Gone Girl

Unreliable narrators, clever twists, and some wonderful suspense.

November 29th 2025

A Good Marriage

Solid novella. Firefox isn't a search engine though, Steve!

November 16th 2025

Misery

Such a page turner. Terrifying and unpredictable villain kept me engaged.

November 13th 2025

One Night in Mississipi

Powerful read about a troubling time in North America's history. Worthy.

November 9th 2025

The Shining

Slow burn into insanity. Shine on. Shine on.

November 7th 2025

Apt Pupil

Short, but still manages to slowly creep towards a finale with good suspense. Not his best.

September 12th 2025

Exit Strategy

The Murderbot Diaries #4

More Murderbot goodness. Not as strong as the first few, but still very enjoyable.

April 6th 2025

Thinner

20-30% was way too drawn out. Glad I pushed through, 'cos the B-Story character saved this book. Could've been a novella.

March 15th 2025

Binti

Binti #1

MC is cool. Culture and values come through strong. Really intrigued by the other books. Just wish the ending had been more satisfying.

March 6th 2025

The Stepford Wives

Dark. Fast-paced gaslighting. Highlights the perils of social conformity.

February 23rd 2025

The Running Man

Great suspense. A dystopian United States in the year 2025... Dang.

February 22nd 2025

Rogue Protocol

The Murderbot Diaries #3

"I love Murderbot!" - Ann Leckie, and me.

February 21st 2025

Carrie

Wanted to go back to where it all started for Stephen King and I was not disappointed.

Feb 20th 2025

Survivor Type

Short story. Quick descent into madness. Grim and Good.

February 19th 2025

Maeve Fly

Like the writing style. Felt familiar to the 'Brat Pack' books I enjoyed in my 20's. Way too heavy on its influences, though.

February 18th 2025

Artificial Condition

The Murderbot Diaries #2

A very welcome evolution of Murderbot's character. More... Give me more!

February 16th 2025

All Systems Red

The Murderbot Diaries #1

Fantastic. Unintentionally hilarious. Absolutely living for Murderbot's autism and sassy commentary throughout.

February 16th 2025

Pet Semetary

Read it in two sittings. Absolutely haunting. This one stuck with me.

February 15th 2025

The Second Rebel

The First Sister Trilogy #2

Strong second book. Fully fleshed out our heroes from Book One, and mostly gave them enough of a purpose to get me excited for the conclusion.

February 14th 2025

The First Sister

The First Sister Trilogy #1

Very engaging Space Opera. A diverse set of characters. This book rejuvenated my love of sci-fi. Mass Effect 2 vibes.

February 8th 2025

Saga

Book #1

An awesome compendium of one of the most compelling Graphic Novels I've ever read.

September 12th 2024

Meat Market

Female Flesh Under Capitalism

'Telling it like it is' feminism. Short. To the point. Reflective.

March 30th 2021

Media Control

The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda

Essential Chomsky. Short, and unfortunately still very applicable.

July 31st 2020

The Death of Democracy

Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic

Lisa Simpson meme: "Understanding how facism happens is really important".

August 9th 2020

Against the Web

A Cosmopolitan Answer to the New Right

Rest in Power, Michael Brooks. We really miss your voice right now.

July 26th 2020

Give Them an Argument

Logic for the Left

I annotated the shit out of this book. Some good pointers on how to effectively argue a logical position. Unfortunately rhetoric always wins.

July 24th 2020

We

Slow and tough to get into, but... Seminal. Can't believe it was written in 1924.

June 30th 2019

Choke

Some good bits, but mostly unmemorable and a bit of a slog.

May 12th 2018

Young Adam

I remember being engaged enough to finish this quicky. But yeah, pretty mid. Good flowery writing though, if that's your thing.

May 9th 2018

Post Office

Messy. The ramblings of an unwell man. Hasn't aged well.

May 7th 2018

Dead Men's Trousers

Mark Renton #5

Irvine Welsh comfort food. I'll read anything with Renton and the lads.

