Justin Monisit > Recent Status Updates

It's good, but it being written as a mystery would be so much better if they leaned into the dramatic irony and let you know who the killer is and made this into a character study (since EVERYONE knows the twist). It's an interesting novella, but dated via pop culture osmosis.

I know I should ignore my quantitative reading challenge, but I have now set it as a challenge to read as many books from my physical collection as I can until the year ends. So far - this book is good, but it doesn't stand out for me yet.

Very good. Does go on for a bit longer than I expected where I can feel the pace drag a bit, but it humanizes these astronauts in a way that makes them fallible as they are great. Wish Wolfe did mention Von Braun and how much of a terrible human being he was, even in passing (Nazi scum). Captivating all the way through.

*Insert thumbs up emoji right here* This is sort of the last book I'd expect to enjoy, but it is pretty good.

The Ledge - just a good story, and then that ending hits and it satisfies that primal instinct for revenge. One of the rare King endings where it's actually really really satisfying and outclasses the rest of the story. 7.5/10

Doing chores while listening to this book, while in reality, I am listening to this book while doing chores. I'm highly engrossed in the lives of these astronauts and how quaint their lives are in reality. I want to get to the movie as fast as I can!

This is my audiobook fix. Written like a procedural thriller and that narrator is absolutely amazing. Can't wait to watch the movie after finishing this, which I will make sure to be dedicating time to finishing this book first.

Still in the middle of the really long essay about grammar which is probably my least favorite up until this point. However, every essay has been very strong and tastefully erudite up until this point - even if there are thousands of footnotes to get through which pads the reading time. He makes the mundane interesting and I am down to read more of his books when the time comes.

Am I really reading it if I can only sort of comprehend and remember all the arguments made because sometimes I find it so dry that I can't remember all of the nuances? Or putting in long stretches of time between the chapters? Or listening purely on audiobook and having my mind drift off at times?

Strawberry Summer (8/10). Surprise favorite thus far, so quaint and restrained in talking about the terror - which makes it scarier that the narrator has grown cold to it. I just really liked the vibe the story was giving off.

Big Red Son - don't know what the "point" of learning so much about the AVN awards was, but the writing style carries it and makes it really interesting.

Preparing myself to read Infinite Jest, this guy's writing style is really interesting. It's these long dry but spry divulgences into some of the most banal things that make it so interesting.

Sometimes They Come Back - 8/10. Actually a really thrilling and interesting character study about a man who abides by the law and is still haunted, almost arbitrarily, by gangs. Very interesting story, my personal favorite thus far.

Trucks - 6/10. Arguably the weakest story here. I get King's schtick to make the not scary scary, but sentient trucks taking over the world is far too much of a stretch for me. It's written fine, but there wasn't enough time to develop either the concepts or characters.

Battleground - 7/10. I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be read as a dark comedy and honestly, it's pretty funny imagining toy soldiers absolutely destroying this dude. Man just can't catch a break.

Gray Matter - 7/10. A little disappointed since this was supposed to be THE best story out of the bunch. But aside from that ending, the story wasn't any better from the rest. Great ending though holy cow, and the way it builds up to that ending was cool. But it didn't exactly scare me.

The Boogeyman - 6/10. One of the more "serious" and non-pulpy horror stories here, but it doesn't make an impact like it's supposed to for me. Probably the minority in this, was wondering what the point was aside from making the reader feel miserable - up until the end which I found sort of cheap. Not a great horror story, but a sad tragedy.

I got exactly what was expected and had a lot of fun reading this. Anatomy is awesome!

I am getting there, not understanding a whole lot of it - probably because it's on an audiobook. So looks like a supplemental material will be a whole lot of SparkNotes and Wikipedia. So a lot like high school!

This book is fun. It makes me FEEL like I'm learning stuff, but there are some interesting tidbits throughout that I would think I could recite at a party.

The Mangler - Seems like an experiment to make a mildly scary machine scary and it worked with the amount of mystery surrounding it. Was I scared? Not particularly, but it was well written given the concept. Interesting ending too. 7/10 (which if anything, this book has been consistent in delivering 7/10 stories)

I know I have hot takes but this book was legitimately poorly written. Everyone is a walking archetype and follows every cliché I could think of. However, the epilogue is neat and nearly justifies what I read - just wish they expanded on that rather than give a mediocre horror novel instead.

This book...kinda bad tbh.

My eyes are about to ascend into the stratosphere by rolling so far back into my head with how bad this expository dialogue is. (Yeah I could be reading faster but I'm also finally having a good time in college shut up.)

So far this book is super plain and "fine", it has a bunch of archetypes that are supposed to be relatable to those who work retail but really it's cliches and it doesn't seem self-aware about it. However, it seems like its' really rushing the first act to get to the "good" part so maybe it will pick up.

I Am The Night - it's a slightly spooky body horror with a narrator descending into insanity, but it's not exactly scary or well written. Not much of consequence happens - the character dynamics weren't explored enough for it to make an impact to make it feel like anything did. So...eh. A very low 6/10

Night Surf - oh boy, a post-apocalyptic drama about overcoming prejudice after the wake of a virus from "Hong Kong" that was downplayed as just a flu. 7/10 in retrospect to current events

Graveyard Shift - RATS. Probably should not have read in a loud café for the true immersion, but still kinda spooky - just doesn't feel very unique. Just big carnivorous rats. 7/10

So far, the ideas he raises are interesting in today's context, but the veneer of Plato being of almost an oracle for government today has been stripped just a bit: some of the ideas he has are great and revolutionary, but there are things that we thankfully have discarded (though even then it's not THAT bad).

Night Shift: This is like Lovecraft but with actual good characters and comprehensive vocabulary! 7/10

(reading short stories while in grad school.)