I did a book swap

There's this thing that suburbanites do (by the way I basically use "suburbanite" as a slur now even though I am one. I just feel like there's something inexplicably cringe about people who grew up in suburbs. Like it's easy to romanticize rich or poor people but there is no way to romanticize the middle class. Protagonists of books are never suburbanites, unless it is a very boring book) called the Little Free Library trend where basically they put a box of books in front of their house so people can swap books. I think this is very good and cool. It's wholesome, and is also a right step in making the community a friendlier place. However, I would hesitate to call it "philanthropy" as it really only benefits suburbanites. But it is very fun, and I kind of wish there was one in front of my house. Luckily, someone in my suburb has one that appears to be very actively used because the books keep changing every time I check it. Today I actually did a swap. By the way, if you want to read more generally about the Little Free Library trend, you can read my article on it here: https://www.shrapnelmagazine.com/blog/the-little-free-library-movement-expands-book-access-for-all. I wrote this for Shrapnel Magazine's blog, and don't worry it doesn't have any rants about suburban "people."

So now let me tell you about my swap. For some reason, I really don't like books where the main character is a writer or an English professor or something. I guess I can't really explain why. Maybe it reminds me too much of myself and I want to read about someone else, not someone who is literally me. I feel like this will be an unpopular opinion, but I did not really like On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Okay don't get me wrong, the language used was definitely beautiful. I just thought the concept of an immigrant who falls in love with writing is just... kinda boring? (and also too similar to my life). But there were definitely parts of it I enjoyed. So it's like a 3 out of 5. Also I hated Stoner by John Williams. It's not about a stoner. Stoner is just the guy's name. He's an English professor. He went to university to try to learn something useful like agriculture because he is from a rural background. But then he falls in love with English literature instead. This book has a cult following. Some people are literally obsessed with it. But I thought it was boring and insufferable. I don't want to read about characters who are book likers. But I also thought there were parts of it that were well-written, and if anyone really likes the book I'm not going to roast you because you would probably roast me for liking cringe historical fiction like The Orenda by Joseph Boyden and Aztec by Gary Jennings and The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. This is malebrained historical fiction (femalebrained historical fiction is like the Outlander books or other historical romance). Anyway, even though I like it, I can understand why people think it is cringe. And I wouldn't get too defensive if someone calls it lame even though I'm a fan. 

So I gave away On Earth We're Breifly Gorgeous and Stoner. Who knows? Maybe they'll be someone's new favourite books, or maybe someone will hate them. The books I picked up were The Color Purple by Alice Walker and Ben-Hur (unfortunately not the novel by Lew Wallace. It's like a different version of the story by Marion Leighton). I'm still looking forward to reading both. I'll let you guys know how that goes.