Justin Monisit > Recent Status Updates

Still taking my sweet time with rereading this book (totally not inspired by Murakami in Norwegian Wood enjoying flipping to a random page and reading it again for fun). Still really good, I love Gatsby's anticlimactic introduction and how silly everyone is at the party.

out of the earth science chapters, which means I can enjoy this book now. Why do I hate earth science so much I don't know but that section just made me miserable. And of course, it leads right into evolutionary biology. I also thought I hated plants and fungi, but it actually is a little bit more interesting than I thought.

Realizing how little I care about earth science in this chapter, and how surprisingly much I miss listening about chemistry. So unfortunately, this chapter of the book is kinda slow for me. So far my interest in science goes: Evolutionary Bio > Chemistry > Physics >>>>Environmental Science

Way more interested in the history of science aspect instead of the science aspect bc it blows me away to see the great lengths people went to achieve the answers we had for granted. Perhaps the first book that made me want to get my physical book out and just highlight and annotate to remember all these cool facts.

Nonfiction audiobook to supplement my casual reading. Really wanted to continue with non-fiction, but about something happy and not depressing this time around, but also wanted to learn something COMPLETELY different. Didn't know what science to choose from, so why not all of them? Looking forward to listening to this (own the book too, but just wanted to force myself to experience this somehow)

Re-reading a book from high school to see if it is possible to balance studying and reading as a hobby again. Enjoying the book WAY more than I did before and now taking notice as to how subtle the prose is. And totally forgot how awful Tom Buchanana is as a human being.

There's a glimmer of hope at the end where there is a movement for the Japanese government to pay reparations and acknowledging the atrocity is now an open secret. I really hope that's the case now.

Part of me regrets listening to this book because I could feel a part of my empathy just hardening to descriptions of brutal violence. This book is totally going to be staying with me for a while.

Shame on the Japanese government for refusing to acknowledge these crimes against humanity. Absolutely some of the most disgusting things I've ever heard and for the Class A war criminals to be instated into politics is just a miscarriage of justice. It is career suicide to even mention these acts, where a politician was shot recently for saying Hirohito was complicit. Maddening

Not even at the pillaging part and I'm already shocked at how authoritarian imperialist Japanese culture was. The hypocrisy and insecurity felt about their nation's pride is awful. I went down a rabbit hole researching this and I am fully prepared to become sick listening to it. I'm just dreading the details

Really close to one of my all time favorites, but I just didn't think it landed the ending in my opinion. But still, this will definitely be a book I revisit to improve my opinion on. It will grow on me, perhaps the problems I had will subside.

Probably shouldn't have listened to this without my morning coffee. Good chapters, but my brain didn't want to enjoy every part of it :(

Oh well more reason to read it again

It's almost like Murakami is aware of how problematic his writing can be and wrote this to show that he knows what he's doing. It's like an apology to the problematic way he wrote his female characters in Kafka on the Shore, since the characters here are full of depth and longing. Still, a lot of sex, but it's actually tastefully done.

Still riding the wave of just really enjoying this. But I definitely did not expect the story of the 13 year old to end like that. Holy cow I just felt so bad . Other than that, still an oddly comforting read. It is weird seeing sex being described as formal as a handshake at times, but it works to make this unique. Characters are odd, but just real enough to be relatable.

I am missing some aspects of it through Audiobook (as in sometimes driving can be difficult and I lose a sentence or two), but man, do I love the way this book is written. It feels ethereal without being odd. I felt the sudden urge to reread passages from this book - part of me wants to read the book again in the future. Definitely adding this to my library.

Still vibing with it hard, Murakami is going for a comforting vibe and just moments of characters hanging out, also just a contemplative narrator musing on the philosophies of life. Even the sex stuff isn't weird, as describing it matter of factly sort of fits with the prose.

Listening to this on Audible, and it oddly feels weird saying that I feel like I am getting a hug from a book. It was oddly endearing, even with all the sex. Murakami this time doesn't write sex to discomfort the reader, but to draw them into the story as it now becomes a symbol of growth and connection.

Listening to this while driving almost put me into a road rage. Incredibly frustrating to hear about how awful people were to people who were trying to do the right thing and how distorted their thoughts were towards their prejudice. Honestly the angriest I have ever been reading a book.

At this point I'm just baffled at how people still believed in segregation and going out of their way to maintain their racist thoughts. I felt awful reading some of the things that people would say to him and to see just how futile it was to even try to do your best in a segregated society, it really was just awful.

Binged the second half of this book and WOW, it picks up at the end and I was absolutely glued to my seat trying to see what was going to happen. Pretty sure I made dents on my Kindle. I was stunned at the end and read THAT line over and over again (even tho I knew it was coming). Sometimes it goes on for a bit too long, but that second half was intense. Loved it despite some of its flaws.

Really good book, it almost acts like a time capsule for back then but I've seen first hand how some of these attitudes have not evolved very much. Really fascinating story too, but what stuck out to me was how the black community had to cope with their own forms of racism to feel superior. I understood colorism was a thing, but to actually read about why it's a thing is another.

Alright I think I know how to do audiobooks now. Interesting listen too.

Experimented with my Audible subscription and if I could pay attention while playing American Truck Simulator (to simulate my commute). Turns out sometimes things can come up while driving and lose your focus, but I still got the general gist of the story even if I missed a few words/paragraphs. Will see how I do IRL with actual driving every day with other books. Also the story was alright!

Noticing a stark contrast between the quality and interest in the A plot vs B plot. And unfortunately it follows horror movie logic almost to a tea, where characters should try to leave a crime scene but stay anyways. It's enjoyable, but something tells me that he was much more capable in other works.

Since this is my first King horror novel aside from Carrie, what strikes me as how little scares there are (if any - maybe I just got overly spooked by the first) and how much emphasis there is on the character's lives. Considering that King was battling cocaine and has no memory of writing this, there's still a lot of humanity in this novel - which is really impressive. Idk what to expect at this point

King really spent a page and a half talking about red cereal what a mad man. Still a good book even though King doesn't remember writing this due to his drug addiction. That first chapter surprisingly had me on edge with the monster in the closet. King adds a lot of small details that make the world feel lived in and homely. So much emphasis on character

Experimented with not logging while reading and seeing how I would enjoy it. Unfortunately, I got caught up with my brother moving out and other things so this really clouded up my memory of all the clues - so that ending didn't really land for me, through no fault of the book. I think she's more interesting than Hercule tho.

Kinda got lost in the details at some parts and my complaints didn't go away, but that final chapter though when everything is pieced together really brings this book together. Wow. Unfortunately the journey isn't as good as the destination, but that ending is crazy