"Cat's Eye is the story of Elaine Risley, a controversial painter who returns to Toronto, the city of her youth, for a retrospective of her art. Engulfed by vivid images of the past, she reminisces about a trio of girls who initiated her into the fierce politics of childhood and its secret world of friendship, longing, and betrayal. Elaine must come to terms with her own identity as a daughter, a lover, and artist, and woman—but above all she must seek release from her haunting memories. Disturbing, hilarious, and compassionate, Cat's Eye is a breathtaking novel of a woman grappling with the tangled knots of her life."

Thoughts:
VERY GOOD! I think bullying usually isn't portrayed well in stories because they make it too violent and not emotional enough. This story gets what bullying is. If you're a girl whose been terrorized by girls, especially those who were your friends, you'll get this book.

I like the start of this book more than the later half, but the end is still good. The portrayal of forties culture and how that has affected the main characters art is great too. I just like to hear about different time periods.

I really liked this part,“This is what I miss, Cordelia: not something that’s gone, but something that will never happen. Two old women giggling over their tea.” Like isn't that agonizing.

Summary:
"A book that asks: Is there life after the internet?

As this urgent, genre-defying book opens, a woman who has recently been elevated to prominence for her social media posts travels around the world to meet her adoring fans. She is overwhelmed by navigating the new language and etiquette of what she terms "the portal," where she grapples with an unshakable conviction that a vast chorus of voices is now dictating her thoughts. When existential threats—from climate change and economic precariousness to the rise of an unnamed dictator and an epidemic of loneliness—begin to loom, she posts her way deeper into the portal's void. An avalanche of images, details, and references accumulate to form a landscape that is post-sense, post-irony, post-everything. "Are we in hell?" the people of the portal ask themselves. "Are we all just going to keep doing this until we die?"

Suddenly, two texts from her mother pierce the fray: "Something has gone wrong," and "How soon can you get here?" As real life and its stakes collide with the increasingly absurd antics of the portal, the woman confronts a world that seems to contain both an abundance of proof that there is goodness, empathy, and justice in the universe, and a deluge of evidence to the contrary.

Fragmentary and omniscient, incisive and sincere, No One Is Talking About This is at once a love letter to the endless scroll and a profound, modern meditation on love, language, and human connection from a singular voice in American literature."

Thoughts:
Really good. Extremely easy to read, extremely online. If you've gotten that "everyone is watching me" feeling from using the internet, then I think you'll get this book.

The second part is much better than the first, so don't give up too quickly. The love these characters have for the baby is beautiful.

I really liked how they said "She only knows being herself" or something similar. Got me thinking about different ways life is experienced and stuff, which is more than I thought I'd get out of a book about an influencer lol.

Summary:
In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans. Then a neighbor, Big Foot, turns up dead. Soon other bodies are discovered, in increasingly strange circumstances. As suspicions mount, Janina inserts herself into the investigation, certain that she knows whodunit. If only anyone would pay her mind . . .

A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?

Thoughts:
I liked this one. The reason it's only getting 3 stars is because I was expecting a murder mystery, and then that wasn't really what the story was about. If you want a character study/introspection on an interesting old woman than this is that book! and I liked it for that.

The main character was deeply endearing to me. Her voice really nailed the eccentric old lady thing. The relationships between the towns folk and her were my favorite parts of the book. The part in the middle when the entomologist is visiting is my favorite. Very solid book overall, just needs a less deceptive description I guess.

Summary:
What if you could enter the mind of the person you love the most?

Enka meets Mathilde in art school and is instantly drawn to her. Mathilde makes art that feels truly original, and Enka—trying hard to prove herself in this fiercely competitive world—pours everything into their friendship. But when Mathilde’s fame and success cause her to begin drifting away, Enka becomes desperate to keep her close.

Enter SCAFFOLD. Purported to enhance empathy, this cutting-edge technology could allow Enka to inhabit Mathilde’s mind and access her memories, artistic inspirations, and deep-seated trauma. Undergoing this procedure would link Enka and Mathilde forever. But at what cost?

Blisteringly smart, thought-provoking, and shocking, Immaculate Conception offers us a portrait of close friendship—achingly tender and twisted—that captures the tenuous line between love and possession that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.

