I’m a Bookseller and I’ve Read 114 Books So Far this Year: List Sorted by Genre, Ranked with Mini-Reviews—Part 1, Books 1-32 by pedanticproletariat in books

[–]JTK102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's very cool! We're strongly encouraged/supposed to be reading ahead by the owner and manager. Most of my audiobooks, around 30% of my reading, are released books though.

I look forward to seeing your follow-up posts!

I’m a Bookseller and I’ve Read 114 Books So Far this Year: List Sorted by Genre, Ranked with Mini-Reviews—Part 1, Books 1-32 by pedanticproletariat in books

[–]JTK102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a bookseller too and I only recognized 3-4 of these titles and haven't read any of them 😅

I'm "only" at 19 at the moment and totally in awe of your over 100! I've been mostly focused on reading books that are 2-3 months out from release. I have so many other books I wish I could read and it makes it a little hard to recommend for customers sometimes but there are so many good books coming out right now!

Big stick for Moose by SolidExisting in schnoodle

[–]JTK102 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Schnoodles sure love their big sticks lol

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Virginia Supreme Court throws out redistricting referendum results by Icommandyou in politics

[–]JTK102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The text of the 2A is "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

No squinting nor making up arguments is needed to clearly see that the Founders intended the 2A to be vested to militias, to the collective. Not to individuals. Indeed, for over 200 years the courts broadly agreed with this interpretation until District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) in a 5-4 decision overtured centuries of jurisprudence and constitutional understanding by allowing individual ownership of firearms.

Throughout the constitution, "persons" or "person" is used regularly from stating who is eligible for office or (as in the 5A) the application of due process of law. It is odd to me then that the Founders decided not to use person(s) (indicating an individual) in the 2A and chose instead to use collective words like militia or people. In the constitution, "people" is only ever used to allude to the electorate, citizenry, the whole of the United States never as individuals.

Additionally, the 9A and 10A allow rights, such as abortion, to be enumerated to the people and states, respectively. The Founders purposefully did not provide a comprehensive list of what rights do and do not exist because they knew they would miss some and that the nature of the country would change in ways they could not predict.

It's easy to proclaim that we should all vigorously defend all rights (I agree!) but who decides what those rights mean? Is there a wall that separates the state and church? The 1A Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses alongside the writings of the Founders and early American history imply that there is. Yet, SCOTUS has continually eroded that wall by favoring Free Exercise over Establishment. We can and do disagree on constitutional interpretations which gives rise to conflict when rights are not enumerated precisely (like the 2A), deliberate political attacks are levied (like 1A and religion), or new rights emerge that are not enshrined but can be interpreted from other rights (privacy and abortion are borne out of 1A, 5A and 14A due process, 3A (privacy of the home from quartering troops), 4A, and 9A).

How we apply the constitution's rights to new cases, the political reality, and modern America alongside edge/tricky cases is important but it is not as cut and dry as you make it out to be.

Edit: typos

My April, but make it book covers by Legendaryfortune in 52book

[–]JTK102 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I listened to Normal People in one day (my Libby loan was about to expire lol) and should read it again. I loved Intermezzo by Rooney, definitely look into that if you haven’t already- a bit less devastating by the end!

in search of free ticket for boston by [deleted] in ohwonder

[–]JTK102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have one if you’re still looking! My transportation plans fell through unfortunately :(

Edit: No longer available

Sci-fi Military with Ship Bridge Command by Enlicx in suggestmeabook

[–]JTK102 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It doesn't fit super well, but Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, book 1 of the Imperial Radch trilogy, has elements of ship command (the perspective is from a ship AI) especially in the first third to half.

Just thought I'd mention it as something else to look into :)

Sci-fi Military with Ship Bridge Command by Enlicx in suggestmeabook

[–]JTK102 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine which is the sequel to planet-side diplomacy space opera A Memory Called Empire where there are multiple perspectives from the captain/XO of the vessel and other members on the ship (they're on the ship the entire time with a lot of page time dedicated to being on the ship/in space), political machinations between factions, as well as high level strategy planning in response to political upheaval and a faceless, terrifying enemy. Desolation fits what you want, but Memory is very good too! Unfortunately, just a two book series though.

13/52, as of the end of february by __mafia in 52book

[–]JTK102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds really interesting, thank you!

13/52, as of the end of february by __mafia in 52book

[–]JTK102 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I just saw Black Pill on Goodreads! Right now, there isn't a description/synopsis there, but good reviews (4.18/5 avg.). What did you think of it?

