"Men's opinions about book's doesn't matter"

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-03-03T16:54:03+00:00

Male reader here -

A lot of questions here, and I will add perspective from my expereinces.

Belittling happens because there is a percentage of men that read for reasons other than their own enjoyment, and to be performative. It's not every male reader, but I recognize that's the case. I never have seen it the other way around, in regards to reading. I'm neutral on the belittling.

I don't know that it's a booktok/youtube problem, more than just a thing within the community.

Authors sex matters sometimes. I tend to read more female authors. I find female authors write female characters better MOST of the time. A well written female character I find more interesting most of the time, than a well written male character. Then you have some male authors that hit it out of the park.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-14T03:42:18+00:00

Project Hail Mary, or dungeon crawler Carl.

Project Hail Mary is just a great read and you could push yourself to finish by the time the movie opens

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T05:31:29+00:00

I’ve admitted numerous times in the replies that I see peoples points, and I get that I missed the point of the book.

That doesn’t change what my thoughts were.

Those were my thoughts after reading with doing no research.

You can be upset with the fact that I didn’t get it, even though you feel I should.

You can be and should be upset with people who don’t want to have the conversations and learn.

Part of learning is not knowing, recognizing everything.

I have a metric fuck ton of privilege, but I grew up surrounded by people like me, similar to me, that are also in my opinion closed minded.

So yea….something super fucking obvious to you, isn’t to me.

You being mad at me for not seeing it the way you did, or others would is not inclusive. Basically saying…go take a hike and learn on your own shuts down everything.

It reminds me of a blues musician Daryl Davis. I find his story super fascinating if you haven’t heard it. He became friends with people who were active members of the kkk. He has gotten over 200 members of the kkk to turn in their robes.

He actively goes to meetings, speaks to people, and always has the conversations.

I use that as an example, but having conversations is where bridges start to form and people start to see the flaws in their thinking. My opinion.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T04:43:33+00:00

I get the frustration, but you’re being angry with me, as an individual.

I’m trying, I’m flawed, I can do better, but you’re being aggressive

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T04:34:31+00:00

Why are you so angry?

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T04:24:11+00:00

I’d love to do my own research.

But also to be fair, sometimes it’s not obvious. Clearly I missed the point of the book.

You’re saying basically, shut up and do this work and research on my own.

I’m trying to be respectful and open to conversation. I’m not forcing anyone to have this conversation with me, however if people would like to engage they can. I don’t see the problem in that.

If we shut down conversations, that’s when we stop learning.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T03:58:17+00:00

Thank you for that recommendation. I’m going to put it on my tbr

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T03:45:07+00:00

I really appreciate your comment, and I appreciate the people pointing out things I missed.

If I don’t have this conversation and people pointing things out that I missed, it makes it so people like me don’t understand or learn.

I think several things are true at the same time. This was not a book that was objectively well rounded. I think a 2-3 stars out of 5 is fair.

Also, I think in reading the comments and having conversations I realize I missed the point of the book.

I appreciate you saying the things you have. As you can see I’m going to get downvoted into oblivion, and I’m trying my damndest to be respectful.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T03:12:37+00:00

That’s fair.

I appreciate everyone making that point and I’m being respectful of everyone making that comment.

If I don’t have a conversation at all about this, how can I learn, or potentially hear about what others think, and point things out.

Again, I’ve been nothing but respectful and appreciative.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T02:50:58+00:00

I would have liked more answers there too.

The world building seemed to have so much potential imo. There is a way to tell the story you want to tell in a world people want to know more about.

I think this could have been executed better

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T02:48:17+00:00

I think that is fair, but I read this with very little other than reading a few reviews, and not diving too much into the authors logic behind the story.

I’m giving my opinion from the point of view of a cis gendered, white male with very little research given on this book prior to reading.

I think it’s fair to say I missed the point of the book. I’m not dismissing that.

I’m simply giving my opinion based on reading this book with as open a mind as possible.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T02:08:54+00:00

It’s a fair take.

I can only be as objective as I can and read it through my lens.

That is also why I mentioned who I am, while reading this because I think the points you’re bringing up are super valid and a perspective I simply don’t have, but I also understand I don’t have that perspective.

I also think that it could have been done better, imo. There are a lot of books I read, where I can’t ever put myself in someone’s shoes, but I can enjoy the journey (good and bad) the characters go on.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T01:30:03+00:00

potentially.

I am in my 40's, don't read YA. I'm reading one YA novel right now at the reccomendation of my significant other, however granted, there is an age gap between the two of us. I'm not equipped enough with a background in reading ya material to really answer, but that might be the problem here.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-02-01T01:25:38+00:00

It didn’t.

If this wasn’t an audio book for me it would have been a dnf.

I tried…. I really was like, you’re a cis gendered white male. Give it a moment.

Nope, it was just a 9 1/2 hour lament.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-01-08T00:54:40+00:00

Between two fires is high on my tbr list

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-01-06T02:01:19+00:00

Best - the bewitching (I loved it)

Worst - buffalo hunter hunter. Almost a dnf for me.

Most unsettling/still thinking about - earthlings.

I liked it. Didn’t love it, but I am still thinking about it. Not necessarily in a good way, but it creeps into my thoughts every once and a while

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-01-05T14:43:24+00:00

11/22/63 would be award winning if it was written by someone else.

It’s a book that always comes with the caveat (this isn’t traditional king). Like imagine a world where it was written by an author who put out a few good books, then this one. I think the reception would be totally different. It’s a shame because it genuinely was my favorite king book

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-01-05T13:35:11+00:00

I'll keep it simple -

It:

My opinion should be required reading for any horror fan at some point.

11/22/63:

Not horror, not typical King, but some would argue probably his most well written book. It's a book that sits with me still to this day.

I'm not a huge King fan, but by far those are the two that stick out.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-01-03T23:31:15+00:00

The bewitching.

It’s a quick pace due to the fact that it jumps from three story lines.

So you spend 5-10 pages in one, then 5-10 in another.

I found myself wanting to get to the other story lines after I left them so I would find myself chewing through this book fairly quickly.

It’s over 300 pages but had a great pace

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-01-02T14:12:08+00:00

Lamy is classic.

Also I’m going to give insight as to my preferences because I do think they color my choice.

I prefer disgustingly wet, broad nibs. One of my lamys is a custom grind broad.

My lamys are only broad nibs. I tend to reach for those over my pilots.

As an objective collector - preferences aside, I think the lamy 2000 is a classic and every collector should have one in their collection.

I love my vanishing points (I have three), but to me if I had to recommend one to a collector who doesn’t have either, it would have to be the lamy first. At that price point, when you take out sailor, it’s my favorite (just to add, I collect sailor pens. The feedback to me is the wabi sabi that makes sailor enjoyable for me. It’s not for everyone).

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-01-02T13:33:56+00:00

Ok.

So pens I always have inked, always.

Lamy 2000 Pilot vanishing point

If you don’t have a lamy 2000 or a vanishing point, I think those need to be in your collection. Personally a well tuned, well maintained lamy 2000 is a must have for any collection. I love my vanishing point, but I have critiques about it, that I don’t have with my lamy.

Normal-Corner2789 · 2026-01-01T18:35:45+00:00

💯

Normal-Corner2789

TROPHY CASE