The Library of the Uncommons

secondperson rated Lonesome Dove: 2 stars

Larry McMurtry: Lonesome Dove (Hardcover, 1986, Pocket Books)

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, #3)

A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize— winning classic, Lonesome Dove, the …

secondperson finished reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, #3)

A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize— …

It starts out like an old-timey "King of the Hill." You've got your Hank (Call) your Dale (Gus) your Bill (Pea Eye) and Boomhauer (Jake). It's a lot of trash talking and joking around and cows. Then it gets pretty racist pretty fast (more than you might expect since it isn't actually of the period). It stays pretty racist for the remaining 75% of the book.

secondperson finished reading Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang

C. Pam Zhang: Land of Milk and Honey (2023, Penguin Publishing Group, Riverhead Books)

The award-winning author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold returns with a rapturous …

it feels—at times—like an almost lovecraft adjacent romance that uses descriptions of food as the vehicle for all things horror, lust, hope, and despair.

secondperson rated Slow Down: 4 stars

Brian Bergstrom, Kohei Saito: Slow Down (Astra House)

Slow Down by Brian Bergstrom, Kohei Saito

Why, in our affluent society, do so many people live in poverty, without access to health care, working multiple jobs …

secondperson rated Real Americans: 3 stars

Rachel Khong: Real Americans (2024, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

Real Americans by Rachel Khong

secondperson rated Users: A Novel: 4 stars

Colin Winnette: Users (2023, Counterpoint Press)

Users: A Novel by Colin Winnette

secondperson finished reading Users: A Novel by Colin Winnette

Seeing a lot of dislike for this book after having devoured it in 2 days. I thought it was creative, surreal, and unnerving. Really replicating the unreliability and uncanny-valley-like nature of the premise.

secondperson finished reading The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow: The Lost Cause (Paperback, 2023, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom)

It’s thirty years from now. We’re making progress, mitigating climate change, slowly but surely. But …

Another in the series of books in which Cory Doctorow writes about really really interesting scenarios with a kind of clumsy approach.

secondperson rated Walkaway: 4 stars

Cory Doctorow: Walkaway (2017, Tor Books)

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

Walkaway is a 2017 science fiction novel by Cory Doctorow, published by Head of Zeus and Tor Books. Set in …

secondperson finished reading Parable Of The Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler: Parable Of The Sower (Paperback, 2000, Warner Books)

In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful …

Content warning Character details

An interesting scenario that doesn’t feel like it’s aged well? I wasn’t thrilled about the 40 year age gap between the romantic interests—and it seemed odd how the hyper empathetic main character had empathy for anyone but folks using drugs.

secondperson rated 'Salem's Lot: 4 stars

Stephen King: 'Salem's Lot (2005, Doubleday)

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Stephen King's second novel, the vampire bestseller 'Salem's Lot, tells the story of evil in small-town America. For the first …

secondperson finished reading Other Side of Night by Adam Hamdy

Adam Hamdy: Other Side of Night (2023, Cengage Gale)

Content warning Big reveal?

Honestly not my favorite, but an easy read that almost makes up for being such a clunker. The writing is at times painfully bad.

The pivot to a time travel sci-fi feels incredibly more engaging than the majority of the work. It’s a shame that it comes so late.

secondperson rated Other Side of Night: 3 stars

Other Side of Night by Adam Hamdy

secondperson finished reading The Guest Lecture by Martin Riker

Martin Riker: The Guest Lecture (Paperback, 2023, Black Cat)

With “a voice as clear, sincere, and wry as any I’ve read in current American …

A well paced polymath panic attack of a book chronicling the purported stream of consciousness of an insomniac guest lecturer the night before her presentation.

secondperson rated Anomaly: 5 stars

Hervé Le Tellier, Adriana Hunter: Anomaly (2021, Other Press, LLC)

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