I took a trip to the biggest library in NYC. The Strand has 18 miles of books, and I randomly picked 13 of them to turn to page 69. Here is a very honest review of each page that I read, and how willing I would be to read the whole book.
#1 How to Focus
0/10
Honestly, I have no idea what is going on. “Touching reality deeply is the way to liberate ourselves” sounds reeaaalllyyy out of context. Off to a great start with the worst book I could have chosen. (I actually bought the book behind this one … haven’t read it yet though)
#2 Sex at Dawn
-69/10
Out of all things, I was NOT expecting for there to be any talk of primal chimpanzee sexual issues, but here we are. Pretty funny, but does seem like a book that was hugely influenced by Freud.
#3 A Little History of Philosophy
5/10
My coin does, in fact, have a bias. I got a little excited when I read Pascal, but there was no sign of Pedro anywhere. Currently rewatching that one edit of Pedro Pascal as a cowboy.
#4 How to Write a Mystery
13/10
First of all, this author has some humor, and I very much appreciate it. I love the word espionage, which caught my attention right at the top of the page. The amount of times “mole” was used throughout this single page was incredible, I thought it would never end. I think my favorite line was “I was gobsmacked” … that line itself brought my total rating up quite a bit. This author has some major humor in their arsenal, and I would definitely get around to reading this if I had the time.
#5 Princess Mononoke
10/10
This page was absolutely beautiful. I love the artwork: talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before.
#6 The First to Die at the End
8/10
ooOoOooOOOOOoooo very ominous. It’s foreshadowing, and wrenching the reader’s heart out before total and utter disaster commences. Not so sweet, but definitely short, and to the point.
#7 Foul Lady Fortune
34/35
Wǎn’ān looks like the coolest name ever, although I do feel like I am not pronouncing it right at all. The word scuffle made me giggle a little hehe. This one part close to the end of the page reminded me of that one clip from Step Brothers: “I know you touched my drum set, and I want your dirty little mouth to admit it!” Also, whatever kind of chemistry going on between Celia and Oliver is reeeaaalllllyyyy making me wanna read more.
#8 Red Carpet Oscars
-10/10
Ehhhhhh, i mean … its okayyyyyy. Do I know who these people are? No. Will I look it up? Probably not. Was the book insanely overpriced? 100%
#9 The Language of Tattoos
9/10
First of all, I love love LOVE the cover. I’m a sucker for cool tattoos, and this had some amazing designs. This lighthouse isn’t my favorite, but the description on the page before helped it out a bit more (I took a pic for anyone interested lol)
#10 Tove Jansson
11/10
This was my SHIT when I was younger. I loved these little bear-looking things with all of my heart. Fun fact: my grandparents bought me every single DvD of these episodes that they could get their hands on. I still have them to this day, and the narration is actually in Polish, and the name of the show as I remember it was “Muminki,” not “Moomins.”
#11 Gender Gap
2/1
Had to look up simulacrum, cause I had no clue what it meant at all. I’m guessing that this is using the second definition you get off of google, and that it is an “unsatisfactory substitute.” So basically, “female discrimination at home is an ‘unsatisfactory substitute’ of the world,” which totally makes sense. Also, very interesting font and use of quotes/pictures, and it makes me want to read more.
#12 1000 Design Classics
1000/10
Out of all things, I was definitely not expecting to have wooden spoons and rawplugs on the same page. A very interesting mix of tools that have nothing in common with each other. Just learned that spoons date back to 1000 BC in Egypt, which is not surprising at all. Moving on to the elephant in the room … just the name rawplug had me intrigued. The basic use of this is to help keep a screw in the wall after the hole has been dulled out. You would think that working for the theater and doing construction on sets would have given me this knowledge, but here I am.
#13 Inside
6/9
First thing that came to mind when I saw this across the room was Bo Burnam’s: Inside, so just HAD to shuffle my way over and see what page this had in store for me. I love the rustic, renewed design the room has. It is giving “old and retired” a fashionable twist.
