The Sunday Post #407

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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post

On The Blog Recently

• What Is True Crime Literature?
• Books To Read In Fall
• Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books I Want To Read
• Quarter Year Reading Check In
• Let's Build A Nonfiction Reading List Tag

In My Reading Life

I read two excellent books last week.

The first was Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. I understand the hype! It's a very good story. It's historical fiction about a woman named Ursula Tood. She's born in England in 1910, and she dies many times over the course of the book. Each time she dies, she's reborn into the same family in 1910. She gets to redo her life over, and over, and over.

It's a thought experiment that anybody can apply to their own life. How would your world be different if you chose a different career, or married someone else, or moved to a foreign country, or had more children? There's no way to know, but it's fun to think about.

A novel about rebirth could be confusing or tedious in the wrong author's hands. Luckily, Kate Atkinson is extremely talented. It does take a few chapters to get used to the structure and remember all the characters, but I didn't struggle too badly. I feel like I caught on quickly and enjoyed the ride.

If you like historical fiction, add this book to your list.

Then I read On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. I liked this book too! It's a nonfiction introduction to tyrannical governments. Actually, it's more of a resistance guide for modern people in the US. The author draws parallels between the current US government and past tyrannical governments in Germany and Russia. I didn't find any groundbreaking information in this book, but it's a short, easy-to-understand guide.

If you're curious, here are 20 ways to prevent tyranny:

1. Do not obey in advance
2. Defend institutions
3. Beware of the one-party state
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world
5. Remember professional ethics
6. Be wary of paramilitaries
7. Be reflective if you must be armed
8. Stand out
9. Be kind to our language
10. Believe in truth
11. Investigate
12. Make eye contact and small talk
13. Practice corporeal politics
14. Establish a private life
15. Contribute to good causes
16. Learn from peers in other countries
17. Listen for dangerous words
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives
19. Be a patriot
20. Be as courageous as you can

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that happened recently:

1. Do you need blog content? Do you read nonfiction? Please steal my nonfiction reading list tag! I would love to see how you answer the questions.
2. I voted. It took forever to research everything because there's so much stuff on the Colorado ballot this year, but it's done. Now I need all the political text messages to leave me alone. Does anyone actually like political texts? Or find them helpful? I just get irritated about my phone beeping constantly.
3. Speaking of annoying things, I keep getting emails from AI Agents that want to improve my blog. I don't want your help, AI Agents, let me be weird and imperfect in peace! Can you imagine how boring the internet will become if everything is "improved" by AI Agents?
4. Here's a good thing: We decorated for Halloween. The house looks excessively festive. I'm excited for candy.
5. Oh, I have fun news! I wrote a micro-memoir called About The Horses In The Room. If you want to read it, it's short and free. Anyway, there's a vintage model horse in the memoir called Fancy Sheik. He was in terrible condition when I got him in the 1990s. He stayed in terrible condition until last week. A restoration artist fixed him for me! He's beautiful now! Here's a photo taken by the artist.

Go away, AI Agents. These links are not for you.

Pinterest || Goodreads || Donate || Support Indie Bookstores || About The Horses

Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!