Book log

Welcome to my book log! I will be posting book updates here (Twitter sees some of these first).

The Autobiography of Malcolm X ✊🏽

6/18 book update:

my admiration for malcolm x only continues to grow especially with how willing he was to challenge and change his preconceived beliefs. I have the upmost respect for leaders who are able to admit they are wrong and learn from new experiences! Malcolm does this

I also love how he said that the next generation, the young people must be shown the way to fight against racism because they will be at the forefront of leading the charge. the youth are The Movement — they lead and Malcolm knows how important it is for them to learn the truth

everyone deserves the truth but especially young people who should be explicitly taught it in schools, in their communities so that it is engrained in their very beliefs and no lies can shake them. they are the future!!

6/10 book update:

love malcolm’s thoughts on reading: “I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.” so much to say abt this entire chapter.

also the second prison he went to actually proves how treating people with respect and dignity leads to actual reform!

6/9: book update:

malcolm’s time in prison was brutal but also educational — he found Islam and read books and learned while he was there. its really interesting to read about his experience and see how US prisons are truly so freaking evil.

also i’m thinking about the show “inside the worlds toughest prions” and how different countries treat the worst criminals. treating humans with dignity and respect is how to accomplish true reform, giving them the opportunity to learn and grow through books and more!

but malcolm was also guided by his siblings towards the right path — it wasn’t the prison system, it was the people who cared about him who saw prison as a way for him to mend since he would have no choice. he faced cruelty but his family and the occasional prisoner helped

6/5: book update:

this autobiography is more than just malcolm x’s story, it genuinely reads as an intensive, inclusive history of black america! of how they lived in the south and then new york. malcolm met and knew people like louis armstrong & duke ellington! so much history

5/28: book update:

current read is Malcolm X’s autobiography and I’m just thinking about how his english teacher discouraged him from becoming a lawyer because of him being Black. teachers play pivotal roles in society and it may be the lack of respect they are giving but oftentimes they don’t realize how instrumental they can be in someone pursing their dream. i’ve wanted to write for as long as i can remember but everytime ive told a teacher that or shown them my writing they’re unresponsive, indifferent and honestly discouraging. even malcolm himself doesn’t blame it on the teacher but rather the system. we built a society where teachers are disrespected (through low pay) which leads to them not seeing or realizing how important the role they play is which leads to students feeling unsupported. also obviously with Malcolm it was fully racial discrimination that was so embedded into the system that people couldn’t even see that it was racism! but it all comes back to the system imo.

Middlemarch by George Elliot ♞

12/26: “The text, whether of prophet or poet, expands for whatever we can put into it” George Elliot then proceeds to call Dorothea stupid for revering a man. Only ICONIC writing I see!

12/30: george elliot’s writing is leaving me in awe: “Destiny stands by sarcastic with our dramatis personae folded in her hand” what a poetic way to say that Destiny does what she will with her characters even if they briefly are moving in a different direction!

12/31: mary might be my favorite character so far: she said “pretending to be amiable and contented — learning to have a bad opinion of everybody” like at a time when girls are meant to be “soft” and good-natured, mary really said SCREW THAT, society sucks. I love this energy.

1/3: screeching at the fact that Lydgate’s first crush killed her husband because she didn’t want to live in Paris and her husband did?!?! She then tells Lydgate that she meant to kill him and that she no longer wants a husband?!?! GEORGE ELLIOT EXCUSE ME?!?! this is so good

1/6: wondering if Lydgate can “footloose” his way out of arguing over the separation of church and state. bestie genuinely doesn’t care who is chaplain of the hospital and yet they’ve trapped him. free h i m. he is indecisive (just like me) and society makes him nervous

1/6: “As if a woman were a mere coloured superficies! You must wait for movement and tone” will ladislaw shut up, i’m gonna start blushing – he literally ranted about how women are too pretty to paint which is 100% true, thank you sir. elliot writes pretty cool men tbh

1/11: mrs.garth is soo interesting – she has a way higher standard for women which includes them being educated even while being housewives but is more likely to indulge a man’s mistakes because they are “natural”!! she believes women to be more intelligent and expects more!

1/21: george elliot casually dropping some of the most poetic, beautiful lines ever: “our tongues are little triggers which have usually been pulled before general intentions can be brought to bear” like come on, such gorgeous writing!!

