Tag: fiction
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Is Consumerism Ever Good & Minimalism Ever Bad?
Maximalism & Minimalism Is consumerism ever good- and is minimalism ever bad? We’re often taught that restraint in buying is virtuous, while abundance is shallow. But reading Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella made me question whether the moral divide is as clear as we pretend it is. In this book, Kinsella contrasts a shopaholic sister with an… Read more
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Book #48- Reflections on “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”
Book #48 The Five People You Meet in Heaven By Mitch Albom A Cynic Tries to Keep an Open Mind I have fallen out of love with spiritual books in the past few years. I find that books like that can be shiny and simplistic, and maybe even unintentionally harmful. They often praise virtue without… Read more
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Book #47- Reflections on “People Like Her”
Book #47 People Like Her: A Novel By Ellery Lloyd A Modern Thriller I usually don’t like thrillers, I figure life is scary enough. But this fictional novel caught my attention as a conversation starter for the ethics and dangers of our modern online world. And I couldn’t put it down. It is definitely twisted,… Read more
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Book #43- Reflections on “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”
Book #43 The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde By Robert Louis Stevenson Last week I read Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and was surprised by how relevant its themes are to our modern world. This week, for Halloween, I picked up The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and it feels jarringly applicable… Read more
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A World Without Women: A Thought Experiment
For my 2025 Reading Challenge, I recently read two science fiction graphic novels that imagine a world without men: Y: The Last Man and Woman World. I found myself wondering about the opposite scenario. What would happen if all the women were gone instead? What Would a World Without Women Look Like? 1. The Event The storylines of Y:… Read more
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Book #35- Reflections on “Woman World”
Book #35 Woman World By Aminder Dhaliwal Book Choices So far in my Book Reading Challenge, I have deliberately read different types of books in succession. For example, a light-hearted romance might be followed by a serious memoir, or a therapy book by a work of science fiction. This variety is intentional. But that is… Read more
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Book #34- Reflections on “Y: The Last Man”
Book #34 Y: The Last Man By Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, & José Marzán, Jr. This graphic novel contains some mature language and themes, including a racial slur. I hesitated to include it in my Book Reading Challenge, which is mostly clean. However, I believe books like this are worth discussing. This blog is… Read more
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The Inner Logic of Video Games
I have mused lately about the importance of the inner logic of fictional stories. By inner logic, I mean the rules a fictional world sets for itself- both the way its characters behave and the way its world functions. This inner logic grounds fantasy with a sense of realism. It is what makes fictional worlds “make… Read more
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Book #33- Reflections on “Ready Player One”
Book #33 Ready Player One By Ernest Cline This book takes place in a dystopian future where personal and collective problems can be ignored by plugging into the OASIS: a virtual reality universe where you can interact with users from all over the world. It has its own timezone, its own currency- which is more… Read more
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Book #30- Reflections on “The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea”
Book #30 The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea By Axie Oh Fictional Stories Across Cultures & Time I really enjoy books on fiction and myth from different cultures. It tells you a lot about that culture: its values, symbols, history, tradition, and worldview. I have been thinking a lot lately about the stories that… Read more
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Book #25- Reflections on “The Fellowship of the Ring”
Book #25 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring By J.R.R. Tolkien Enjoying My Favorite Childhood Book This was one of my favorite books growing up so I thought it would be nice to pull it off the shelf and dust it off, especially now that I am recovering from not feeling… Read more
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The Difference Between Fiction and Non-Truth
Why Some Fiction Feels More “Real” Than Other Fiction I recently wrote a blog post discussing the difference between true and untrue fiction. By “true” I don’t mean factual, but rather having strong internal logic and authority such that we collectively believe in its intellectual merit. “Untrue” fiction, by contrast, includes works like fan fiction. These may have strong… Read more
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Front Seat vs. Back Seat Imagination
Books Expand Your Perspective I have just read the 24th book of my 52-Book Reading Challenge: Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor. It follows an unlikely protagonist: a disabled Nigerian immigrant who is the family oddball. I’ve already written a post about that book, but I wanted to talk a little bit more about the value books… Read more
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Book #24- Reflections on “Death of the Author”
Book #24 Death of the Author By Nnedi Okorafor This book was exactly what I was looking for. I have been musing a lot about storytelling and technology lately and this book combines the two. It has two storylines; that of a fictional author and the contents of the science fiction book she creates. It… Read more
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Book #19- Reflections on “I Was Told It Would Get Easier”
Book #19 I Was Told It Would Get Easier By Abbi Waxman The Problem With Measuring People With Metrics Books with cartoon covers always throw me off. I expect them to be simple and childish and they will sometimes be deeply thoughtful. This book follows a fictional mother and daughter as they tour college campuses… Read more
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Additional Musings on “The Measure”
Would You Want to Know How Long You Will Live? The Measure by Nikki Erlick is a novel where one day, every adult receives a box containing a length of string that corresponds to the length of their life. The characters initially do not understand the meaning of these mysterious strings but once they do,… Read more
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Book #7- Reflections on “The Measure”
Book #7 The Measure By Nikki Erlick How Will You Be Remembered? I was sick recently and spent a few days in bed. I think small illnesses are great for my Reading Challenge because while there, I finished this book in 2 days. I will surely get to 52 books by the end of the… Read more
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How I Will Write
My Writing Approach During This Book Reading Challenge As I sat down to write my thoughts on the first book of my 2025 Reading Challenge, I felt myself being pulled into a familiar habit. That is, summarizing the book as opposed to focusing on the personal impact the book had on me. I am sure… Read more
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Challenge Rules
I wanted to create a set of guidelines for my 2025 Reading Challenge, which is to read 52 books in 2025. I have decided that I am not going to give myself strict rules to follow, but I wanted to create a rough framework to give context to this challenge. As I look at these… Read more