I really could not put this book down! The writing was gripping, and there was even a small, unexpected twist at the end. I’m very much looking forward to reading the other books in this series, and eventually watching the movies.
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I love science fiction, but I’ve been branching out more into fantasy, mystery, and even some romance. It’s always fun to explore unfamiliar genres!
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Daniel Strokis wants to read The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic …
Daniel Strokis wants to read The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
'Vivid, enigmatic, enchanting' M. L. Rio 'Irresistible' Sunday Times
Some people think foxes go around collecting qi, or life force, …
Daniel Strokis rated Red Dragon: 5 stars

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
If you never thought a book could make you quake with fear, prepare yourself for Red Dragon.
For you are …
Daniel Strokis finished reading Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Daniel Strokis finished reading The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker (Hellraiser, #1)
Daniel Strokis finished reading The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
An introduction to "disaster capitalism" argues that the global free market has exploited crises, violence, and shock in the past …
Daniel Strokis reviewed The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
The most upsetting book I’ve read in a while
5 stars
But in a good way, if one can be upset in a good way about being made aware of the misery that the US & the IMF have inflicted across the globe.
Thanks to this book, I’ll now celebrate the day Milton Friedman died as a holiday (Nov 16).
Daniel Strokis quoted The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
On September 10, as long as flights were cheap and plentiful, none of that seemed to matter. But on September 12, putting $6-an-hour contract workers in charge of airport security seemed reckless. Then, in October, envelopes with white powder were sent to lawmakers and journalists, spreading panic about the possibility of a major anthrax outbreak. Once again, nineties privatization looked very different in this new light: Why did a private lab have the exclusive right to produce the anthrax vaccine? Had the federal government signed away its responsibility to protect the public from a major public health emergency? It didn’t help that Bioport, the privatized lab in question, had failed a series of inspections and that the FDA wasn’t even authorizing it to distribute its vaccines at the time. Furthermore, if it was true, as media reports kept claiming, that anthrax, smallpox and other deadly agents could be spread through the mail, the food supply or the water systems, was it really such a good idea to be pushing ahead with Bush’s plans to privatize the postal service? And what about all those laid-off food and water inspectors—could somebody bring them back?
Chapter 5 is full of quotes like this that describe events that seem to rhyme with what’s happening in the current regime. Dark stuff indeed 🫠🙃

KnitAFett quoted On tyranny by Timothy Snyder
All in all, regular policemen murdered more Jews than the Einsatzgruppen. Many of them had no special preparation for this task. They found themselves in an unknown land, they had their orders, and they did not want to look weak. In the rare cases when they refused these orders to murder Jews, policemen were not punished.
— On tyranny by Timothy Snyder
That last sentence is absolutely insane.
Daniel Strokis finished reading The Search for the Giant Squid by Richard Ellis
This was a very fun and informative read. I’ve been fascinated by cephalopods, and in particular squid, for as long as I can remember. I had no idea how far back in history squid carcasses were being noted when they washed ashore (1545!).
Daniel Strokis rated The Search for the Giant Squid: 5 stars

The Search for the Giant Squid by Richard Ellis
The sea contains many mysteries, and among the most enduring of them are giant squids of the genus Architeuthis. About …
Daniel Strokis replied to Steven Ray's status
@stevenray I just heard about him for the first time from The Dig podcast! I’m excited to read this.
Daniel Strokis wants to read Essential Essays, Volume 1 by Stuart Hall

Essential Essays, Volume 1 by Stuart Hall, David Morley
From his arrival in Britain in the 1950s and involvement in the New Left, to founding the field of cultural …
Daniel Strokis quoted The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
Vladimir Mau, an adviser to Boris Yeltsin in this period, explained that “the most favorable condition for reform” is a “weary public, exhausted by the previous political struggle … . That is why the government was confident, on the eve of price liberalization, that a drastic social clash was impossible, that the government would not be overthrown by a popular revolt.” The vast majority of Russians—70 percent—were opposed to lifting price controls, he explained, but “we could see that the people, then and now, were concentrating on the yields of their private [garden] plots and in general on their individual economic circumstances.”
Oh damn, that sounds frighteningly familiar stares in American