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3 Book Picks



Based on an actual contest that was held in New York City for decades, this crazy-ass fantasy novel takes off from a plain and fairly boring life into something pretty sensational.  It's kind of hard to describe without giving much away, but I will say this: it's just the kind of novel you would expect from a weirdo like David Duchovny.


This much more serious novel could probably only be written by a guy who was born in Sweden but raised in America.  A creative writer/adjunct professor/millennial who is basically white-knuckling his so-called sobriety decides to go and find himself in Sweden just before the Syrian refuge crisis in 2015.  To say this novel hits on some heavy issues (racism, nationalism, terrorism, xenophobia) is an understatement.  But somehow being told from a vulnerable white male gives them some kind of heart that news, blogs and social media just can't.  I know, I know......everyone is tired of the white male perspective.....and sometimes it did feel a little whiny.  But it also felt very real in the struggle of powerlessness that so many of us feel.  I also felt like someone explained the boredom/anxiety of struggling with drug recovery better than I have ever read, so I appreciated that.


This book is just enough black humor to keep you from thinking too hard about what can and is already close to happening with Church and State being reunited.  Also, it has a bit of the dark arts, which I'm always interested in.  But more than that it has weirdness and friendship and lust and confusion and all that means when you're a teenager trying to figure the world out.  It made me think again about the things the "youths" can teach us.  If we only listen.
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