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Lexicon
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
At an exclusive school somewhere outside of Arlington, Virginia, students arent taught history, geography, or mathematicsthey are taught to persuade. Students learn to use language to manipulate minds, wielding words as weapons. The very best graduate as poets, and enter a nameless organization of unknown purpose. Whip-smart runaway Emily Ruff is making a living from three-card Monte on the streets of San Francisco when she attracts the attention of the organizations recruiters. Drawn in to their strage world, which is populated by people named Bront and Eliot, she learns their key rule: That every person can be classified by personality type, his mind segmented and ultimately unlocked by the skilful application of words. For this reason, she must never allow another person to truly know her, lest she herself be coerced. Adapting quickly, Emily becomes the schools most talented prodigy, until she makes a catastrophic mistake: She falls in love. Meanwhile, a seemingly innocent man named Wil Parke is brutally ambushed by two men in an airport bathroom. They claim he is the key to a secret war he knows nothing about, that he is an outlier, immune to segmentation. Attempting to stay one step ahead of the organization and its mind-bending poets, Wil and his captors seek salvation in the toxically decimated town of Broken Hill, Australia, which, if ancient stories are true, sits above an ancient glyph of frightening power. A brilliant thriller that traverses very modern questions of privacy, identity, and the rising obsession of data-collection, connecting them to centuries-old ideas about the power of language and coercion, Lexicon is Max Barrys most ambitious and spellbinding novel yet.
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review
rachaich
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

Blimey, bought in error and such serendipity!
This was fantastic, I don't know why it's not better known?
Not just clever in concept but also in imagery and telling. It was like reading a film...

Centique This sounds really good! 8mo
26 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Billypar
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

#TitlesandTunes #GuiltyPleasure
Way late with this review, but I really enjoyed this fast-paced sci-fi thriller. It seems ready-made for a blockbuster film treatment and has some interesting narrative inversions. My least favorite part was the particular phenomenon: it reminded me of trying to explain the neurological reasons why Harry Potter spells work. But it also doesn't over-explain, which helps it deliver on the action and suspense.

Cinfhen Fantastic review and photo💕 1y
sarahbarnes My favorite Woolf book editions. 😍 1y
Billypar @Cinfhen Thanks! 🙂 1y
Billypar @sarahbarnes Yeah, I love the artwork - it's got a haunting quality to it. 1y
51 likes5 comments
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Billypar
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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#GuiltyPleasure #TitlesandTunes
It seems right to start this post with a confession: I don't have guilty pleasure reads. I read mostly literary fiction and have noticed what people call guilty pleasures are mostly romance or thrillers. My explanation for that is bad versions of those genres can still be fun, but exactly 0 people want a bad LF novel. So I found one thriller on my shelf - actually well-reviewed but check out the tagline 🦴🤐

Billypar Now songs... I've got plenty of guilty pleasures! I still love all the Kelly Clarkson singles, including this one. @Cinfhen @BarbaraBB 1y
BarbaraBB That tagline sounds quite cheesy! 1y
Ruthiella Good point! Bad LF is excruciating. 😖 1y
See All 9 Comments
Cinfhen Did we just “guilt” you into reading literary cheese??? 😂😂and Kelly Clarkson is TRULY an American Idol 🙌🏻🩷LOVE her 1y
Billypar @BarbaraBB I know - it feels like it would fit better on a trade paperback from the 1970s. 1y
Billypar @Ruthiella Yeah - no one's bringing a literary slog to the beach! 1y
Billypar @Cinfhen Ha - I think maybe you did! 😄 Yeah, she's so good - my ears still perk up if I hear one of those songs now. 1y
Cinfhen I recently heard this one by her and I instantly became obsessed https://open.spotify.com/track/0yUlMnLpU2W6JQtvg1k4Od?si=LecffFiqRly3dcxyGNkYsQ 1y
Billypar @Cinfhen That's great - I hadn't heard it before. Thanks for sharing! 1y
40 likes9 comments
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GatheringBooks
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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#JanuaryJazz Day 3: #InWithTheNew books, naturally. Will post about this recent book hunting haul on Sunday. 💕

Eggs Great haul📚🤗📚 2y
52 likes2 comments
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Shido
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

This was a rad read! Love the idea of using words as legit weapons!