2/1: i know my fave character keeps changing but i adore will ladislaw right now! 1) he is a journalist 2) he is pleased to have dorothea in his life in whatever way he can (as a friend rn) 3) he believes that waiting for public authorities to have wisdom and a conscience is useless. and that we can not wait for them to wake up and introduce reforms. WE have to introduce REFORM now even if it won’t pass or make it to the office – you can not wait! even the introduction of the idea of reform is powerful. i love will and he has curly hair

2/19: finished middlemarch and wow. this is one of my favorite books now – it took me two months to read but every moment was beyond worth it. it was such a stunning exploration of the human condition, why we do what we do and the consequences of not saying what we want to say.

i will be thinking about this book for a while. in the end, elliot emphasizes how much impact our “small” lives can have. she writes “that things are not so ill…as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.”

North & South, Elizabeth Gaskell🧱

North & South was gutsy. Elizabeth Gaskell really wrote a book about religion, labor rights, and social norms in the 1800s.

For context, when the book was published in 1854/55, the following was happening in England:

• The industrial revolution was transforming the economy. Suddenly, agriculture was being replaced by manufacturing which led to hoards of people leaving the countryside for urban, city areas.
• Most people during the Victorian era were Christian, but science was creeping in and coming at odds with religious norms.
• Women could not vote and were kept in the “private” sphere, raising families.
• Upper class men dominated almost all social life.

Now that we have established the 1800s, let us talk about North & South. First of all, the book starts off with our main character Margaret’s dad (Mr. Hale) leaving his position as a parson and thus leaving the church. gasp. It is unfathomable that any christian MAN would leave the church but he did.

The question of religion comes up a lot and Mr. Hale argues that he simply felt no longer inclined towards serving God in a church-like setting. He still feels an affinity but wants to exit the clergy. So not only do we have a man leaving the church but we also have a man leaving for what appears to be no good reason at all.

Pretty gutsy if you ask me. This is just one of many rejections of the prevailing authorities of the time. Margaret’s brother also disobeyed authority by going against the navy. He stands up for what he believes to be just, instead of blindly following a commander.

Margaret says in response to hearing about her brother’s rebellion, “Loyalty and obedience to wisdom and justice are fine; but it is still finer to defy arbitrary power, unjustly and cruelly used — not on behalf of ourselves, but on behalf of others more helpless.”

MA’AM, this is quite spectacular and rebellious for 1854. But this isn’t even the crux of the story.

The main part of the story stands with the town of Milton where the Hales move after Mr.Hale leaves the church. This is a manufacturing town, one of many that were popping up during the time. It is marred by smoke and factories and laborers.

Here Margaret meets a one Mr.Thornton, a self-made man who owns a factory. He does not have a good view of laborers and generally doesn’t like to get involved with their “personal life” in the sense that he doesn’t care what they do with their salary. There is one problem with that: if employers are only concerned about business and not the well-being of their employees, the employees will rebel. You can’t say “I am not concerned with what my employees do after work” because life and work go hand in hand. The work that you do pays for your life afterward and if your work isn’t paying you enough for your livelihood, then you have every right to demand employers to care. Also, if employers create this distance between themselves and workers then resentment is only going to grow faster.

At the end, this distance is separated as Mr. Thornton takes Margaret’s advice into consideration by spending considerable time getting to known his workers which benefits everyone! He even strikes a deal to pay for a kitchen where they can cook food!!

I love Margaret for changing him without doing anything (well actually, she did do something — she rejected him). They end up together at the end but it is clear that he is just Ken.

Thus, we have a ~ strike ~ in the book. The strike turns violent and Margaret (like the boss she is) places herself in between the workers and Mr. Thornton who went to reason with the laborers as Margaret’s request. Mr. Thornton proclaims that this is no place for Margaret (and also women). You know what Margaret does? She stays standing. She doesn’t move in defiance. Pretty gutsy given that women were kept from many things at this time, and expected to be subservient but in this book, women are bold and demand a place at the table (or the strike in this case).

Furthermore, Margaret goes on to say “that any woman, worthy of the name of woman, would come forward to shield, with reverenced helplessness, a man in danger from the violence of numbers.” We applaud her for this!!

