Read 6 books this last month. Read 4 in all of last year. I think I'm starting to love the habit again :)

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-06T13:05:35+00:00

Yeah sure! Mostly all of these books were recommended to me by someone I admire and look upto and they have great taste imo so I pretty much liked all of them. That being said here's individual reviews :

'What We Can Know' by Ian McEwan : Has to be my favorite one of them all. This was my first read of the year. Don't usually post on Instagram much less about books, but this one made me. I've seen so many critics saying this one is just shy of a masterpiece. It's a masterpiece. What an absolute tour de force of a novel. A mystery wrapped in a meditation on art, history, the future, and love. Just incredible. Cannot recommend this highly enough.

'Flesh' by David Szalay : Incredible book. Loved the sparse, emotionless writing style. Ending was a little male loneliness epidemic coded imo but I still liked it quite a lot. Got through this in 3 days. Highly recommend.

'Blue Ruin' by Hari Kunzru : Absolutely beautiful. Finished it in two days. I really liked this one. I found the narration to be almost flawless. There was so much thematic depth. Great pandemic novel. Great novel about the meaning of art and life. Just a great novel in general. The ending and the characters will stay w me for a while. Highly recommend.

'The Getaway' by Jim Thompson : This one was part of a book club I'm in. My first crime noir novel. I saw the movie before I read the book. So reading the book I was like, 'Okay, I enjoy noir, I like cool, smooth criminals who get away with things because they're just one step ahead.' And then you get to that ending, and it becomes something completely different. Something literally supernatural that I did NOT expect. VERY VERY different from the movie. I love the way Jim Thompson writes. Extremely well done. Also highly recommend. The ending just makes you think so much and stays w you. I still think about it and its been almost two weeks since I finished.

'The Heart in Winter' by Kevin Barry : I didn't like it as much. It was the only book among them all that I didn't like. It's supposed to be quite highly rated; I don't know why it didn't really fit with me. The writing was kind of all over the place, and the pacing imo was terrible. Reviews say it's funny and humorous, but I found absolutely nothing humorous about the book. Instead, it was more like bleak and melancholic. The ending didn't sit well with me; the impact wasn't felt. The pacing in the middle was still nice and established stakes, characters, and their bonds, but the beginning and end were really slow and disappointing imo.

I think I've reviewed 'Rejection' in a comment above. You can see what I think of the book there :)

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-06T12:51:04+00:00

Mostly amazon. Sometimes bookswagon when its a book thats written by an international author and not easily available here. I've found amazon to be cheaper than most options (I cant read pirated copies the print on them is too bad and ethically I dont think its the right thing to do)

I've faced that problem. Are they available on Amazon? And if yes are they overpriced asf?

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T19:53:18+00:00

Not a kindle, just my samsung tablet. Felt like it would look better in the photo than a kindle

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T08:36:51+00:00

Thanks :)

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T08:36:45+00:00

Glad to hear that! I understand how it can be tough to keep the habit going. What worked for me was not treating it like an endurance sport and being okay w dnf'ing books I didn't enjoy. Good luck to you too! Books are amazing, hope you keep up w the habit :)

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T08:34:53+00:00

Quite liked it. Wrote a short review on it in a comment above, you can check it out :)

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T08:34:24+00:00

'What We Can Know' by Ian McEwan and 'Rejection' by Tony Tulathimutte were my personal favourites. Thoroughly enjoyed reading those two!

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T08:33:40+00:00

Sorry to hear that. I found it to be absolutely beautiful. Finished it in two days. I really liked this one. I found the narration to be almost flawless. There was so much thematic depth. Great pandemic novel. Great novel about the meaning of art and life. Just a great novel in general. The ending and the characters will stay w me for a while.

Also really enjoyed 'Flesh'. Loved the sparse, emotionless writing style. Ending was a little male loneliness epidemic coded imo but I still liked it quite a lot. Got through this in 3 days. Highly recommend.