#lexicon #maxbarry

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Shido
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Current read: Lexicon by Max Barry

TBR: Always growing. With social things like booktube and online book bloggers, I‘m always adding more books to read rather than reading. 😂

#tbr #maxbarry #lexicon

RamsFan1963 Lexicon was one of my favorite books of 2021 3y
2 likes1 comment
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audraelizabeth
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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1. My first and middle names
2. Bed if home breakroom if im at work
3. Tagged
4. 3 people and 2 dogs
@ eggs #wonderouswednesday

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audraelizabeth
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
Pickpick

Very interesting and thought provoking. Different type of dystopian novel than I'm used to.
#bookspin

RamsFan1963 Glad you like it. 4y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4y
audraelizabeth @TheAromaofBooks Yes, im hoping to finish a few more this month. 4y
8 likes4 comments
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audraelizabeth
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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I thought this was appropriate for the time.

audraelizabeth Like the DC lockdown last year. Like the gunmen who went around assassinating people with military issue sniper rifles in 2003. Like the anthrax in the mail in 2006. For a week everyone freaks out, we need more security, we need scanners, we need to take people's photograph when they enter a government building. 4y
audraelizabeth Then a month later everyone's calmed down and yet we still get these incredibly intrusive new processes and technologies, which would have made zero difference to the incident that inspired them.This isn't an accident;this happens because to people at the top, the scariest thing is how many people there are below. 4y
audraelizabeth They need to watch us. They need to monitor what we're thinking. It's the only thing between them and a guillotine. Every time something like this happens, anytime there's death and fear and people demanding action, to them that's an opportunity 4y
13 likes3 comments
review
RamsFan1963
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

"Words are like weapons...they wound sometimes" - Cher (If I Could Turn Back Time)
That's what this book is about, weaponizing language, putting together words that control, that manipulate, words that can kill. I was surprised how thrilling this book was, never having read any of his books. The tension kept ratcheting up and up as the two plotlines twisted around each other to the point you're not sure who's the hero and who's the villain. 5 ?

Reggie The tagged book of his has to do with advertising and it is hilarious. 4y
RamsFan1963 @Reggie I saw the advertisement for Syrup in the back of Lexicon. Looks interesting, I'll have to hunt for a copy when my #bookbuyingdiet is finished 4y
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RamsFan1963
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Now when Ra, the greatest of the gods, was created, his father had given him a secret name, so awful that no man dared to seek it, and so pregnant with power that all the other gods desired to know and possess it too.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

33 likes1 stack add
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RamsFan1963
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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1. Reorganize my closet, take the clothes that no longer fit to Goodwill.
2. Sadly none. My apt. doesn't allow pets.
3. Can I cheat and use my phone to connect with Libby? 🤣
If not, I'd take The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection by Arthur Conan Doyle. Maybe Sherlock can help me deduce a way off the desert island.
Thank you @TheSpineView for the tag.
#motivationalmonday @Cupcake12

Cupcake12 Thanks for playing x 4y
41 likes1 comment
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DebinHawaii
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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#ChristmasQuotes #jingle

🤣🤣🤣

“She decided to sleep with him and get it over with. It was the only way. He had become an annoying jingle, striking in the shower, or at work, or just as she was falling asleep. She had to at least kiss him deeply and completely, in a way that left nothing behind. So she could move on. So she could stop imagining it. She couldn't keep losing herself to the jingle. It was impairing her ability to function.”

EadieB Love 💕 this quote! 4y
31 likes1 comment
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RamsFan1963
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description or reason for wanting to read the book. Some are old and some will be new. Don't judge me - I have a lot of books.
Day 61

#tbrmountain #bookbuyingdiet

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imyril
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
Pickpick

A secret organisation with the power to hack free will with language is riven by a civil war when an irresistible word is discovered. Musings on language, love, privacy and control in a fast-paced, tightly-choreographed split timeline. Great read. Turns out this wasn‘t the book I thought it was, but it‘s a damn good read (even if I do have Thoughts about fridging and sexual coercion). #BookSpin

TheAromaofBooks Great review, and sounds like an intriguing read!! 5y
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imyril
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry

“Every time something like this happens, anytime there‘s death and fear and people demanding action, to them that‘s an opportunity.”

