Nestor Cedeño > Recent Status Updates

It's... fine, so far.
The plot is taking its time to get somewhere; allowing for each of the 3 main characters to develop.
Marcellus, the octopus, is by far the best, but his chapters are very short, and I wish I had more of his point of view.

Demon’s still at “rock bottom”. At 15, he’s basically a down on his luck, druggie adult who see no future.
I’m really intrigued as to how his story will end. Will he pick himself up, shake off the numerous skeletons in his closet, and finally kick the habit?

If you ever get to read this book, chapter 41 is where you might say, “worthy of the Pulitzer!”. This is where Demon lowest point begins, even though his entire life is filled with them. But this is where he becomes his mother.

Some call it addiction, some say love… fine line.

All of a sudden, this got awkwardly spicy? 🤨

“So wise so young, they say, do never live long.
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.
And if I die no soul will pity me.
And why should they since I myself
find in myself no pity to myself.”

I always tell my students that Shakespeare is EVERYWHERE!

“… anything to do with improving the life of a child is on the bottom (paychecks)… Schoolteacher pay for the most part IN THE TOILET.”

Working on this for improving my Canterbury Tales / Wife of Bath lesson.

Barely 100 pages in and I can see why this won the Pulitzer; it’s wonderfully crafted and narrated through the eyes of Damon. I feel like I’m riding the back of a pickup, somewhere in the middle of mountainous nowhere, listening to the f’d up life and times of someone who’s seen it all and lived to tell the tale.

Ok (wipes sweat from brow) here we go; this one is on the chunky side. Better be worth all the Pulitzer Prize hype!

This story reminds me of those late 60’s, early 70’s low budget horror movies that would show up on the Elvira show, back in the 80’s.
I’m liking this for that reason.
Alive or dead, the mother in-law is a real piece of work!

Heading into the final act; this has been an almost 5 ⭐️ read throughout. But I’m not rushing with this one as I am annotating a lot amid the numerous themes and well written quotes.

I don’t recall how I fell onto this book, but here I am, pausing Quichotte—again—to listen to what is billed as a “mother in-law horror story”. So far, I like the narrator’s sarcastic tone.

Nerdy teacher here 👋 starting this book so to gain more insight on a character I teach every year.

Back on this horse - a much better thoroughbred than the last two I listened to.

Decided to start this one on audio while setting up my classroom. No physical book, no annotations, just listening. So far, it’s good: dystopian, seudo-spy set in a northern, hard to reach (snow) camp. Something like that 😅

A quarter in and I’m liking this meta novel that is inspired by Don Quixote, but reads more like Being John Malkovich or Adaptation. Each character I’ve read about is flushed out well, so far, and I very much like how Sancho is portrayed as a teen.
The themes of TV addiction, mental health, racism, and the opioid crisis are tackled in a very creative way.

Listening and reading/annotating at the same time. The audiobook is narrated by the author and really makes the experience worthwhile because he added audio notes that aren’t in the book, which update his take in certain essays.
Loving the book.

A quarter in and I am invested in the author’s writing style, mixing the issues of race, love, sex, and depression, with music, in a collection of essays that are brutally honest. I’ve read 12 essays so far and 3 stand out: one that focuses on hope and optimism, another on the use of the N-word, and another on depression and the desire to no continue living.

I can’t believe how much I’ve annotated! I have a lot of thoughts regarding the themes in this book, let me tell ya. Hopefully, the last 3rd isn’t a letdown, because, contrary to what so many have said in their reviews, this is a very good and thought provoking novel.
Also… I get why the cover, but I still took the dust jacket off while reading the book in public 😂

Ok, about a quarter in and I will be retracting the “smut” comment I made previously; this book is actually quite thought provoking; full of highly debatable topics. I’m annotating the heck out of it, so far. Does the cover make the book “smutty”? Uh, yeah… so I took off the dust jacket 😂

Ohhhhj 🫣 time for some smut 😅

Stopped… moved on to other books… restarted.

I’m an hour in and I have been chuckling through most of the story. The audiobook narrator is very funny. I have easily become the poor unemployment agency interviewer who has to listen to this “vieja loca”.