Now, I would like to spend some time talking about my favorite character. You may be thinking “What SAUMYA, how can your favorite character not be Margaret.”

Let me explain. Margaret and Mr.Thornton are both defined by their haughtiness, their desire to always walk with their chin up. That is great and fine. But My favorite character is the one and only Nicholas Higgins. This man has something that every one needs more of: humility. He knows when to stand up for himself (he leads the union), but he is also aware of where he lacks knowledge.

He makes a great point about how we talk down to people. He says to Mr. Hale: “I put it to yo’, being a parson, and having been in th’ preaching line, and having had to try and bring folk o’er to what yo’ thought was a right way of thinking — did yo’ being by calling em’ fools and such like, or didn’t yo’ rayther give ’em some kind words at first.”

We assume people don’t know anything and that they live in ignorance. But if we try to talk down to people and condescend them, they won’t be inclined to listen.

Men like Higgins spend their lives toiling away in factories, working themselves to the bones and when they finally have had enough and start fighting for their rights, there are a whole slew of people (whether it be employers or religious men) waiting to tell them how everything should be done. They simply won’t listen not when they are being ridiculed as something is being explained. They have so much to worry about and we severely lack compassion by treating them as if they know nothing. They deserve respect. It goes both ways.

It reminds me of this one clip from the play Prodigal Son where the character says “You tell me I’m bad before I get to be anything…a grown person decided I was good before I was good.”

We must believe that people are capable of more. Higgins is capable of understanding and gaining knowledge of the economy but only if we believe that he is.

Higgins also does an excellent job explaining the point of unions to the Hales. He knows that it might seem strange that men are forced to join unions but he argues the following:

“I’lI not deny but what th’ Union finds it necessary to force a man into his own good. I’ll speak truth. A man leads a dree life who’s not th’ Union. But once i’ th’ Union, his interests are taken care on better nor he could do it for himsel’, or by himsel’, for that matter. It’s the only way working men can get their rights, by all joining together. More the members, more chance for each one separate man having justice done him. Government takes care o’ fools and madmen; and if any man is inclined to do himsel’ or his neighbour a hurt, it puts a bit of a check on him, whether he likes it or no. That’s all we do i’ th’ Union. We can’t clap folk into prison; but we can make a man’s life so heavy to be borne, that he’s obliged to come in, and be wise and helpful in spite of himself. Boucher were a fool all along, and ne’er a worse fool than at th’ last.”

Unions benefit all workers, even those who don’t join. It is why we have union security agreements. I get Higgins’ point — he wants workers to realize that there is strength in numbers.

This book was gutsy for depicting workers rights in such a forthcoming way. I gave it a 4/5 stars. I disliked the number of deaths (5!!) even though I understand that they were necessary for Margaret but other than that, this was specatcular!

The Way of Kings,Brandon Sanderson 🗡

Wow. Firstly, this book was so long but it didn’t feel that way and that is a testament to Brandon Sanderson’s writing ability. This book covered lots of themes including betrayal, trust, loyalty, faith and justice.

Those particular themes were sprinkled throughout from Kaladin’s betrayal to Dalinar’s to even Jasnah being betrayed by Shallan. Throughout, we see how everyone deals with their respective betrayals and their capacity of understanding where the other person came from.

Kaladin’s betrayal made him generalize all lighteyes at the enemy whereas Dalinar’s betrayal made him turn his anger towards one particular person.

Jasnah was able to forgive and see the reasons behind Shallan’s decision to steal. The betrayals are all on a different extent but still, the response is interesting. Especially when you think about what it leads them to do.

How do we respond to betrayal and is there a good response to being let down by someone you once trusted? It’s quite interesting.

Then comes the ideas about trust and loyalty. Something that I think Sanderson does exceptionally well is write about true friendship. Reading about the bond between Bridge Four was truly heartwarming. I loved seeing a rag-tag group of people who have all experienced some form of tragedy in their lives come together. They are also incredibly loyal to one another and I love that Sanderson shows that no matter what you have been through in your life, human connection can help you move through the pain. You won’t overcome it but there are people who can help with that burden. It’s beautiful and a powerful theme to incorporate in a novel that is filled with so much betrayal.

There were also really interesting conversations about faith, especially since Jasnah is a heretic. When Shallan and Jasnah were talking about religion, it was easy to see the comparisons to how we treat faith in today’s society. That chapter is one I plan on re-reading several times to truly understand the different perspectives being presented.

