“I return to English as if to the arms of a lover and feel instantly safe and indigenous there. What are borders, anyway? Just lines in the sand. What are citizens? Just people fucking within the same lines in the sand - and their children and then their children”
― Noor Naga, If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English
The Joke by Milan Kundera
4.0
4.6
“Do stories, apart from happening, being, have something to say? For all my skepticism, some trace of irrational superstition did survive in me, the strange conviction, for example, that everything in life that happens to me also has a sense, that it means something, that life speaks to us about itself through its story, that it gradually reveals a secret, that it takes the form of a rebus whose message must be deciphered, that the stories we live compromise the mythology of our lives and in that mythology lies the key to truth and mystery. Is it an illusion? Possibly, even probably, but I can’t rid myself of the need continually to decipher my own life.”
― Milan Kundera, The Joke
“Do stories, apart from happening, being, have something to say? For all my skepticism, some trace of irrational superstition did survive in me, the strange conviction, for example, that everything in life that happens to me also has a sense, that it means something, that life speaks to us about itself through its story, that it gradually reveals a secret, that it takes the form of a rebus whose message must be deciphered, that the stories we live compromise the mythology of our lives and in that mythology lies the key to truth and mystery. Is it an illusion? Possibly, even probably, but I can’t rid myself of the need continually to decipher my own life.”
― Milan Kundera, The Joke
Moths by Jane Hennigan
4.0
4.7
Wow. I can't wait to read the sequel to this. Such an interesting concept that opens up so many questions. Loved the world building in this.
Wow. I can't wait to read the sequel to this. Such an interesting concept that opens up so many questions. Loved the world building in this.
Song of My Softening by Omotara James
Rating this when I read it again this year. Some very poignant prose in most parts of this.
James by Percival Everett
5.0
4.7
“There is no God, child. There’s religion but there’s no God of theirs. Their religion tells that we will get our reward in the end. However, it apparently doesn’t say anything about their punishment. But when we’re around them, we believe in God. Oh, Lawdy Lawd, we’s be believin’. Religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.”
― Percival Everett, James
“We're slaves. We're not anywhere. Free person, he can be where he wants to be. The only place we can ever be is in slavery.”
― Percival Everett, James
“There is no God, child. There’s religion but there’s no God of theirs. Their religion tells that we will get our reward in the end. However, it apparently doesn’t say anything about their punishment. But when we’re around them, we believe in God. Oh, Lawdy Lawd, we’s be believin’. Religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.”
― Percival Everett, James
“We're slaves. We're not anywhere. Free person, he can be where he wants to be. The only place we can ever be is in slavery.”
― Percival Everett, James
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
5.0
Terrifyingly beautiful.
“A partner must be biologically interesting, attractive to us, and you are fascinating. You are horror and beauty in rare combination. In a very real way, you've captured us, and we can't escape. But you're more than only the composition and the workings of your bodies. You are your personalities, your cultures.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Dawn
“A partner must be biologically interesting, attractive to us, and you are fascinating. You are horror and beauty in rare combination. In a very real way, you've captured us, and we can't escape. But you're more than only the composition and the workings of your bodies. You are your personalities, your cultures.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Dawn
The Tenant by Roland Topor
4.0
What a weird delight.
“Death was the Earth. Having sprung from her, the budding forms of life attempted to liberate themselves from her embrace. They set their sights on the free and open spaces. Death let them do as they wished, because she was very partial to the idea of life. She contented herself with keeping a watchful eye on her flock, and when she felt that they were fully ripe she devoured them up as if they were so many morsels of sugar. The she lay back and slowly digested the nourishment that would replenish her womb, happy and satiated as a pampered cat.”
― Roland Topor, The Tenant
“Death was the Earth. Having sprung from her, the budding forms of life attempted to liberate themselves from her embrace. They set their sights on the free and open spaces. Death let them do as they wished, because she was very partial to the idea of life. She contented herself with keeping a watchful eye on her flock, and when she felt that they were fully ripe she devoured them up as if they were so many morsels of sugar. The she lay back and slowly digested the nourishment that would replenish her womb, happy and satiated as a pampered cat.”
― Roland Topor, The Tenant
A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt
2.0
I've been dealing with terrible brain fog, fatigue, and moving across country. This could be the first year I don't meet my reading goals. Ugh. My brain feels hijacked.
Anyway, just not for me or I'll come back to this later.
Anyway, just not for me or I'll come back to this later.