American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

 As soon as I discovered the iconic film American Psycho was based on a book, I immediately added it to my reading list. I loved the long essays with fumbled facts about Genesis, Huey Louis, and Whitney Houston. Such deep feelings really might endear you to the twisted Patrick Batemen. But the book is so graphic. So much more graphic than the movie. So much more graphic than it needed to be. But hey. If you liked the movie and you like books, you should read it. And buy me a tie from Hugo Boss. 

Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton

This is a really fun, dark, and immersive story about a working writer who is struggling to get by because she lives in New York. She becomes best friends with a creative wreck of a girl who wants to write but has no concept of work or self-discipline. But she has a house and money and very useful connections. 

Wonderfully juicy drama ensues with betrayal and forged identities on social media. I will not let myself do more to spoil it. I had a very good time with this book. You should read it and we should talk about it. 

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

You've got me pegged. I'm a huge fan of William Gibson. Here is the first entry of a trilogy that takes place in modern times instead of a cyberpunk future. Our hero (again) is named Case with a strange allergy/aversion to branding. So her outfits are called CPUS (Cayce Pollock Units) that are all black, with the tags removed. She has a special attachment to a Buzz Rickson's Bomber Jacket, which somehow makes me want one even though there's never a proper season for it in central Florida. Cayce is on a mission to find the source of a mysterious photo blog. 

This story is good fun, with lots of normal tech and KGB/Russian stuff that I don't entirely understand. There's a guy who's going to make an enlightening art project out of Sinclair ZX-81 Computers, which excites me. But it's been over a year and I haven't yet read the next entry in the series, which says something regarding my love for Gibson. 

Severance by Ling Ma

For those who've seen the tv show Severance, this book is unrelated. It's an apocalyptic zombie type of story taking place in modern times with a narrating protagonist who doesn't like air conditioning. I think she's Korean, and lives in New York City. So maybe she's justified in that opinion. 

Similar to the pandemic we've experienced, our heroine isolates herself properly and holds out at her job until everyone else is gone. Then she embarks on a journey to explore what's left while seeking a safer place, and joins a collective group. But what happens to them? There are some definite scary parts in this book. You'll like it if you like horror or zombies. 

No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

This is an interesting piece of literature. It's a personal narrative story written entirely in the form of tweets. So it feels like a book of poetry, almost. The 'posts' are definitely all profound in their own way. And I assume this is how most non-writers do their best writing these days. Very cool. 

Our protagonist is an influencer type who hit it big with some viral tweets about important issues. She gets paid to travel and tweet about things which start our story. Then she veers away from 'relevant' cultural events to tell the story of her nephew's cancer. Deep stuff. 

Square House of Gainesville Florida

Upon pulling up to Square House, I thought no way am I eating here. Outdoor seating in Gainesville, with a hyper-hip look, Square House co-specializes in Waffles and Detroit Style Pizza. My personal square pizza had a ratio of 3cr/3ce/3ch.

Their dough gets a 2 out of 5. It tasted more like margarine and burnt garlic powder than anything else. In fact, there was likely more margarine or butter-flavored oil than there was flour put into it. The thing held together fine, but the taste and texture were not there for me. In fact, it made my stomach hurt.

Their sauce gets a 4 out of 5. It had a good consistency, with a bit of extra sweetness which I wish could have balanced the flavor. Square house gets a 3 out of 5 for style. I loved the dog paintings in the bathroom, but everything else about the place seemed to compensate for its lack of good food.

For quality, I guess I give Square House a 3 out of 5. The only thing I really didn't like was the dough and having to sit on a bench at an unleveled table, while watching squirrels hang around (and probably poop) on the other tables. With a final score of 60%, I will not be back to Square House, given the area's other offerings.

Big Trouble by David Barry

Again, I didn't know there was a movie based on this book. I must have been looking for modern writers who are really funny in their work. And somebody somewhere on the internet said David Barry was the funniest thing ever. 

So here we have a story that feels a lot like a movie, especially one starring Tim Allen. And it's pretty good. Based in Miami it has bums, criminals, and regular people in trouble. Decent stuff. 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

I don't know how I ended up on this book, probably from a list of things that are highly rated. That was before I knew it was a movie, and that John Gren was such a famous writer of cutting Young Adult literature. That's okay, though. I guess I don't have young adult stuff. Part of me feels like a loser if I get into stuff for kids that was made after I became and adult. Maybe I've seen too many creeps trying to get in with the youngsters. 

This book is about teenagers who go to a private boarding school in the south, where they smoke cigarettes and plan famous pranks. When tragedy befalls our little friends, they do what they can to dig deeper into the whole thing. That's about all I can say without spoiling it. Maybe you've already seen the movie. I'm going to have to see it too, but I probably won't be telling people how much better the book is. Not because the book is bad. It's actually really good. You understand.