All in all, the book was phenomenal as usual and I absolutely can not wait to read the next books in this series.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“To be given loyalty is to be infused like a gemstone, to be granted the frightful license to destroy not only one’s self but all within one’s care.” (page 452).

“Ignorance may reside in a man hiding from intelligence, but scholarship can seem ignorance behind intelligence.” (page 569).

One of my favorite sections of the book is on page 694 where Shallan goes through several different philosophies to evaluate the morality of Jasnah killing several men. The book does a great job diving deep into the idea of justice as well.

“Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. If nobody starts, then others cannot follow.”

“Being together, eating Rock’s stew, listening to the quiet chatter while the fire crackled and popped, sending dancing flakes of yellow light into the air…this was more relaxing than sleep could be.” (page 1236).

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte🌹

04/28/2023: I am reading Jane Eyre for the first time and I want to fight every person being mean to Jane.

Not Abbot and Bessie saying that if Jane was a “better child and prettier” it would be easier to have compassion for her. Honestly, I feel like our society is kind of similar. If you fit the mold, people are more likely to have empathy for you but as soon as you are an “other”, people refuse to give you the benefit of the doubt or any compassion. If you’re from a community of color, people are not empathetic and are quick to paint you in a negative light despite not doing anything at all.

05/04/2023: Jane left one oppressive environment for another. She can’t catch a break. I don’t like this school even though she has barely been here. It just seems so cold…well, let’s see. Hopefully, it’s a bit better.

When Helen talked about the difference between her teachers, she made a really good point about how education often teaches you using inaccessible language and about things you don’t necessarily care about! Now, I’m aware that there are really important things to learn that aren’t necessarily interesting to everyone but HOW you teach matters a great deal. Miss Scatcherd is cruel and condescending but Miss Temple teaches using accessible language and kindness. She teaches her subject in a way that makes it interesting! I am very appreciative of the good teachers I’ve had!!

05/13/2023: I relate to Jane so much! She falls into the habit of comparing herself with others and believes that because she is inexperienced, she isn’t worthy of admiration or respect or genuine kindness. She sees Mr.Rochester and Blanche as superior than her because they are more “worldly” than her and have experienced more than her. But as Jane disparages herself, the reader continues to have only the upmost admiration for her. You admire her kindness, her bluntness, her ability to not judge others and the way she embraces everything that she is even if on the inside, she dislikes herself. We, as humans, are so hard on ourselves. I have also fallen into the trap of comparing myself to others and feeling inferior because I am not “experienced.” But so what if you haven’t had a boyfriend or or like Jane, have spent your entire life in one place. So what? We still admire Jane, we still love her and that is because she is trying to be a better person. Your kindness or “goodness” isn’t always determined by who you were but rather who you are trying to be. Jane, like most humans, makes mistakes but she has the humility to go back and say I can and will do better. Jane is trying to broaden her worldview but you shouldn’t be ashamed of your lack of experience. What’s done is done. The question is who are you trying to be? Not who you are or who you were? You may not ever reach the person you are trying to be but the trying part is what is important. We see Jane make an effort to change her surroundings, improve her lot in life and not listen to those who around her who look down on her. She is also trying to change the way she looks at herself too. I may not ever experience some of the things that others have and some things I will experience. Either way, it does not make me less than others. Jane is “plain and simple” but kind. Isn’t that the point? Maybe it’s not so much your experiences but what you get from them. The thing is those lessons don’t come from just one experience but from a multitude of situations. I am trying to experience more in my own way and be a better person. Maybe, that’s all that matters.

Tress of The Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson ⚓️

04/11/2023: I am a big Brandon Sanderson fan and I dropped everything to read this.

This book is different from his others because it reads like a fairytale. From the narration to the plot, it’s a fairytale (with some rewarding twists). We all know the classic tale of a prince falling in love with a commoner, the parents not approving and the prince having to save the girl. In the end, we have your classic happy ending. The girl becomes a princess and rules with a golden heart.

