Selena (Life of a Random) > Recent Status Updates

uhhh let's just say I'm trying to get a good bit of reading done before heading back to the insanity of school and work 😂

we are w o m e n
short for

e v e r y t h i n g

starting out the year with some kasie west. sounds just a teensy bit familiar *wiggles eyebrows at 2017*

This was an amazing dive back into reading for reading's sake.

I needed a break from stressing about school, and I needed to immerse myself in a different type of creativity...and this was the exact break I needed :)

I will say, the book is somewhat cliche w/ character types, but also there comes a certain point where you can't write a person without it sounding like another so I didn't mind. The world was v cool

The heck did I just read?

In terms of readability, this book wasn't as hard to read as the other, dryer, documentary-like books BUT it was definitely harder to understand.

There's a kind of vague description the author uses to describe something so you're not sure if you've imagined the right thing or not.

There are so many layers of meaning too. Confusing switched of POV. No straight timeline.

Holy friggin heck. This book is the most disturbing, creepy thing to read. I'm like huddled by the brightest part of my living room.

>.<

I'm also pretty sure I'm understanding only like 30% of what's going on

This book is kind of creepy, talking about ghosts and all that ish.

I can see that I'll have to read an analysis or summary of this book or something because it. is. hecka. weird.

It reminds me of the writing style of magic realism, combining fantastical/mythical elemnts with realism... and I am not a fan of magic realism, but we shall see.

Book #4 of my Lit of BLM class.

This is a novel so it's running in a pretty different vein than my previous reads.

I've barely finished the foreword and I'm already kind of confused, so I hope I can understand the writing style/voice. *crossed fingers*

"People, I felt, ought to love the Lord because they loved Him, and not because they were afraid of going to Hell."

Book 3 of my Lit of Black Lives Matter class. (We get to read this one in one week...yayyy....)

This book is still definitely worth the read despite dryness because it provides huge perspective.

Malcolm taught the importance of fighting for black freedom. He wasn't afraid to thunder out the bad-tasting truths that exist, that needed to change.

Peace is good. But with peace, nothing will change. Peace is many times status quo. Malcolm understood that--there's a reason it is called "fighting for freedom."

GAH. I've been power reading through this book for the past few hours. Longer than normal because I'm trying to absorb everything, think about things & look up new words.

I'm going to quickly note my opinions on writing style/basic book quality stuff then later race/etc stuff:
>the writing is very dry, has a lot of era-specific words
>the font is small & serif. 'nough said
>in short--not best readability

"I've had enough of someone else's propaganda. I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against."

thoughts cont//

this is especially true in terms of religion

but as Malcolm X said, "if one [is] sincere in professing a religion, why should he balk at broadening his knowledge of that religion" which imo includes the positive and negative aspects

It's amazing to me to read the intense, continual evolution of Malcolm X.

It made me think of how people are held in higher regard if they stick to the same beliefs for their whole life. People say, "Well, I guess if you can leave that, then you never really believed in it in the first place."

That is some baloney. Don't praise someone who's not open to learning more about themselves & their world.

It's fascinating to read about Malcolm's discovery of knowledge through reading everything he could get his hands on. I've read tidbits of things he learned about China and African history and archaeology.

Above all things, it has made me realize that despite what I've learned, I still need to widen my worldview so much.

(Also tempted to try to copy down pages of the dictionary to study, like he did in prison)

If Coate's book was honest and unapologetic, this book is 20x more. It has been an unapologetic assault of anger, reckless abandon, and unbounded desire. A story of a man who thus far (in the book, so basically until imprisonment) did his best to seek out the worst, darkest parts of the world and thrived in it throughout his teenaged years and early 20s.

2nd book of Lit of Black Lives Matter class.

This was written 53 yrs ago as told to Alex Haley (another Important African American™) & it's really obvious with the era-specific vocab and yellowed pages of my mass market version. 😂

Also, small print.

Ah words do not come easily when I try to sum up my thoughts.

It's as if by showing me his process of thought, evolution of thought, he's made me realize how many new, original, personal thoughts I have that are evolving right now too. Or maybe even thoughts that by reading his words have started evolving.

Like, wow, thank you, man (sarcastically & seriously). Now I know even less than when I started.

Coates's words are so lyrical but at the same time fiercely raw and unapologetic in their honesty.

I've always thought that I was not like those "other white people" who were racist and disliked black people or asians or.

I realize now that I have been blind in many of the same ways that those "other white people" are. Through the transparency phenomenon, taking for granted privileges, etc. etc.

I'm getting there!

I'm really happy about how much I've been able to read during school (for this book & hopefully many more)

small things:
❇️ I kinda wish the author fleshed out Grayson's character more... I feel like everytime we see him it's only in Meg's pov which is fair, but also every time it's pretty much focused on pda/kissing/etc

At first, I felt the writing had too much description and it kind of does, but also it's really cool reading the two very different POVs.

While Kat and Meg aren't real people, it's helped me see maybe where one of my irl bffs might be feeling or thinking from their headspace.

I love the gaming aspect! I'm not a serious gamer but I play every once in a while. And the portrayal isn't cringe! It's great ^^

I'm not even kidding when I say I am totally paying the rest of whatever money I need to so this book will be mine at the end of the semester.

(I rented it from the school bookstore lol)

Golden quotes:

"The Dream [meaning the model life "white" people live] thrives on generalization, on limiting the number of possible questions, on privileging immediate answers."

"Black was beyond the visible spectrum, beyond civilization."

"My mother and father were always pushing me away from secondhand answers--even the answers they themselves believed."

"The craft of writing as [is] the art of thinking."

Part of my Literature of the Black Lives Matter movement required reading.

I've really enjoyed it so far. It's a lot easier to read (as far as heaviness & hard phrasing) than similar books because it's written as a letter.

I would really recommend this to people who realize they've been living in a bubble & looking to see things from a black person's pov. Because it hits hard.

Pretty sure I teared up already.

I really like the dynamic between Kat & Meg. It's a very cute friendship ^^ reminds me of me and one of my best friends.

Ah that was intense.

The scheming of Kaz was fascinating to watch. Almost as depressing as seeing things keep coming up to try to stop the crew.

I love the way that the crew started out as a group of straggled loners/individuals and then ended up as a strong, cohesive crew.

Other thoughts:
>> I know their reasoning but I wish Kaz & the crew wouldn't be so hard on Jesper

>> heist books are still cool

"I. Should. Let. You. Die," Matthias muttered in time with his compressions.

Gosh I love his character sometimes.