I care equally about both the music and the lyrics. The idea of not being interested in the lyrics at all is bizarre to me, like if you watched a movie in a language you didn't speak and with no subtitles, but I get that people have different priorities when it comes to listening to music. I just think you're missing a dimension of music if you fully discount lyrics.

33-y.o. woman in the US and I've loved Nick Cave since I was a young teenager. He was the first artist I found who spoke to how I was feeling at that time in my life, and I feel like his music has somehow always met me where I'm at. I vacillate between liking The Bad Seeds and The Birthday Party more. I enjoy Grinderman but not nearly as much as Cave's other projects.

Yeah, agreed. I was able to get through the second book but gave up on the third. I think Annihilation really stands on its own; the sequels are a whole lot slower.

Ask them for music recommendations and give recommendations back based on what they seem to like.

Suicide Invoice by Hot Snakes, a lot of PUP's music

Hot Snakes (85K)

Nick Lutsko (111K)

Bummers (18K)

Fee Lion (23K)

The Birthday Party (75K)

The Lawrence Arms (112K)

This was interesting to think about, b/c there are a lot of artists I thought would have fewer streams, and I thought Hot Snakes and The Birthday Party in particular would have way more.

I don't expect much of anything from self-published works. That doesn't mean they're all, or even mostly, bad; I just assume that if a work is self-published, it was unlikely to have been professionally edited and may have never been read by anyone but the author.

In terms of traditionally published works, I expect correct grammar and spelling and for the writing to be coherent/easily understood/clearly edited. That's honestly about it. There are enough sucky books that were published traditionally that I'm not surprised if a character's motivations don't make sense or whatever. That doesn't mean I like every book I read, just that I don't consider a book unfinished or unpublishable or whatever because of bad characterization or a lack of worldbuuilding, etc.

For big bands/big venues, yeah, I think it's the norm. I've seen a bunch of smaller groups in medium/small venues recently and paid reasonable prices, though. I'm going to a show in April and paid $20 for GA tickets.

Sure, but this is a question about whether I support banning/burning some books, and that's my answer. I don't support giving any one entity control over what is and isn't harmful.

No, because I don't think any particular person or political party or government should have the power to decide what is and is not harmful literature. There are plenty of books I think are genuinely harmful, but I'd rather they exist than someone have the ability to burn every book that doesn't align with their religious ideals or whatever.

Generally, the aesthetics of a book don't matter much to me, but I also never see books with aesthetics like the one you're describing. What you've mentioned would be distracting enough to me that I probably wouldn't read the book.

I feel like if you have the impulse to read during social situations, you should be more choosy about what events you're attending. I think it's generally acceptable to check something on your phone or send a quick text at a party, etc., but I don't see people just scrolling on their phones all night. I'd think the same thing about them, if I did, that they should've just stayed home.

Edit: I'm talking about social events you're willingly choosing to attend, btw, not, like, family stuff that is boring or unpleasant but feels obligatory. I think it's totally normal to escape into your phone at things you don't want to attend but feel like you need to. I have the Kindle app on my phone, so it's easy to read in those situations.

This isn't universally true at all. Not every piece of writing is focused primarily on storytelling.

Nope, I've read more and more fiction as I've gotten older and have become a lot less pretentious about what I read. I have enough going on in my life that I want reading to be fun and nice.

Good writing, a focus on characterization, no typographical errors unless they're intentional/for stylistic reasons, and some kind of interesting vibe. I don't care about learning something if I'm reading for pleasure, and I don't need there to be much of a plot.

I'm with you here. I haven't seen the movie, but I started the book and gave up about a third of the way in. I can tell the book is trying to manipulate me and I don't like knowing that - I don't think the author did a good job with the twist. I also just find it boring.

Damn, good shout-out! Spooky Evil Jazz Mix looks like the most me thing ever.

I'm with you! I have a Kindle, but 90% of the time I read on my phone. Like you said, it's so convenient. I really like being able to read throughout the day at random times, even if it's for short periods of time. I don't think this is sad at all - anything that gets people reading is good 😊

I don't feel like I need to finish books just because I started them or like I am obligated to finish a book because the writing is good if I find the book itself upsetting/uncomfortable/etc. You're not going to gain anything positive from exposure to misogyny, racism, etc., and no one's keeping score of how many ~classics~ you read or whatever. I'd put this book down and find something that both has good writing and isn't gross af.

I feel like overall, there is sometimes an attitude on this sub that life is like school and we have to finish books if we start them b/c we'll get in trouble if we don't, but really, it is always fine to put down a book for literally any reason.