short story about a girl stuck in a time loop and learning to kill everyone in said time loop really quickly, admittedly i did read for the first time bc of a jacob geller video essay on time loop nihilism (also very good) but its one of those things that has stuck with me and i’m not quite sure why. if i was an english teacher i would force my class to read and analyze it so do what you want with that
Mar 1, 2024
Related Recs
This is 108 pages so like, reading slump breaker of chains. Anyway, this is great to read at the same time as someone else because it’s really fun to talk about all the hypotheticals that it leads to. My non-reader boyfriend read it in an hour and a half.
Click the link to take you to an online version of the library of babel (you’ll see.) Enjoy the existential crisis as you realize everything that’s been said or ever will be said has been written already.
He’s also making his own version of hell in video game format in the form of a rhythm game if anyone is interested in that after 👀
Jan 26, 2024
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stories over time of a cast of characters loosely linked through the music industry
In a post-modern style like not too dissimilar to vonnegut
each chapter can be seen almost as a stand alone vignette
edit: after re-reading your ask, I’ll admit not the weirdest book, but it’s also definitely not run of the mill narrative fiction.
If you want weird, read Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. One of the most banned books of all time for a reason, grotesque, obscene, challenging, but imo definitely worth the read and I’ll be rereading it sometime. Helps to read along with a study guide to make sure you’re following what’s going on.
Mar 6, 2025
”All these formal and esthetic elements of the novel have been studied by scholars and taught to the generations of students who have read The Stranger for school since the 1950s-often as their first intense literary experience in an AP English course”
I did in fact read this book in AP Lit, and the proceeded to let it entirely alter my personality and beliefs ever since.
The page before (literally page 1 of the entire book) she writes, “My experience teaching The Stranger, and giving talks about the novel, is that everyone in the room has read it-usually twice.”
Yes, I have read it twice. I actually bought this book to help me write and essay called ”Camus and Me” where I talk about my life in relation to where I was when I read each piece of Camus that I have read thus far, beginning with my first reading of The Stranger, and ending with my second reading of The Stranger.
Alice Kaplan, I am asking you kindly to get out of my head. (:
Feb 20, 2025
Top Recs from @mdoinurmom
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if you think you’re the smartest person in your friend group you’re weird and annoying. the best friendships come out of mutual awe and respectability. be friends with people who make you want to know more things.
Jan 29, 2024
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i will never be in a situationship in the same way i will never be in the land of oz--it's just not real. i think using the word doesn't let you self-reflect in a way that is truly helpful. i was telling my friend about the awkwardness of seeing an exhook up in a relationship bc i thought we had mutual feelings and she said "oh your exsituationship" and i thought (for the first time) no, we had clear boundaries i just got my hopes up. my point is that instead of using situationship as a catch-all for not quite dating or wtv failed prospect, take it as a moment to reflect on what exactly went wrong. idk if this is profound or not
Jan 30, 2025
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idk if any of this will be remotely helpful, but this is generally how i see socializing
to find friends:
1. do something consistently
2. do something where other people are also (generally) by themselves
3. do something that requires discussion
exercise classes, coffee shops, open studios, libraries, organizing/protesting/charity work; really to acquire friends you just have to do things that's it. do things you like so you are around people who share similar interests and thus will have a higher "friend hit rate" but really the most essential point on the list is the first one (the other two are nice bonus'). with enough consistency you become noticed and then boom.
on becoming friends:
1. open invites
2. follow ups
now that you've just met some people, get them into your circle by open inviting them to things. if you're going out later that night, offer for them to join. if you're both in a pottery class maybe offer an open invite to a gallery you're visiting. this is how you shift casual acquaintances to actual friends. the important thing is to concretize your plans tho. you're not trying to pressure them but you do want to make them feel like it was more than just a vapid offer, so after you suggest it wait a bit and follow up with details. this also goes for the reverse of being given an open invite.
on being friends:
1. do
the best piece of advice (which might have come from pi.fyi) is that sometimes you just need to be the doer. maybe you see a tiktok about a picnic with friends and you think dang wouldn't it would be cool if my friends did that. well, there's nothing stopping you, you have to be the friend that does stuff. obviously this is a little time consuming and exhausting but generally people want to pay it forward so once you get the ball rolling on the friend group doing stuff, people usually follow suit
also fear is the mind killer, go forth and be
Jan 27, 2025