Well this isn‘t a pandemic book but it‘s not a comforting book either 🤣

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Ubookquitous
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

💥 boom. Barry‘s novel is a twisty game of who wiped out an entire town in Australia with a word and how is that connected to stories like the Tower of Babel? Intelligent, fast-paced with memorable characters and secret societies of... linguistic philosophers.

Nute I really enjoyed this book as well! 5y
20 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Mrshawaii
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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This is awesome. “The Magicians”, in a school for spies, sort of.

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Mentallofilth
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

A mostly excellent thriller - the opening Wil segments are pretty disappointing and repetitive, but the Emily chapters make up for it. As Wil gets up to speed and we learn more about his companion, Eliot, those chapters get more bearable. Max Barry has a fascinating talent to consistently and engagingly pull the rug out from under his readers with paradigm-shattering plot twists executed so deftly they never feel like a cheat. A ton of fun.

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PagesByTheWater
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

LOVED this book. Fast paced, kept me guessing. Loved every minute of it. If you‘re a fan of Altered Carbon (the show, haven‘t read the book yet) you‘ll love this. Also a great choice for a #24in48 or a #24B4Mon challenge.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#litsyAtoZ #letterL

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PagesByTheWater
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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If you‘re reading this, consider yourself tagged 😉
#thisorthat #litsy @rheareads

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PagesByTheWater
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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So I‘ve already started in on my next #LitsyAtoZ book for #letterL and I‘m hooked. Never been one for thrillers or mystery but I do love me some dystopian societies. And I love the idea that “words could kill”. Great read so far and I‘m LOVING how the author paints this story. It‘s like I can see how the movie would play in my head. Also loving this quote.

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PagesByTheWater
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Collected all my TBR‘s that I actually own for the A to Z challenge! My personal goal this year was to read 27 new books so taking on this challenge was a no brainer.
#LitsyAtoZ2019 #AbecedarianTBR #TBRStack

review
Schlinkles
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

A dark and twisty take on language and persuasion. I didn‘t want to put this one down.

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Schlinkles
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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This month‘s Sci-fi book club pick

Slajaunie Sounds interesting! 6y
31 likes1 comment
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PNWBookseller85
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Husband, 60 pages into the first book on his Christmas book list - one of my all time favorites, Lexicon! 😍 I‘ve been telling him to read this book for years now.

Reggie Have you read Syrup by this author? So hilarious. @ and 6. Lolol 6y
PNWBookseller85 @Reggie not yet! I‘ll check it out. 👍🏻 6y
108 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Kimberlone
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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My last pool reading pic from Mexico. Sad to be leaving today...I have to be back at work tomorrow after flying all night.

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Meganbub
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Mehso-so

I wanted to like this... I really wanted to. The timeline jumps were confusing at times and ultimately... meh? It was a quick read and engaging but overall I wanted more.

6 likes2 stack adds
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Jokila
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Lexicon is on sale today! Recommended if you like SFF with young adult-ish characters, punchy plotting & romance! A very fun read that deserves more attention

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PNWBookseller85
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

Mentioned this one in my last post and wanted to do a quick review of it. This is a rare book that (for me at least) had genuinely surprising twists. The characters were fascinating and terrifying. And the world building was so thorough that I was swept in without once thinking about what the author might have been trying to do - he made himself invisible. I‘m still thinking about it 3 years later. It‘s probably time for me to read it again.

Ashley85 This sounds really interesting! Great review. 7y
DGRachel This has been on my bookcase forever. I need to get to it soon! 7y
bibliobliss If a book can stick with you for 3 years, I‘d say it made a real impression on you! I‘ll have to check it out! 7y
See All 6 Comments
Zelma @DGRachel mine too. So many books... 7y
Dragon Stacking 👍 7y
JaclynW Wow 3 years! Nice review! 7y
111 likes4 stack adds6 comments
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Ewells
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
Pickpick

Super interesting concept despite slightly predictable plot lines. Would recommend it