Thoughts:
This book is just every sci-fi concept ever + toxic girl friendship + weird fine art drama. And I was sat.

It's incredibly entertaining, but maybe not the most well written. There's so much exposition, not even folded in nicely, and then the world building that was just established gets forgotten in a chapter. This book has AI commentary, genetic engineering, cloning, mind-reading stuff, YA dystopia style divided cities, women having babies without men, and so much other concepts that could all be their own book. I feel that most of these topics weren't explored to their fullest.

That's the same issue I have with the toxic girl friendship. It's what the book is about, but I feel like they could've explored it more or had the two women interact more.

Despite all this I was so entertained by this book. It's easy to read and I was constantly wondering what would happen next cause something unheard of was happening every page. I would recomend it just for that.

Summary:
Geek Love is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out ― with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes ― to breed their own exhibit of human oddities.

There's Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family's most precious ― and dangerous ― asset.

As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.

Thoughts:
Best book ever ACTUALLY. I read this book for such long chunks of time I have myself headache level eyestrain, and then kept reading.

The summary is just the tip of the iceberg of stuff that actually happens in this book. I won't say anything else because I think you need to be shocked, but it's like 5 stories in one. And all of those stories are told to their fullest. It's so immersive I felt like the world of the Binewski's was real, and my actual life was just something distracting me from them.

The dark places this book goes to are disturbing but also creative!!! and the shock of them feels earned by the messed up world the author's created. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. I can't recommend it enough.

Summary:
Set in the contemporary Paris of American expatraites, liasons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. James Baldwin's brilliant narrative delves into the mystery of loving with a sharp, probing imagination, and he creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the heart.

Thoughts:
I mean it's James Baldwin of course it's life changing. I don't care for books mainly about romance but this one got me. I think about it all the time. The characters are kinda like the ones in myths with how they're archetypes you can apply everywhere. But they're also so real and 3D. Basically please read Giovanni's room it's what a classic should be. ALSO, read this quote that haunts me:

“Love him,’ said Jacques, with vehemence, ‘love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters? And how long, at the best, can it last, since you are both men and still have everywhere to go? Only five minutes, I assure you, only five minutes, and most of that, helas! in the dark. And if you think of them as dirty, then they will be dirty— they will be dirty because you will be giving nothing, you will be despising your flesh and his. But you can make your time together anything but dirty, you can give each other something which will make both of you better—forever—if you will not be ashamed, if you will only not play it safe.’ He paused, watching me, and then looked down to his cognac. ‘You play it safe long enough,’ he said, in a different tone, ‘and you’ll end up trapped in your own dirty body, forever and forever and forever—like me.”

Link: Here

Summary:
Since its publication, this Lambda Literary Award-nominated book has become a classic must-read on the shelf of books addressing human sexuality and identity. Widely cited as among the most useful books of its kind, Leatherfolk is both historical witness and provocative treatise regarding a distinct subculture that has withstood decades of political harassment and other challenges to its survival.

Spanning the decades from the 1940s onward, this collection of vibrant writing documents the many eras and shifts of attitude that have affected the gay and lesbian leather underground, and its influence on the society beyond.

Thoughts:
Incredibly interesting queer history. This is like the third book I read after not reading for years lol. I think it's a good read for anyone interested in LGBT/kink history. I love love love to read about old subcultures, and this book scratches that itch so well.

It does have some pretty obvious issues though. For one thing, for what is supposed to be an overview of the whole subculture, there are very few chapters by women, trans people, or anyone not white. Such interesting talks of gender and power dynamics and oppression, but only letting the gay white dudes talk? Come on guys. And the final section oml. Just skip it. It's the spirituality section, and while interesting, is almost exclusively like white hippie cultural appropriation stuff.

I would still say this book is a good read, just also a product of it's time.

Link: Here

Summary:
Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction―many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual―and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action…

A brilliant depiction of a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures we all feel to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.

Thoughts:
Book that felt like it knew me. This is like the autistic woman manifesto. Sayaka Murata is one of my favorite authors ever because she gets it. Really good exploration of trying to balance pleasing others/trying to live a life you enjoy, and then realizing you're failing at both! It's around 100 pages too, so if you want to ruin an afternoon plz read.