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Flux, by Jinwoo Chong (2023)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: A young man‘s life takes a bizarre turn when, after miraculously surviving a fall down an elevator shaft, he‘s recruited to a work a new tech company that promises to revolutionize the energy sector.

Review: this book is incredibly high-concept—the premise above only touches half of what‘s going on—and every plot line comes at things at odd angles. Cont.

I love how Yang approached each novella in this series with a different style and format, and how each was told from a different character's perspective. The theme of resistance was powerful and timely. Yang incorporated themes of gender, class, and sexuality, as well. Overall, these were intriguing reads. I'd love to read more by Neon Yang.
#queerbc @puddlejumper

Did very well yesterday on the 📕 front. The tagged 📕 I got at the op shop on my way home from rehearsals. I couldn‘t believe my luck that it was still opened & was a bargain at $5. The 📕 in the middle is from my building‘s 📕 swap from an author I‘ve enjoyed in the past & the top 1 was from a st library I discovered while heading to the pub last Sun so visited again yesterday. Was a massive day & I‘m still buggered today. Tempers flared at 🩰.

This is my first post here on Litsy: I am starting my first Tim Winton book tomorrow, Juice.

A Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell imagines Black life beyond whiteness—grappling with identity, power, and liberation. Lyrical, bold, and deeply moving, it made me reflect on what it means to fully bloom as a Black girl, and how we reclaim space, joy, and self. A powerful read.
Full review: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLWSkdex08G/?igsh=MXE1Znp5MWNwMnlrcQ==

Starting this one today. Not really sure I'm feeling emotionally secure enough for "sad, but beautiful" in my current perimenopausal state, but hey-ho...

Under the Eye of the Little Bird, by Hiromi Kawakami (2016, transl. 2024)
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Premise: A novel in linked short stories about the distant fate of humanity.

Review: This will no doubt work for a lot of readers, but despite the fact that I can recognize that it‘s very well done, it was not for me. Told in short stories, all at different moments in the future,, this is meant to keep the reader off guard. Cont.

A future dystopian judgement of our lack of commitment to science and change. So close to home. So timely. So sad.

This monument to Aboriginal sovereignty is going to take hot minute to digest. Wright did an excellent job making time amorphous & porous, such that the characters live simultaneously in the past, present, and even the future. (Homage to oldest extant culture.)There are a multitude of ways to interpret all of the themes, symbolism, etc. such that my head is spinning. 😵‍💫

I normally hate to double post but I also finished this in audio today. I enjoyed the characters but I don't know if it was the fact that it was supposed to be a character driven novel and just didn't have the oomph to really make up for the lack of plot action or what but was a little disappointing. The characters do grow and learn from each other but it felt a little too long and drawn out for any meaningful relationships to form.