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MrBook
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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The fifth pick!!! May May come soon 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻! Thank you @Christyco125 !!! #LittenPicksTBR

LisaJo This is a wonderful book. I received it from @bookriot and went in blind to what it was about. What a ride. Can‘t wait to hear your thoughts. 7y
Christyco125 Yay! It‘s about the power of words. You should just roll with it from there. I hope you like it. 🤞 7y
102 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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The.Intentional.Reader
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

New review on Lexicon by Max Barry. Enjoyed this smart thriller. Read the review here: https://intentionalreader.wordpress.com/2017/12/05/lexicon-by-max-barry/

18 likes1 stack add1 comment
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The.Intentional.Reader
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Started this one. Love the idea of the power of words and secret societies who wield them as weapons. And man, Max Barry can write!

whatsjennareading This one is phenomenal. I read it in a day. 7y
10 likes1 comment
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Christyco125
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Thank you for #payingitfoward with the #7777giveaway. My last five star rating was Lexicon. I just couldn‘t put it down.

Megabooks Awesome!! 7y
16 likes1 comment
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Christyco125
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

This was a surprise. I didn‘t even read the description of this book. I just picked it because it was about words. I was blown away by the theme of the story and how it was put together. Big gold star ⭐️. #wordshavepower #2017christyread #audio

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TobeyTheScavengerMonk
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Great send-off in the Acknowledgements. And yes, that bit about the librarian is creepy as hell. #thumb

Yeah_I_Read A. Librarian.that.doesn't.read 😱😱😱😱😱 7y
melrailey I loved this book! 7y
mcipher OMG. That seems just bizarre. I can see wanting to switch off work, but if your work is books?!??! 😳 7y
See All 12 Comments
Librarianaut Blasphemy!!!!! 😱😱 7y
chapter_fifty2017 Great book !!!! 7y
Crystalblu Why would you become a librarian?! I'm a wine buyer and I still drink wine at home! 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Great, and yes creepy as hell! Shouldn't that attitude disqualify you as a librarian? 7y
xicanti That hits me the same way as those writers who're all, "Oh, I don't read for fun anymore." WHY. 7y
Laura317 I just don't get why either. Im not sure about creepy, but it is sad. 7y
Soubhiville I can't imagine feeling that way about reading! Although, I did quit teaching dance because I was falling out of love with dancing for fun... and I adopted a dog Who doesn't require grooming because I don't want to do my day job at home (grooming), so maybe I do understand a little. 7y
2BR02B I don't think it's terribly uncommon. I remember Ted Chiang saying in an interview that he needs to take time off from his day job as a technical writer in order to write fiction. It's apparently quite difficult to write for a hobby and for a living. 7y
2BR02B Also, I had a roommate with a degree in library science, and during the year we lived together I never once saw him open a book. Maybe it was just post-grad school burnout, but I was always like, really? I kinda thought being bananas about books was why one chose a master's program with a notoriously low job placement rate. 7y
82 likes12 comments
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TobeyTheScavengerMonk
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

Answer these 5 question and a member of the secret society of Poets can isolate your psychographic segment* and speak a collection of words to unlock your brain's defenses and make you open to any suggestion, from "Relax" to "Kill".

This book was quick and brutal with plenty of twists along the way. If you dig thrillers that walk on the weird side, check this out.

*a totally real thing real advertisers use I horrifyingly learned from Google

mcipher This sounds creepy and weird and fun - can't wait to read it! 7y
Sha0102 I read Machine man by him too. And it's kinndaa of weird too but I liked it. 7y
ChasingOm I loved this book! 7y
65 likes11 stack adds3 comments
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TobeyTheScavengerMonk
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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My #firstlineofcurrentread is unspectacular, simply "He's coming around."

