🏠🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒🌀🧠😶‍🌫️🦠 Great Weird Books

 

    The Names by Florence Knapp has a wonderfully quirky premise. How much does a name influence one's path in life? Three different storylines spool out from three different name possibilities: Bear, Julian, or Gordon. The other aspects of life remain the same. He has an abusive father, a downtrodden mother, and a fierce older sister. What will they all become under the influence of the son's name? This novel explores identity, the lingering scars of abuse, and how to find hope. The Names is Florenc Knapp's debut novel, and it is extraordinary. Wonderful characters, a whimsical proposition, and lovely descriptions underline a belief that people generally want to do good, but also want to feel powerful.

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    I didn't like Social Crimes main character, wealthy socialite Jo Slater. It was difficult to root for her, especially as she made poor choice after poor choice. Jo, from Oklahoma, is fascinated with Marie Antoinette's life and decor, and catches the eye of a wealthy, much older millionaire from New York. He pursues her and sets her up in a New York apartment while he tells his wife he wants a divorce. They marry, and she becomes a leading light in society because of her wealth, fabulous parties, and impeccable taste. That all changes, and it changes how Jo approaches life.

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       I like weird books, and There is No Antimemetics Division by antm (not a typo). This book explores themes of identity, the spread of ideas, and whether we really know what we think we know. It opens on a world where dangerous-to-life ideas — ones that cause division and disconnection from others — invade but contain self-erasing properties. So its victims don't know that they've been infected and have no defense or cure. Now, imagine a secret organization that fights those entities called the Antimemetics Division. To keep itself secret, it must regularly wipe its employees' minds to prevent them from being compromised. qntm makes it work. I enjoyed this clever, mind-bending book. Once I accepted the premise, I, too, began to anticipate the problems they faced and to admire their solutions. 

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