L. S. Popovich is the author of THE ARDEN, which was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award 2022. They are a cat person (a person who like cats, not a cat human hybrid). Every house needs at least one room overflowing with books, they believe. (Other rooms should contain scattered piles.) Their short works have appeared in Chrome Baby, Havok, Aphelion, Bull & Cross, Red Fez, Bewildering Stories, The Ansible, 365Tomorrows, Commuter Lit, Farther Stars than These and other secluded places on the internet. Aside from writing, they enjoy long walks on short beaches, black coffee on the rocks, and level grinding. The IBM Model M and a HHKB Pro 2 are their weapons of choice. As a registered bibliophile, talking books is always a singular pleasure. Writing bios in the third person leads to spontaneous illusions of grandeur, so I'll lapse into first person. Goodreads, given enough time, will resemble The Library of Babel. To avoid the inevitable bibliopocalypse, I review to aid others in tackling that age-old question: What should I read and why? The question I ask more often is why do we read so many book reviews? Consuming novels like popcorn, I've found, leads to diminishing returns. Review-o-meter: ***** Rereadable. Whipped my imagination into a froth, was convincing and convicting. Nothing about it was a chore. The characters live and breathe. **** Kept me turning pages. May not reward multiple readings but is clearly the product of a skilled writer. *** Either an established classic with literary merit that was too dry or did not break the mold, or a book that did not succeed in my mind due to subject matter, slow pacing, or intolerable characters. Still worth my time overall. ** Insulted my intelligence as a reader. Certain things didn't add up, make sense, or jive. Cringe-worthy clichés abound. It has already been done, and better, elsewhere. A blurb on the cover says 'fiendishly clever.' * Unreadable. Reads like a first draft. Characters do nothing but take drugs, drink, and act immoral. Nothing happens for 99% of the book. ——————————————————————————— To combat the spread of phobias with respect to new and emerging writers on this site, requests, messages, and recommendations are welcome. Translation: If you think I should read your emergent masterpiece or your veritable book-savior, send it to me immediately. It would be so easy to drown in the shark-infested ocean of modern publishing. Writers need other writers. Maybe if enough of us string our scattered bodies together the resultant raft could sustain World Literature for a while longer... ——————————————————————————- Interests include: exploring video games, cinema, and music. I play drums, travel, and study Serbian. I draw abstract line drawings and appreciate the phenomena of liminal spaces and nostalgic vaporwave aesthetics. My home library contains 2815 books, 975 manga, and 146 fridge magnets. I play table tennis and chess. I'm selective with the animes and series I watch, and typically abandon them before completion. I am a good cook. I notate with Pentel sign pens and put stickers on things. Currently editing several novels for (eventual) publication. Other Favorites: Kiyoshi & Akira Kurosawa, Aki Kaurismäki, David Lynch, Jarmusch, Gilliam, Denis Villeneuve, Shaw Brothers, Tarantino, Sammo Hung, Final Fantasy 6-9, Persona 4 & 5, Starcraft 2, Zelda, Hokusai, Moebius, Hayao Miyazaki, Beksiński, Bosch, Dalí, Hiroshi Nagai