But Sanderson makes some important changes! The first one is that the story is about one girl saving a boy. YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT. No damsel in distress but rather a gentleman in distress. Tress is set out to save the love of her life Charlie who is the duke’s son. She is the one embarking on a dangerous adventure to rescue her prince. We love to see it!!!! Another thing is that the girl’s parents are so supportive and she pointedly asks them for permission before embarking on her journey. Obviously, the world-building is fantastic because it is Sanderson but what I really love about his stories is the way he subverts expectations. Every book of his takes a turn from the usual stories you read about. I also love the self-awareness of the book like Sanderson adds little quips about the story through the narrator.

04/12/2023: There is a talking rat… and I already love bestie Huck. We have the usual talking animal character which is always in fairytales but we love to see Tress have a partner.

04/22/2023: I love what Sanderson wrote about memories, and how they sweeten and sour over time. Memories change because we change over time. We never stay the same and so the way we remember things changes as well. It reminds me of my femur fracture. When only two years had passed from my leg fracture, I only got sad whenever I remembered what had happened. Now, it has been several years and it doesn’t hurt at all to think about it. I can talk about it and I just remember what the fracture taught me. It taught me to appreciate my ability to walk and move around, it gave me strength and changed the way I viewed friendships. I think often the memories that hurt the most end up being memories that hurt the least. When you are going through something difficult or scary, it is easy to remember it as such but time changes everything. It changes who you are and how you think. It’s hard to think ahead and have foresight. That’s okay because eventually, looking back will change. Memories are exactly what we need them to be — they can give us comfort when we need them to and they can remind us of our strength and sometimes they just give us pain. Sometimes, you see signs that you didn’t see before, reminding you why something (or someone) is no longer in your life so you don’t make the same mistake again. Sanderson reminds me that we truly do create our own legends and lore, sometimes it is intentional and sometimes it is not. But I think remembering things differently is a good sign, it means you have changed as well and grown into someone else. That in itself keeps life exciting.

04/27/2023: Finished the book and that was a 5/5. It was so whimsical and I genuinely loved every single character. I am going to write some of my favorite quotes from the book because there were so many that made me feel so seen.

Howard Zinn on History 📚

3/19: Howard Zinn is one of my favorite writers and I have read “A People’s History” several times. I am so unbelievably excited to read this book by him and even though I just started, I already have so many thoughts!! I don’t read Zinn linearly, I jump around and the chapter I most recently read was “A University Should Not Be a Democracy (1980).”

“Still, with twelve million young people in college, the fear of a working-class-professional coalition for social change makes it especially important to educate for obedience.”

There are so many problems with our current educational systems and some college classes aren’t teaching you important academic material but are truly teaching you to be obedient. They are teaching you to follow the rules – turn assignments in on time, write according to arbitrary standards, and memorize heaps of information to regurgitate on a test. I was thinking about how we can change this and I think that one way is to let students have a say in the curriculum. I am not sure if schools currently do this but I don’t have experience with having a say. At the end of each year, students evaluate their professors, giving them one of the only opportunities to address what they are being taught. What if we did that at the beginning of the year? What if we let students dictate what we teach? What do they want to learn? Why do they want to learn it? I am not saying that we let students dictate everything we learn but I think it is more than fair to let them share what they think. They are, after all, paying for their education. Let’s say that we have students join a committee, before the semester starts, where they read the syllabus for the classes. They get to leave notes and comment on what they want to see on it. They can start with suggestions and discuss them with the teacher. Then it can go to a vote with other professionals in the department and if it gets approved, it becomes a requirement. They have to teach the material. I know doing this for every single class is a lot but split it up by department, major, and general education requirements. Students don’t have an interest in their education because we don’t give them an opportunity to have one. Zinn got my gears turning like he always does.

3/21: Reading the chapter “On Presidential Liars” makes me realize how to write an opinion piece. Zinn uses facts to fully support his opinion which I know is exactly what needs to be done but he does it very very elegantly. He never loses focus on the main idea and continues to bring back the facts to his main point. Just phenomenal writing.

People We Meet on Vacation, Emily Henry👒

Emily Henry is my favorite contemporary romance writer. I didn’t get a chance to write updates this time around but I did want to write a short review of the book:

First off, I love the way Henry writes her female characters. She gives them incredible emotional depth and Poppy is no different. She is adventurous, colorful, and caring. Escaping her hometome in Ohio, she is a writer for a travel magazine who lives in New York. But she finds that she can’t escape her past as much as she wants to. That girl that she was in Ohio is still inside her. Henry writes “I’ve put so much time and distance between myself and that lonely girl, and what does it matter? Here is a piece of my past, right in front of me, miles away from home. You can’t outrun yourself. Not your history, not your fears, not the parts of yourself you’re worried are wrong.”

