Life Digest 2026 Weeks 13-14
23 March - 5 April 2026
Books Read
Rabbit Test and Other Stories - Samantha Mills (2026; ARC)
If I’m being honest I expected more from an ARC with, at the time of writing this review, an average rating of 4.47 on Goodreads and 4.65 on Storygraph. But alas. There were interesting ideas in it, but the execution was not there yet. The writing style was really plain, and overall this book lacked a certain kick and had way too many parentheses in it. Some stories relied on being relatable or assuming familiarity with what the characters were experiencing; but there was a lack of depth so people with no commonality with the characters may find it difficult to empathize. There were many kinds of suffering and helplessness described among the stories but they didn’t feel genuine, they feel like textbook examples (before looking them up I already could guess that the author is white and probably much younger than I am; no shade but it explained A LOT). The titular short story was my least favorite, even if I agree with the politics; it felt a vessel to convey a specific message and had no intention of telling and being a story.
Men at Arms - Terry Pratchett (1993)
5 stars, brilliant, no notes. Head over heels about Carrot in this one.
Japanese Gothic (2026; ARC)
While I think the prose was decent (but not unlike background noise), unfortunately this book was an extreme case of "not my cup of tea" for me. I was incredibly bored throughout. I think it was due to the story logic being very chaotic and all over the place, anything gory or macabre or whatever that happened/imagined was not impactful to the narrative or characters, they were gratuitous and uncompelling. I feel like this book suffered from making everything dark/eerie/unsettling, and therefore nothing in particular was eerie/unsettling. Nothing was ever truly at stake and/or important. The characters were mostly unlikeable and tragic (which was fine), but unfortunately all of them remained static and were very uninteresting, despite being involved in a very turbulent story.
How much Land Does a Man Need - Leo Tolstoy (1886)
Monster Vol. 7 - Naoki Urasawa
Anjing Mengeong, Kucing Menggonggong - Eka Kurniawan (2024)
I’ve never felt so represented as a former kid who hated religious studies and activities.
Current read
Mort - Terry Pratchett (1987)
I'm still feeling it out but so far I like it better than the first Rincewind book.
Added to TBR
- The Passing of the Dragon and Other Stories - Ken Liu (2026)
- A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters - Holly Black (2026)
- Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett (1987)
- Feet of Clay - Terry Pratchett (1996)
Games played
Genshin Impact (ongoing)
Almost done catching up & exploring the Nod-Krai new areas. Contemplated pulling for Durin because I still have no great pyro applier but seeing Zibai … might as well focus my primogems on her and Columbina.
Crochet projects
Lace filet crochet quote (ongoing)
🧶 Aunt Lydia’s classic 10 crochet thread (mercerized cotton, size 10)
🪡 1.75 mm hook