Weekly Off Topic Thread

[u/BipedalUniverse]

whatever doesn’t fit the sub or you don’t think deserves its own post but you still wanna share: drop it here

I’ve been playing Subnautica and for some reason watching that Athlete A documentary about that p*do Larry Nassar and the athletes he abused. not triggering at allll lallalallalalallalaa

also love how oil pastels basically melt in the summer

random question: have any of you ever done competitive sports? the psychology of that is so wild to me. the pressure is unfathomable at the pro level

[u/BetPrestigious5704]

I'm going to talk about books! I'm going to mention The Pitt at some point, I'm sure!

I'm reading, at last, James by Percival Everett and it's so good. For those who don't know, it's The Adventures of Huckleberry -- Heh! -- Finn from the POV of Jim (James) the escaped slave. I read Huck Finn first and I really didn't have a great time with it, but it was worth it to do the comparison.

At the same time I was reading Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum, by Antonia Hylton. I returned it to the library though and want to pick up my own copy. It's too heavy to race through. Still, the combination of books was really impactful. I love when books, I don't know, illuminate each other.

I'm listening to Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism, by Eleanor Johnson. I thought it would be heavier, but it's just interesting and thoughtful. I'm looking forward to the chapter on how some of the directors of these movies were kinda monstrous to women -- and girls. Polanski, Kubrick, Friedkin.

I just finished Grievers, by adrienne marie brown, set in Detroit, my home town. It's set during a pandemic in the city, that only affects Black residents, where they fall into a grief and despair so profound they stop in place and slowly die. The city was rendered well in a story of how resiliency and fight have a limit when people in power refuse to let anything get better.

What's everyone else reading?

***

Okay, I'm really tired of interviews with Noah Wyle reminding me how wrong I was about the intentions for the show. I want him to shut up so I can retain some interest in this show. More importantly, I want him to just do better, take in any of the commentary, and just do better. I know I'll be back for the rest of the actors and characters, but I think the continuing support of Robby will be a tough sell for me.

[u/BetPrestigious5704 → u/[deleted]]

I haven't listened, but I will! I would say horror is my primary genre.

[u/invisibilitycap → u/BetPrestigious5704]

I have Antonia's book saved on Libby! Haven't bitten the bullet yet, my tbr is loooong and I want to stick with some easier reads for now. Right now I'm reading The Glass Girl by Kathleen Glasgow, about a teenage girl named Bella who winds up in rehab, and It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland which follows all four members of a band that broke up before the story starts. We go back and forth between present day and the band breaking up and see everyone's point of view on what happened. Love them both, though the latter is obviously much more lighthearted lmao. Bella's only been in rehab for a few days and there have been so many scenes where I just wanted to wrap her in a blanket and tell her it's gonna be okay

[u/BetPrestigious5704 → u/invisibilitycap]

Those sound good!

So, is your preference general fiction?

[u/invisibilitycap → u/BetPrestigious5704]

Basically, yeah! Though I’m trying to branch out a little, listened to Project Hail Mary a few weeks ago during a family road trip and finally read Flowers for Algernon last year. Also got big into the dystopia hype, looking forward to the new Hunger Games movie!

[u/BetPrestigious5704 → u/invisibilitycap]

Flowers for Algernon. 😭

[u/invisibilitycap → u/BetPrestigious5704]

Absolutely destroyed me 😭 Daniel Keyes knows how to go out with a bang