There is this this idea that we have to prove to others that we succeeded in life and that they didn’t. But that isn’t how life works. Everyone’s idea of success is different and Poppy has that realization. Sure, her bully ended up staying in Ohio but he is happy. And she is not. It doesn’t matter where you go or what you do. That little girl you were will still be there until you give her the attention she deserves. Until you accept her and realize that what used to hurt like hell doesn’t any more. Those bullies ended up happy and you deserve the same. Don’t spend your life proving you won to those who don’t really matter, to wounds that have long since faded.

I also really related to Henry’s writing on becoming an adult (rolls eyes because what even is being an adult). She writes “I feel insufficient as an adult… living, being responsible for myself, seems like an insurmountable challenge lately.” I could not relate more! I am not even technically “responsible” for myself yet since I am still living at home and don’t have a job (please don’t get me started on the job hunt) but I feel that. When you grow older, you realize that there is so much you have to do by yourself for yourself and it sucks! Unless you find someone who makes it a tad bit easier. And for Poppy, that is Alex.

I related to Alex more than Poppy, which is rare considering that I almost always relate to Henry’s female characters more. But Alex is a homebody (ME) and wants to live a relatively stable life. He wants a house and kids. He likes traveling occasionally (not all the time) and mainly does it for the company (Poppy). He has had to take care of his brothers and his dad after his mother passed away. And he has trouble letting himself be happy. Alex likes his morning jog and to be clean (ONCE AGAIN ME). I don’t necessarily relate to Alex’s family background but I do relate to his personality.

Alex and Poppy together are beautiful. They are different but through their ten years of friendship, you can see the way they fit together. And I love that. Sometimes, you do end up finding people who feel like home.

I’ll be honest, this wasn’t my favorite Emily Henry book but it was still wonderful! I wish we spent more time with their families and Alex’s life in Ohio. I also didn’t like the confession scene with Poppy crying in the parking lot and Alex chasing after her. I feel like it would have made more impactful for Poppy to say this to Alex in the high school because it would more directly show Poppy coming to terms with her past self. And Alex would realize what Poppy is willing to do for him. Still, all in all, it was a 4/5 for me! I love Emily Henry and can’t wait to read her next one.

Shorefall, Robert Jackson Bennett 🗝

2/11: I relate to Gregor so much. This line is beautiful: “What a thing to wish to be unmade. To yearn to open up one’s skull and allow the bindings there to come unspooling out like lengths of wire…” amazing writing.

2/13: “A bleary dawn poured over the rooftops” – what a beautiful way to describe dawn. I am losing it over this.

2/17: Gregor gives off such brother energy and we love to see it!! Homeboy was like I’ll risk my life for my chosen sister Sancia and it’s just so heartwarming to see Gregor find family after leaving his horrible blood family! Chosen fam for life.

2/26: Orso gives off such grumpy uncle energy, it’s insane and so iconic. He is just always in a bad mood and I fully relate.
Bennett sure knows how to write a villain like Crasedes is so evil and genuinely scary. I can feel the fear in the people he interacts with and there is truly nothing scarier than controlling people. I’m terrified…

2/27: The image of Orso sitting on Gregor’s back is so funny. Orso must be so happy to do absolutely nothing while Gregor has to carry this man. It is so funny, I can just see it.

3/1: Orso talking about how he doubts whether they will be capable of leading a revolution is reminiscent of every single person in history who has tried the same thing. There are always doubts but in history, they move past them in different ways for different reasons. It is what makes revolutions so interesting because every single one is different and every single one is trying to achieve something in different ways. I’m curious to see how Orso pushes past it. What’s the reason? Sometimes, historically, people move forward because there is simply no other way.
Also, I fully envision Crasedes as a pirate – the three-cornered hat and giant dark cloak are what does it. Anyway AHOY 🏴‍☠️

