Happy Wednesday, readditors! Since it's the middle of the week, I'm sharing which books I'm halfway into.

Exit Party, by Emily St. John Mandel

Set in the near future after a second civil conflict fractures the United States, Exit Party features the nonlinear narrative structure, perspective shifts, and speculative lens of Emily St. John Mandel's other works. We are initially introduced to Ari, an ex-con trying to get her life going again in Los Angeles after nearly 20 years in prison. She attends a pivotal party one night that turns her whole world upside-down.

I was not a fan of Sea of Tranquility. I thought it was only okay. I like this one so far, but the perspective just shifted, so I am interested in how this affects my enjoyment of the book. There's less jumping about in this book, which was my main gripe about Sea of Tranquility. I hadn't read Station Eleven or The Glass Hotel, you know, because I didn't like Sea of Tranquility. Depending on how this one wraps up, I might read more from her.

Checkpoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare, by Edward Fishman

This book chronicles the deployment of American sanction regimes against multiple adversaries. Part One charts the development of the weapons of economic warfare, Part Two describes their successful deployment against Iran, and Part Three (which I just finished) covers their muddled efficacy in the months after the Kremlin orchestrated the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Up next, Part Four will cover Trump's trade war with China, Part Five will address the sanctions imposed after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Part Six will wrap it all up in a bow?

Reading this on the heels of finishing The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order, by Gary Gerstle, feels apt. So much of the groundwork laid by neoliberalism in the 80s and 90s was exploited in the 00s and 10s to punish those who were ostracized from this order for their bad behavior.

Interestingly to me, Cuba is scarcely discussed, although that embargo has endured for longer than my mother has been alive. There hasn't been any meaningful policy or regime change in Cuba, despite the totality of its isolation from the US market.

Also barely mentioned: the sanctions regime imposed on Venezuela by the Obama administration at the same time that the Crimea sanctions were being discussed. While clearly ineffectual, I think it is interesting that American economic warfare against its Latin American neighbors gets little analysis. It feels like it could easily be a whole section of this book!

Right now, I'm as underwhelmed with this book as I was with Regime Change and The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order. It's not a bad book; I just don't feel like I am learning much...

Also Reading:

The Employees, by Olga Ravn

Jazz from the Haiku King, by James A. Emanuel

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

I didn’t know these kinds of books could even be published. Keep in mind, im not even a casual reader, i barely read in my free time, but i wanted a good horror book. i did not want to read putrid rape gore.

Happy Wednesday!

Last week, I had two fiction books; this week, two nonfiction books.

More: A Memoir of Open Marriage, by Molly Roden Winter

I do not like this book. I'm not going to DNF it, but I'm tempted to do so.

The author might be relating her experiences truthfully, but having read Esther Perel, almost everything in this book is raising red flags. The way this couple is shown to relate to one another is troubling, and I do not like the way the author portrays polyamory or discusses the women with whom the author's husband couples.

I appreciate that it is a memoir and not a thoroughly researched study of sexuality, but unfortunately for the author, I have read several of those books, so this book really feels wanting.

It is also interesting to read this book after reading Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, by Belle Burden. Once I finish reading this book, I'll likely have more to say about these two memoirs about marriage and infidelity among affluent white women from Manhattan. I wish the Venn Diagram was less of a circle, but even their books' subtitles echo one another!

The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era, by Gary Gerstle

Whew! That title is a mouthful!!

Where I am in the book, Bill Clinton has just suffered his epic defeat in the midterm elections against Newt Gingrich and his Contract with America. I was at least alive in this era, though I don't remember it clearly. I will be more familiar with what happens from this point on.

The book begins with relatively brief summation of the ascent of the New Deal Order/American political economy in the first half of the 20th century, setting the scene for the emergence of the Neoliberal Order in the 80s under Reagan.

I am admittedly not learning much from this book overall. I am mostly familiar with the events the book is covering. I had seen it recommended a couple other places, so I thought it might be worth checking out. Not sure it was...

Also currently reading:

God's Country, by Percival Everett

Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry

In altre parole, by Jhumpa Lahiri

Le cittá invisibili, by Italo Calvino

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, by David Gräber & David Wengrow

I found Turtle A by Ellie Martin-McKinsey quite beautiful. What I loved most was the contrast between two completely different souls, with almost opposite ways of looking at life, who meet by chance and slowly begin to influence each other’s perspectives.

The story plays with ideas of fate versus randomness, purpose versus uncertainty, and what it really means to know yourself. One character sees meaning and guidance in almost everything, while the other approaches life from a much more skeptical and independent perspective. Watching these two worldviews come together was what made the story so compelling for me.

What stayed with me most was how they challenged each other to look at life differently. Neither simply changes the other; instead, they learn from one another, question their own beliefs, and grow as people in the process. There was something very human and genuine about that connection. I also loved how the author leaves the nature of their relationship open to interpretation. It gives the reader space to decide what that connection means, while still making her own vision clear by the end. I thought that balance was beautifully handled subtle, thoughtful, and open-ended without feeling unfinished.
An excellent short read for this year. I picked up Turtle A completely at random while wandering around a book fair. Perhaps the Universe wanted me to read it…. or maybe it was simply my own decision :P

Either way, I’m glad I did. Would love to know your thoughts if you've read it!

Happy Wednesday!

Latest books I've made it halfway through are Blood Over Bright Haven by M L Wang and Walk Me to the Distance by Percival Everett.

I had seen Blood Over Bright Haven compared to Babel by RF Kuang, which is a spot-on comparison! Both books follow young magic users who relentlessly pursue proficiency in their arcane arts in order to disprove the assumptions others make about them because of their identity. Their research and investigating lead them to uncover sinister truths the elders wish to keep buried.

