Literature – Page 2 – S.B. Howell

Diverse Reading Challenge

Feb 16, 2019

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in Asian Authors, Black Authors, Japanese Authors, Literature, Race

In my last post, I talked about how writers should read more books by minorities and PoC, and I got inspired to make my own list of books I want to read. I’ve read a couple of books by women and PoC on this blog, but I want to read more, so I’m making a…

Best of Apex Magazine

Jan 26, 2019

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by

sbhowell

in 5 Star Books, Asian Authors, Black Authors, Fantasy, Horror, Literature, Post-Modern, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Surreal

Edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner Rating: 5/5 This story collection totally blew me away. There are 21 stories and they’re all so good. The thing I like about them most is they’re all really unique. Genre fiction can get a little formulaic sometimes, so I think it’s good to shake it up. Apex…

Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

Jan 21, 2019

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by

sbhowell

in 4 Star Books, Gender, General Fiction, Literature, Mental Health

Rating: 4/5, good This book is horrifically, horrifically depressing. I usually enjoy dark books, but I didn’t get anything resembling “pleasure” out of this one. It is SO INCREDIBLY BLEAK. It doesn’t have the dramatic despair of Darconville’s Cat, the humble nihilism of Too Loud a Solitude, or the morbid curiosity of Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted.…

Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Ueda Akinari

Jan 19, 2019

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by

sbhowell

in Asian Authors, Classics, History, Horror, Japanese Authors, Literature, Philosophy, Short Stories, Surreal

Rating: 3/5, average (note: I’m rating my experience of reading this, not the quality, which is phenomenal because it’s a Japanese classic. It is beautifully written and painstakingly translated, but quite dry.) Tales of Moonlight and Rain in a nutshell: Ghosts of thwarted noblemen and mistreated women Decrepit thatched-roof houses Lovers undeterred by death Sages,…

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi

Jul 14, 2018

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by

sbhowell

in 4 Star Books, Asian Authors, Gender, Graphic Novel, Humor, Japanese Authors, Literature, Mental Health, Sexuality

Rating: 4/5 Warning: This review contains spoilers. Warning: This book may trigger those with depression and other mental illnesses. My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is a graphic novel memoir about a woman in her late 20s whose life is stymied by clinical depression, sexual repression, and her parents’ and society’s expectations. Driven to the end…

Looking Backwards: 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy

Jun 23, 2018

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by

sbhowell

in Economics, Literature, Philosophy, Politics, Science Fiction

Rating: 3/5, average Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy was written in 1887 and was the third best-selling novel of its time after Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Ben Hur. It also inspired “Bellamy societies” who met to discuss Bellamy’s work or start utopian communities based off of the society in Looking Backward. Despite the novel’s popularity at the time,…

Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh

Apr 13, 2018

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by

sbhowell

in 4 Star Books, Black Comedy, Gender, General Fiction, Humor, Literature

Rating: 4/5, good This book surprised me more than anything I’ve read in a long time. I came in expecting a grim, feminist narrative about a girl growing up in a small town, overcoming adversity, and coming into her own, and what I got was an extremely dark, gritty story about a young girl’s depressing…

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Feb 9, 2018

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by

sbhowell

in 5 Star Books, Asian Authors, Erotic, Gender, General Fiction, Horror, Literature, Mental Health, Surreal, Tear-Jerkers

Rating: 5/5, excellent Have you ever felt like a book was written specifically for you? That’s how I felt reading Han Kang’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel, The Vegetarian. I’ve been a vegetarian on and off over the years, and depressed sometimes, and I feel a kinship with Yeong-hye, the protagonist of this book. Yeong-hye…

I Hate the Internet by Jarett Kobek

Jan 5, 2018

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by

sbhowell

in 4 Star Books, General Fiction, Humor, Indie, Literature, Politics, Post-Modern, Race

Rating: 4/5, good “A useful novel against men, money, and the filth of Instagram” I Hate the Internet is a very strange book. It’s half novel and half anti-tech industry diatribe. Jarett Kobek beats his breast to social justice precepts while railing against call-out culture and slacktivism. There are characters, but they take a backseat…

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Jun 19, 2017

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by

sbhowell

in 4 Star Books, Gender, General Fiction, Literature, Mental Health

Rating: 4/5 I tried to read The Bell Jar in high school, but didn’t get very far. I had just finished reading (and loved) Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, and so I thought I would like The Bell Jar, but I couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t understand what made a person like Esther Greenwood…

Category: Literature