A Room Called Earth: A Novel | 
pickETA: Upped rating to 4/5⭐ after discussing the book in a book club.
2.5/5⭐ Stream-of-consciousness from the POV of an autistic character. There are some interesting insights, but there's also a ton of hypocrisy, unrecognized privilege, & deplorable views (“meditation not medication“). If the author's intent was to delve into autistic thinking, I question why she chose to do so w/ a character w/ these particular privileges & flaws.
Focusing on our inner world has no social currency. I mean, no one is standing around waiting to congratulate us for stopping to feel how we feel, and to consider what we want, and to question why we choose to behave in certain ways. If anything, our doing this makes others uncomfortable.
There's nothing to say when who and what we are is reduced to something that can be readily bought at a local vintage market or department store. There's nothing to learn or to discover. We become the sum total of a steady stream of receipts, not revelations.
pickI cycled for 40km today and then I stopped at our local beach and finished #ARoomCalledEarth. We just follow the main characters thought for a whole night, and it was actually very good.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 #novel #fiction
bailedThank you #NetGalley for this #ARC. I would never buy this book.
The book is supposed to be about one evening, and damn that evening was slow. The narrator with her philosophical ramblings feels like a holier than thou, judgemental ass.
The thing with the mud was really weird; like what??!! I wanted to give it 1 star but gave it two because I do like that the narrator has tried to rise above the behavior of her parents.
This morning I visited my local indie bookstore for the first time since March. It was nice to browse the shelves, and I ended up with a nice #bookhaul! Gilead is one of those books I feel like I should have read by now, especially after working in bookstores for a decade.
pickUnique perspective provided by an Australian autistic author. Google says she prefers autistic, not “with autism”. MC character & everyone are un-named. It‘s inferred MC is autistic as well. She is twenty something and this is an evening in her life as she readies herself, then attends a party where she meets someone potentially special. It‘s a different kind of novel. I liked it. Glad I picked this ARC up, was free-with-purchase from bookstore.
Current poolside read. So far, so good.
Good pool time is dwindling as summer nears its end 😢.
A little campfire reading 🔥 finished this lovely book during our weekend getaway camping in the mountains ❤️