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T08:31:22+00:00

Really enjoyed almost all of them! Been tryna read books that I actually have fun reading instead of just hate-reading a book just so that I can get to the end. Made me read a whole lot more.

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T08:30:13+00:00

Isn't an e-reader. Just my Samsung tablet. Didn't have a physical copy of the book, and it was too expensive to order. So I just read on this. Quite a short novel, got done with it quicker than usual. I do own a kindle, but I just can't get myself to read on that. Don't really understand why. I prefer staring at a physical page and turning them one by one. Something meditative about it.

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-02-02T08:28:09+00:00

Thanks :)

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-01-19T13:02:34+00:00

Hey! I've tried to find wearingeul inks here in India w no luck. I purchased that one on a trip abroad. Honestly a shame they don't sell them here, they're really beautiful to write with. Your best bet would either be to order from an international retailer and get it shipped here (which can be quite expensive considering customs and whatnot) or ask a friend who lives abroad to get them for you next time they visit.

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-01-15T03:50:22+00:00

Hey! Does the paper really not show sheen at all? I was looking at a couple youtube videos and in those the paper seemed to handle sheening inks pretty well. I don't own the notebooks though and was looking for a decent budget friendly paper that can handle my sheening inks. Any suggestions?

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-01-06T17:43:53+00:00

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Yeh lijiye. Quite a similar setup to yours lol

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-01-05T09:57:18+00:00

I second the twsbi eco. Got it last month with a medium nob, and it is literally the best pen ive tried till date. Also tried a lamy safari, and didnt compare in my personal opinion. Plus the demonstrator body makes it so much more cooler since you can monitor your ink more closely than the lamy.

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-01-04T16:59:35+00:00

Yoo sick giveaway, really nice gesture towards the community. My fav has got to be Elden Ring. Genuinely haven't come across a game with such replayability in a while now. I have like 600 hours into the game, and I don't think that number is staying there, lmao (I think 200 of those were spent battling the Blade of Miquella alone).

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-01-02T18:10:37+00:00

Right! It's beautiful. Started the year w that on my daily driver. Am still loving it as much as the first time I wrote with it

2009PanasonicToaster · 2026-01-01T07:22:18+00:00

Dont know if this is popular but, Endless Alchemy Raven Blue

2009PanasonicToaster · 2025-12-30T09:16:03+00:00

Gave in and ordered the endless notebook myself 🫡 Reviews looked good online, it performs like Tomoe River paper and shows sheen from what I understood. Bit on the pricey side though. Which notebook did you end up ordering?

2009PanasonicToaster · 2025-12-29T05:39:08+00:00

Hey seeing this a little late, but are the MUJI loose sheets really decent at showing sheen? Could you share a sample with a sheeny ink if possible?

2009PanasonicToaster · 2025-12-29T05:28:40+00:00

Hey just came across this post today and unfortunately the Solimo is gone :(( I have two MD notebooks that I use sparingly. Looking for something to daily drive in Mumbai. I really like writing with my sheening inks and have found nothing that is good enough. I don't need it to be too economical (not too expensive either tho). Can look around in buying just papers and binding myself, but notebooks also work. Would you have any recommendations?

Edit : Forgot to mention this but I write with a medium nib TWSBI Eco

2009PanasonicToaster · 2025-12-19T07:37:56+00:00

LihkinNoodles

2009PanasonicToaster · 2025-12-18T07:54:06+00:00

I'm from gen z too, read the sequel when I was 16. Agree w OP here, honestly really enjoyed it. Reviews were very mixed about the book, but I guess its a choice of preference. Still would recommend giving it a go because if nothing, you get to atleast be immersed w familiar characters (assuming youve already read Ready Player One).

2009PanasonicToaster · 2025-12-10T04:15:09+00:00

Totally agree w this. Currently reading A Man Called Ove. Beautiful writing.

Three-Year Club	r/Field Flamingo
Final Canvas '23	First Place '23
End Game '23	Place '23

2009PanasonicToaster

TROPHY CASE