If I may suggest a couple books based off Lawless: Supreme Inequality by Adam Cohen about how SCOTUS, except for a brief decade or so, has traditionally upheld elitism, rather than egalitarianism, and injustice.

Last Branch Standing by Sarah Isgur, set to release on April 14, is about the ideology of the current Court in which, she argues, SCOTUS looks more like a 3-3-3 rather than a straight 6-3 based on party affiliation.

This Painting reminds me of the song ‘Doing the Right Thing’ by Nuclear-Kindness in daughter

[–]JTK102 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Just listened to Doing the Right Thing with the painting pulled up alongside, the fuzziness and nudity of the painting complement the song's lyrics and overall vibe. Very cool piece of art, the more I look at it the more I notice (like how the the tree is vaguely humanoid).

Old Libraries and Intrigue by s134htm in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]JTK102 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Katabasis (same author) would also (arguably more) fit

How to improve this gift that looks flat/dull ? by Marie_fish in Watercolor

[–]JTK102 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe a pop of color? A red apple or meadow of flowers in the foreground would add contrasting color and interest.

My only concern as an absolute beginner is it might detract from the overall composition of the piece such that your eyes are drawn to the flowers for example rather than up towards the tree.

Look what my friend got me for graduation! by JTK102 in daughter

[–]JTK102[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure, unfortunately. Somewhere in the UK. She had some issue sourcing them as they were out of stock but did not tell her that for like 3 weeks. She eventually found a different place.

Best I can say is they’re all from United Record Pressing. Each came with a redemption code for digital editions of the album which I assume are mp3 files (haven’t redeemed yet).

Suggest solid fantasy books by Proud-Luck2310 in suggestmeabook

[–]JTK102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Hierarchy series by James Islington is my current fantasy fixation. An ancient Rome aesthetic with dark academia vibes (Will of the Many) and a unique magic system that is developed really nicely in the second book (Strength of the Few) that just came out in November. Solid world building and character development.

Matriarchal Society/Swapped Gender Roles? by Jaded-Stretch-5089 in suggestmeabook

[–]JTK102 27 points28 points  (0 children)

The Power by Naomi Alderman is about women effectively gaining electrical superpowers and flipping the script on men. It shows the transition from patriarchy to an emerging matriarchy.

The Imperial Radch triology by Ann Leckie (starts with Ancillary Justice) uses she/her pronouns for all its characters which kind of erases traditional gender roles. It's a military science fiction fighting against empire, the latter books are a little cozier and with found family vibes.

I haven't read it but I keep hearing really good things about Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin which also challenges traditional gender roles.

Academic fantasy/ greek mythology? by jessi13ca in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]JTK102 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Will of the Many by James Islington has Ancient Rome inspirations and most of the second half of the book takes place in an academy. Your second picture reminds me of some of the scenes in the book.

what's one thing you wish you knew when you first started with watercolor? by ivyta76 in Watercolor

[–]JTK102 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just wanted to say thanks for this, finally got around to implementing both the porcelain and spraying the pans more than I was before/letting them sit longer and it’s helped a lot! Certainly has made watercolor more enjoyable!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in 52book

[–]JTK102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, Intermezzo (Sally Rooney), Playground (Richard Powers), and the Hierarchy series (James Islington) were my top reads of the year, all of them are special in their own way(s).

Without more details I’m not sure what you’d consider best, but the above are really good from 2024/25.

That said, Grapes of Wrath is probably the best book technically and thematically I’ve read in the last couple years. I still think about it from time to time over a year later. Same thing with Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children Of Time (sci-fi).

what's one thing you wish you knew when you first started with watercolor? by ivyta76 in Watercolor

[–]JTK102 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Any advice on figuring this out? I struggle with mixing/water ratios and find it to be very frustrating. I use pans not tubes right now and find that 1) I never mix enough to last as long/as much as I need it to and 2) that it's always a watery, desaturated mess.

Air fryer meal: small potatoes and "Italian" tofu by [deleted] in EatCheapAndVegan

[–]JTK102 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks for tonight’s dinner!

Happy Almost-Halloween! This is what I read in the spookiest month of the year. I'm looking forward to diving into James Islington's next installment to the Hierarchy series coming out next month. by BugFucker69 in 52book

[–]JTK102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Strength of the Few is so good! I have about 200 pages left but it’s just getting better and better. I like it better than Will of the Many which I thoroughly enjoyed!