It's Friday (Oct 14th)

[ufcasey]

What have you been reading this week? Any reviews/ratings/recommendations?


QOTW (stolen from a TikTok video):
If you could magically stop everyone in the world for eternity from committing a specific crime, but you would be required to commit that exact crime yourself first in order for it to then stop forever, what crime would you choose to stop (and also choose to commit)?

(I thought the answer the person gave in the TikTok was excellent but I'm curious to see what anyone else would come up with)

[dearprudence]

Finished The 13th Witch, still recommend Rivers of London over it.

Finished League of Gentlewomen Witches which I adored. Highly recommend. Read Wisteria Society (first in the series) first. This is my favorite series I've read this year.

Read Ramon and Julieta which was okay. I didn't love the romance aspect of it, but loved the setting - they went to so many places I've been to!

Currently reading Not Good For Maidens which is excellent and perfectly creepy, and Horseman which involves The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.


QOTW (stolen from a TikTok video):If you could magically stop everyone in the world for eternity from committing a specific crime, but you would be required to commit that exact crime yourself first in order for it to then stop forever, what crime would you choose to stop (and also choose to commit)?

(I thought the answer the person gave in the TikTok was excellent but I'm curious to see what anyone else would come up with) I think assault. I think I'd be able to hit someone if it meant that no one would be able to hit anyone else ever again.

[tacokick]

The Hero of this Book by Elizabeth McCracken (good)

What We Saw by Mary Downing Hahn (good, I am impressed at her age she is still writing like a book a year or more!)

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings (good)

Jackal by Erin E. Adams (good)

Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions
by Temple Grandin (disappointing)


QOTW: I guess assault? I wouldn’t have any issue hitting anyone and stopping assault would probably also stop some other crimes. I haven’t seen the tiktok yet! Mine is all crafts, food, vintage and books and no existential questions.

[travella]

I finished The Winners by Fredrik Backman, 4*. I just got Upgrade by Blake Crouch from the library so I'll start that next.

Qotw: I have so many questions. There are so many kinds and degrees of different crimes (assault, abuse, etc). Can I eradicate them all by performing a lesser degree of one? Does it take into account the victim's age? Can I choose the victim? Does it take into account who the victim is? If I could manage to seriously hurt a convicted felon am I just assuring that no convicted felon can be hurt in the future? If I can verbally abuse an adult and eradicate all kinds of abuse (verbal, physical, etc) to everyone no matter their age I'd lean towards that. I'm sure I can find a few bad drivers around here I could verbally abuse for the greater good of everyone, especially children. I don't think I could intentionally seriously hurt someone, even to eradicate more serious crimes.

[Vespasia]

I finished The Golden Enclaves, which was fantastic. I really think the series got better as it went along.

Now I am reading Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden. It's okay so far.

QOTW: Some kind of major heist. Not the crime I would most want to prevent but one the movies have made me think I would enjoy committing.

[estrellita]

Currently reading Upgrade. I haven't been following the discussion topics so I'm happy the next one is this book!

QOTW: That's a really tough one. Definitely not something that would physically hurt someone, although I'd love if no one could do that. Maybe like, steal a car or something? Check forgery? Something along those lines.

[charlatti]

I finished Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng, which was very good but not amazing, and am now reading The Marsh Queen by Virginia Hartman. Seems good so far but I haven’t read much yet.

QOTW: This is really hard. I like the loopholes travella mentioned — can I just do a very minor version of a crime to eliminate all versions?

[ufcasey]

I think the idea was that it only eliminated that specific crime, so you couldn't steal a penny and prevent all people from stealing anything. But I thought the answer given on the video was kind of genius - commit perjury. Just lie on the stand once while under oath and that would prevent anyone else from ever lying in court under oath. How smart is that?!