May 2nd 2018

The Sunshine Cruise Company

Somewhat entertaining, but flat compared to his previous work.

April 26th 2018

The Blade Artist

Mark Renton #4

A novel centred around Begbie from 'Trainspotting', and thankfully it just about worked.

April 22nd 2018

Trump and Me

Surprising nobody: The man from 1996 never grew as a person.

December 24th 2018

Rage

First King book. It's good, and I understand him wanting to take it out of print.

May 12th 2017

The Happiness Equation

Some decent tidbits. The stuff regarding decision fatique has stuck with me ever since.

April 22nd 2018

Stoner

A literary classic that I remember nothing about.

February 14th 2017

Men, Women & Children

Mostly trash, frankly.

February 7th 2017

The Beach

Thoroughly entertaining. Movie also complements the book well.

January 27 2017

The Contortionist's Handbook

Solid read. Quick pacing. Fun ride, overall. An Irvine Welsh feel to it.

January 23rd 2017

Glue

Terry Lawson #1

Follows a younger set of lads in the Edinburgh schemes. More of the same à la Trainspotting... But enjoyable, nonetheless.

January 19th 2017

Norweigan Wood

Beautiful writing. I did enjoy it, though felt a little problematic in places.

January 6th 2017

The Circle

It's a shame the movie is so trash, because the book is actually just a light, mostly fun read.

October 1st 2016

Fight Club

All post-2020 discourse surrounding this book is mostly misguided.

September 12th 2015

Bright Lights, Big City

Picked it up for its rare second-person narrative, but it's unbelievably boring

Unknown Date

Last Exit to Brooklyn

Uniquely done with a bizarre writing convention that I ended up vibing with. It's interesting. Read it.

Unknown Date

Ready Player One

The premise was fine, but everything else was truly terrible.

Unknown Date

Generation X

Tales for an Accelerated Culture

Just an absolute slog. There are so many better stories where nothing happens.

Unknown Date

Steve Jobs

I almost never read biographies. But you know, this one was actually pretty good.

Unknown Date

Console Wars

A bit too pro-America; but a fun dramatization of the 16-bit era, nonethless.

Unknown Date

In The Miso Soup

Somewhat suspensful which surprised me. Had no idea where it was going. Good read.

Unknown Date

Kill Your Friends

Entertaining and easy read.

Unknown Date

Rules of Attraction

Nah. It was very forgettable and none of the characters were at all interesting.

Unknown Date

Filth

I'll never forget the style choice of drawing a tapeworm across the text.

Unknown Date

Marabou Stork Nightmares

Very underrated Irvine Welsh book. Different to the rest of his work. One of his best.

Unknown Date

Imperial Bedrooms

Sequel. Probably the weakest Bret Easton Ellis novel. Lost and unmemorable.

Unknown Date

Less Than Zero

First Ellis book. It's... Okay? Rough, though. I respect that he wrote this at 21.

Unknown Date

The Acid House

I remember thinking: 'Man, you could turn almost any of these into full novels, and I'd be sold'.

Unknown Date

The Informers

A good set of short stories that I mostly enjoyed. I think this format works quite well for him.

Unknown Date

Skagboys

Mark Renton #1

A prequel to Trainspotting? I was very hesitant, but shit - he pulled it off.

Unknown Date

Porno

Mark Renton #3

As far as sequels go... This is damn strong. It's nothing on Trainspotting, but... What is?

Unknown Date

Trainspotting

Mark Renton #2

Once you get comfortable with the non-standardized English, you're in. Oh boy, you are IN.

Unknown Date

Glamorama

This is probably my favourite of his books. Classic, transgressive fiction.

Unknown Date

American Psycho

Satirical horror at its best. The vapid nature of capitalism coming towards you at full force. Often misunderstood from 2020 onwards.

Unknown Date

The Rachel Papers

Somewhat fun read at the time, but juvenile and problematic.

Unknown Date

The Wasp Factory

So fucking weird. But really damn good, too.

Unknown Date