This line comes further down on the first page and packs a bit more of a punch. #anditsaugust

Jabberwocky 😲😲 7y
LauraBeth 🙀🙀 7y
Billypar This has been on my shelf for awhile- I'll look out for your review. 7y
64 likes4 comments
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Brie
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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It's always a #challenge keeping my #TBR down, especially since I just found out that I shelved 5 books as read when I hadn't actually read them. #anditsaugust

Ashley_Nicoletto This is the biggest challenge. 😂 7y
Ashley_Nicoletto PS love your shelves! 7y
Libby1 I loved this book. 7y
Brie @Libby1 Good to know. I've heard it's great. I should move it up my list, I've had it unread for 3 years. 7y
72 likes5 comments
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JPeterson
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

A fun, quick read. Lexicon was verging on to the boundaries of being a thriller, and definitely had some dark moments. I absolutely love the premise and how words are used. The ending seems a bit rushed, but I still enjoyed it.

rubyslippersreads 😻😻😻 7y
bitterbear Oh my... 💖💖💖 7y
Jinjer Kitty! 7y
102 likes1 stack add3 comments
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SaunteringVaguelyDownwards
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

I loved the new twist on magic words/words of power mashed up with Big Brother style paranoia in a modern setting. Dark, but compelling!

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SaunteringVaguelyDownwards
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Time for some lunchtime reading outside in this gorgeous weather!

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Alicia
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Late Day 3 for #riotgrams! #whereiread! I read lots of places, but my most frequent/ favorite is actually my dining room table! I like how my chairs keep you super upright so you can't fall asleep like in bed or on the couch...

Zelma Love the chair fabric. 👍 7y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk Gonna be reading this one soon! 7y
Jinjer That's what I need to do. I can't keep my eyes open for the life of me lately. 7y
See All 6 Comments
Alicia @Zelma thank you!! 7y
Alicia @TobeyTheScavengerMonk hope you enjoy! It ended up to being my favorite but it was so interesting! Very glad I read it. 7y
Alicia @Jinjer I have the same affliction! I'm always falling asleep so chairs that keep me upright are so helpful. 😂😂 7y
54 likes6 comments
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bookwrm526
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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So I cheated a bit and used yellow spines instead of strictly #yellowcovers because I don't have that many with yellow covers. What I do have is a cat who doesn't like it when I make piles of books - he's just yawning but doesn't he look ferocious?? #RiotGrams The tagged book got cut off by the cropping :(

BooksForYears So ferocious! 🦁 7y
Bookzombie 💕🐱 7y
44 likes2 comments
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Scott_BookInvasion
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Well, I got totally blindsided and fired from my job last week. The business found my position no longer necessary. I used to have an hour commute and used that to devour audiobooks. Anyway I have a shelf of friends here to support me. ❤️

ReadingSusan So sorry this happened 😢 It happened to me nine years ago. It was the hardest thing I ever had to go through and ultimately the best hung that ever happened to me. Sending lots of good thoughts your way. 8y
Books88 That's awful. Hope you find something soon! 8y
LeahBergen Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. ❤️ 8y
saguarosally Have you had some reading in the meantime? (PS: What do you do? They're hiring where I work around the Phoenix metro area.) 7y
Scott_BookInvasion @saguarosally technical customer service, project management, implementation, business analyst. I'd like to avoid sales positions as much as possible. Thanks for looking out! 7y
9 likes5 comments
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etoile
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

Fast paced and cerebral. I flew through this book. I love the idea of language as a weapon and the study of neurolinguistics. The ending was a bit weak imo but, not so much that I didn't enjoy it.

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etoile
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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This is an action packed read so far!

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Sweettartlaura
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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emtobiasz I'm tracking this one too! I like their categories a lot better than Bookriot's Read Harder this year. 8y
Sweettartlaura @emtobiasz Yeah, I was talking about Read Harder with @christineandbooks earlier - of all the challenges I'm doing this year, that might be the one I ditch/don't finish 😕. 8y
emtobiasz @Sweettartlaura I like their focus on diversity, but too many of their categories were so hyper specific this time around. 8y
Sweettartlaura @emtobiasz yes - micro press??? YA by LGBT author? Translation of poetry... NOT about love? I have one for the YA/LGBT pick, but some of these... Not even sure that I want to look that hard for them . We'll see... 8y
christineandbooks @Sweettartlaura Yep, the micropress and the poetry are the two I'm going to have the most trouble with also. @emtobiasz 8y
45 likes5 comments
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McFarchie
Lexicon: A Novel | Max Barry
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Pickpick

I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a ripping read IMO.

Libby1 Loved this one. 8y
90 likes4 stack adds1 comment