January. We race to be the people we vowed to be back when 2024 was fresh. The stuff of ball drops and champagne. But the grinding. But the January. Glorious unbroken periods to think and work and create? NO. Edginess to everything, poking and prodding and mushing us along, impaling us on time thieves? YES.
Your list has such discernment.... but I don't wonder if the Didion doesn't contribute to an existential threatened element of the Mom gasp whilst driving.... Play it As it Lays threw me into a tailspin of nihilist despair for at least 2 weeks.....
This is a good maxim: "I only write about stinkers if the book actively harms." Thank you.
I write about books, and I've thought about the distinction between "books I liked and found useful for my personal reasons" and "books that others may like and find useful for their own reasons." The most successful reviewers seem to be those who focus their energies on books where they feel positive on both counts: "I loved this, and so will you."
But I also choose to spend a lot of energy writing about certain books that actively harm; I do so on principle, to educate others on what I've spotted or sorted out, not because my sermons are popular or bring me "success."
Your list has such discernment.... but I don't wonder if the Didion doesn't contribute to an existential threatened element of the Mom gasp whilst driving.... Play it As it Lays threw me into a tailspin of nihilist despair for at least 2 weeks.....
This is a good maxim: "I only write about stinkers if the book actively harms." Thank you.
I write about books, and I've thought about the distinction between "books I liked and found useful for my personal reasons" and "books that others may like and find useful for their own reasons." The most successful reviewers seem to be those who focus their energies on books where they feel positive on both counts: "I loved this, and so will you."
But I also choose to spend a lot of energy writing about certain books that actively harm; I do so on principle, to educate others on what I've spotted or sorted out, not because my sermons are popular or bring me "success."