Ben Saufley - Reading

Books I've Rated 4 / 5

Ratings Breakdown

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

147

3.5

4

200

4.5

5

Moonflower Murders

by Anthony Horowitz

Finished 2020-12-29

I really enjoy Horowitz’s writing, and the Susan Ryeland series especially with its book-inside-a-book conceit. But I’m growing more uncomfortable with his relationship to homosexuality. He made Hawthorne, his meta detective written as nonfiction with Horowitz as the first-person narrator, a homophobe, and literally in his book said “I would not have chosen to write a character like this” but uh, he did. And with Alan Conway, whose sexuality is prominent through two books, we mostly get ugly caricatures as well. The eventual villain of this book turns out to be a former “rent boy,” who is apparently not actually gay but performed gay sex for money and is just disdainful of basically everyone around him. It looks like Horowitz once played devil’s advocate in a TV discussion, against gay marriage, despite purportedly not actually objecting to gay marriage himself. It’s not absolutely damning, but also, like, the devil doesn’t need an advocate. So it kind of fits this bill, where I don’t think he would see himself as homophobic but he’s certainly not doing himself or the LGBTQ community any favors.

I feel like I missed an obvious clue (in retrospect) to JKR’s transphobia in the early Cormoran Strike books, and I’m worried I’ll be doing the same here if I continue reading these. I don’t know, though. We’ll see I guess.
The Queen of Raiders

by Sarah Kozloff

Finished 2020-11-15
One by One

by Ruth Ware

Finished 2020-10-24
To Be Taught, If Fortunate

by Becky Chambers

Finished 2020-09-27
Through the Wall

by Caroline Corcoran

Finished 2020-08-31
A Queen in Hiding

by Sarah Kozloff, Imogene Church

Finished 2020-07-29
The End of Policing

by Alex S. Vitale

Finished 2020-07-03

Honestly surprised at how moderate it felt. With such a bold title I expected more extreme stances. But it seemed pretty levelheaded and a lot of its points were not specifically related to abolition, but more to the problems faced and the things needed to fix the problem even partially. One could easily read this book and come away with a strong advocacy for reform, rather than abolition. But all the points combined certainly paint a picture of a situation that is very hard to fully address with reform (and in fact it points out a lot of the ways attempts at reform fail). Quick read, full of good (if depressing) examples of the problem we face. Recommended most for people who are new to these issues.
The Rage of Dragons

by Evan Winter

Finished 2020-06-19
The Name of All Things

by Jenn Lyons

Finished 2020-05-15
Come Tumbling Down

by Seanan McGuire

Finished 2020-04-30
The Red Hunter

by Lisa Unger

Finished 2020-04-24

Pretty predictable at a certain point, but overall enjoyable.
Wanderers

by Chuck Wendig

Finished 2020-03-26

Pretty timely, obviously. Pandemic, white supremacist demagogue, etc. I enjoyed it.
Upright Women Wanted

by Sarah Gailey

Finished 2020-02-19
The Sentence is Death

by Anthony Horowitz

Finished 2020-02-17
A Closed and Common Orbit

by Becky Chambers

Finished 2020-02-14

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Books I've Rated 4 / 5

Ratings Breakdown

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Moonflower Murders

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Queen of Raiders

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } One by One

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } To Be Taught, If Fortunate

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#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } A Queen in Hiding

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The End of Policing

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Rage of Dragons

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Name of All Things

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Come Tumbling Down

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Red Hunter

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#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Upright Women Wanted

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Sentence is Death

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Moonflower Murders

The Queen of Raiders

One by One

To Be Taught, If Fortunate

Through the Wall

A Queen in Hiding

The End of Policing

The Rage of Dragons

The Name of All Things

Come Tumbling Down

The Red Hunter

Wanderers

Upright Women Wanted

The Sentence is Death

A Closed and Common Orbit