3/3: Crasedes is an interesting character. He wanted to build a perfect utopia, one where there was no oppression or war but his means of obtaining that utopia involve lots of violence and oppression, albeit not on purpose. But it brings up an interesting point – if the means with which you are formulating and fighting a revolution turn you into the evil you are fighting against it, is it worth it? Crasedes does not believe in humanity at all and so he wants to change ALL of them but not ALL of them are bad. Is taking lots of good in the world out for the sake of removing the bad actually worth it? Just some food for thought. On the other hand, Valeria was meant to simply be a tool but when Crasedes gave her a mind, she turned from a tool into an oppressed person who was viewed as an object. There is a difference, however, an important one. What Sancia and Orso are doing also involves violence but never against good. They are fighting because the other side only responds in that way and every time they do it, they aren’t satisfied, they are upset. It is possible to build a revolution without turning into the thing you are fighting against. The book also makes some incredible points on innovation and how it can be used for good and bad. A lot of it depends on the people. technology is always a double-sided coin. There are those who use it for selfish interests and those who use it to help others. The book says that selfish interests are more powerful and tend to win. This might be true but I like to believe that there will be a mechanism in place to check those powers.

3/7: Wow, Berenice and Sancia sharing thoughts and feelings have to be one of the most romantic things I have ever read. Omg, it’s always will you marry me and never WILL YOU SHARE YOUR BRAIN WITH ME? Anyway, there are lots of good quotes that I must write here:
“It is rather like wearing someone’s mindset as a cloak about you, wrapping yourself up in all their memories and thoughts…” – so romantic!!
“People are inventive. And anything they invent they can use to raise themselves up over everyone else.”

3/9: I change my mind about what I said about sharing minds being romantic because Valeria can do the same thing with Sancia and that’s not romantic. That’s a human completely losing their autonomy and feels like the opposite of a healthy relationship. I never trusted Valeria. From the beginning, I always doubted her.

3/15: I am almost done with this book that took me AGES to read. Sharing your brain with someone can be both good and bad. You can use it like Valeria and control folks or you can use it to share experiences. You can use it to quite literally walk in somebody else’s shoes and feel what they feel. You can use it to consolidate information and perspectives from others to apply it to one goal. You can see similarities and use the different knowledge you have to accomplish something great. That is what Sancia, Orso, Berenice and Gregor did. It would be so amazing if politicians could do that now – if they could really walk in another persons shoes. If they could see what they see and learn where they come from, they would have more empathy for people who disagree with them. More importantly, they could see that they have more similarities than differences and how they can use their talents to accomplish the similar goals they have. They could collaborate by sharing perspectives and experiences. They can develop kind understanding and tolerance. Bipartisanship more like BRAINpartisanship… I had to.

Pride & Prejudice 🌷

1/25: Reading Pride & Prejudice for the first time and it’s been like 10 pages, where is Mr.Darcy. Where is the awkward man? Bring him back or I’ll scream.

1/26: pride & prejudice update: darcy for real fell in love with elizabeth after barely saying anything to her at all. my man looked at her and talked to her for a total of 10 minutes. he is so awkward and fell in love with her after observing her with others. a true wallflower

1/29 pride & prejudice update: mr.collins is so annoying. he talks too much and is so annoying. too much of him, I WANT MORE OF DARCY!!

1/31: pride and prejudice update: elizabeth changed a man by rejecting him. her power is immense. she barely lifted a finger and forgot about him but darcy never did. darcy knew of his flaws but refused to change but he wanted to for elizabeth. peak romance

2/1: pride and prejudice update: I will beat wickham with my bare hands. this man is Evil. The EVILEST. Homeboi eloped with TWO GIRLS HUH.

2/3: pride & prejudice update: CAN DARCY STOP LEAVING?!? STOP LEAVING AND STAY PUT SO ELIZABETH CAN TELL YOU HOW SHE FEELS. my god this man i’m beyond annoyed. jane austen has truly perfected the slow burn because i have read 90% of pride and prejudice and NEITHER DARCY NOR ELIZABETH HAVE TOLD EACH OTHER HOW THEY REALLY FEEL. And this was the og slow burn the og enemies to lover.

2/6: FINAL pride and prejudice update: I love Mr.Bennet – he truly saw her daughters worth from the beginning! And also I love that they didn’t care about pleasing anyone else. and how absolutely no one believed Lizzy’s love because she hated Darcy so much. Very good.