I am enjoying this one so far. Eager to make it to the conclusion!

Walk Me to the Distance is a nouveau Western set in Wyoming in the 70s. After getting stranded with his broken down Dodge Dart in a small WY town, a Vietnam vet from Georgia decides to settle in with the sheep farm with an old lady and her son who board him while he waits for his car to be repaired.

I have been on a major Percival Everett kick this year, having already read eight of his books. So far, there is less of the absurdist humor from some of my earlier reads, a much more serious tone than I'm used to with Everett. Then again, this book is from so much earlier in his writing journey than the books I've been reading to date. Makes me more curious about Suder (his debut) and Cutting Lisa (which is out of print).

I'm also planning to read his other two Westerns: God's Country and Wounded. And probably Lonesome Dove, too. Lots of moseying in my future, I guess?

Benjamin Layfield has done it again with this one 🖤❤️🖤❤️
Specifically,
The Still House
Close Contact
And now The Mercy Chair

Highly recommend checking him out

Halfway on Hump Day!

As is typical for me, I'm doing a hybrid ebook/audiobook thing.

This book is an aggregation of political news from the past 18 months with some additional context thrown in that a newspaper article might skip. So, basically a super long article from Vox?

I can't say I'm learning a whole lot yet. I respect the reporting work they've done, but because I subscribed to the NY Times, I already absorbed most of this book from their articles and podcast appearances over the past year. I was hoping there would be some interesting tidbits at least. Nope... It's disappointing.

It doesn't feel worth it to DNF this one, so I'll wrap it up tomorrow and move on to something else.

Forced to read this for my book club. I had to get high and suspend all disbelief to read it (as Samantha Sotto Yambao presumably was when she wrote it, based on the number of potholes and things that just made zero sense) but I find myself thinking about it constantly, at least weekly. Anyone else?

Been reading Percival Everett's Erasure since Aug 19, and I'm about halfway into it now. It's the seventh Percival Everett book I'm reading in 2026. I guess that makes me a fan...

Ok, technically, I'm not currently reading it. I just finished it. Excellent book about the author growing up in a small town in Alabama in the 60s.

Always a touch of the fantastical mystery with His books. Excellent story, highly recommend it

So, I thought Benjamin Layfield was pretty damn good with The Still House; however after reading the sample for his newest work, Close Contact he has gone way beyond what I had expected. It’s a very slow build but during the first few chapters I swear I could hear the characters voices and almost tell which one was talking based on purely individual cadence. I’m currently reading the Ebook and plan on getting at least one physical copy. Seriously recommend this author. I wish I knew how to contact him and tell him he’s doing great.

I finally finished Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch (started 7/22/26, finished 8/27/26). ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6/10 it’s really interesting. Talks about the different groups of people and their relation to the Internet. Also about emoji (which is how she refers to them in plural and singular form which find freaked me out), memes, punctuation, the internet before social media, Internet forums. My favorite part was when McCulloch described how people used to use punctuation on postcards and how that transferred over to the internet.

I made sure I finished the book before September bc I had grad classes with required reading I need to focus on & I didn’t want an unfinished book looming over me.

Next up is a reread of Veronica Roth’s The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future. It’s a book of short stories so I think it will be easier to manage with my class readings.

I just started this book. Only about 25 pages in. It truly is a video game in a book so far.

If you are at all interested in the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, this is a great book to get you up to speed on the origins of the current war crimes and the complicity of multiple nations (particularly Great Britain) in stripping rights away, and demeaning the Palestinians... or refusing to acknowledge they even exist.

This only goes to 2017, but if you're interested in the current "conflict," "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This". It's a scathing rebuke of our current society and how we have and continue to sit idly by while a genocide is streamed in 4k. People's eyes have definitely opened since the publishing of both books, but until this is over, it will never be enough.

oh man this book is so silly i just started reading it about an hour ago and man i can’t read it without an old english accent in my head. There’s genuinely at least one goofy ass word every sentence i can’t help myself.

Newest book in my book club after finishing The Teacher by Freida McFadden. Wanted a fun book with a bit of mystery and laughs, excited to start reading!!

Currently reading Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, and I’m really enjoying it so far.

This is my first book by Buehlman, and I’m already a fan of his writing style. It’s incredibly easy to visualise what’s happening, and I’ve found myself genuinely giggling at some moments, only to be abruptly snapped back to reality when things take a darker turn.

I’m only a couple of chapters in, so no idea where it’s going yet, but I’m definitely hooked! Curious to hear from anyone that’s read The Blacktounge Thief or his other work.

Last year, i read 68 books, I believe. This year, I've struggled. Around April, I essentially stopped reading after about 15 books. I read Angel Down a couple of months ago and City of Thieves a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed them both, but after finishing CoT, I couldn't find another book that I wanted to read. I realized that part of my problem is that my reading mood has shifted from fiction to nonfiction.

After looking through my books, I settled upon this, and holy crap it's interesting. He excels at making a bland (ha! pun intended) topic interesting. I haven't been bored in the 100 pages I've read thus far. I knew salt was an important commodity, but it played a far larger role than i could believe.

Unbelievable. Amazing. But crushingly sad. Alexievich interviews citizens of the former USSR about their lives, their histories (many were prisoners in the Gulag and/or WWII veterans). Many are just the thoughts of average Russians (usually) about the collapse of communism. Many are, with good reason, bitter about how the economy was looted, their savings destroyed, careers ruined. Some stories are so shocking that you can’t imagine anyone living through it. Highly recommend.