r/IfBooksCouldKill

I ordered a book about forced arbitration (a real beach read, I know!) and Bookshop.org sent me a future candidate for the pod instead.

Please enjoy this context-less passage from the first page I opened to.

I was reading the recognitions by William gaddis recently and there’s a part in the book where a character, Mr Pivner, is reading how to win friends and influence people. the utter contempt in the narration was cathartic to read. hopefully this excerpt isn’t too out of context

it goes on for much longer too

HEM IS IN LOVE WITH HAW!

Also I made that T-shirt that says "cheese is a lie" and gave Hem the catch phrase "New Cheese!" I'm way too proud of myself, y'all.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/spencer-pratt-los-angeles-karen-bass/687178/?gift=ZrxU26OWhTFQcWvLIGu6Th-RdmZrkKi5PrKzJo7T318

Just a fun post. This "Next Big Idea" community or event or whatever it is popped up on my LinkedIn feed with "Next Big Idea" books. I chuckled because you guys is who I thought about right away.

I've been really enjoying AppleTV's new horror comedy series Widow's Bay, and the most recent episode may have some crossover appeal for IBCK listeners. The show follows the incompetent municipal staff on a creepy mysterious New England island (Think the cast of Parks and Rec stuck in Stephen King novel.)

In Episode 4 a social outcast townie starts reading a self-help party planning book that gets slowly more and more nefarious. It was a really fresh take on the "cursed tome" subgenre by combining it with the "one simple trick to success" of the self-help genre.

Baystate CEO, Peter Banko, just (vanity) published his book, The Necessary Goodbye, all about firing people. No one will be surprised to find out it is FULL of plagiarism. We found 25 instances of verbatim plagiarism. Here are examples:

1. Peter Banko: "More than 90 years ago the first Kibbutz (from the Hebrew word kvutza, meaning 'group'), was established. It was a revolutionary idea of a voluntary society in which people live in accordance with a specific social contract, based on egalitarian and communal principles in a social and economic framework.”

Original text from https://www.jewishagency.org/what-exactly-is-a-kibbutz/ "More than 90 years ago the first Kibbutz (from the Hebrew word kvutza, meaning “group”), was established. It was a revolutionary idea of a voluntary society in which people live in accordance with a specific social contract, based on egalitarian and communal principles in a social and economic framework"

2. Peter Banko "Life’s great thresholds … such as getting married, having children, starting a new job, birthdays, old age, death, homecoming, and addiction. Transitioning from the known and familiar into the new and unmapped. His poems and blessings offer us the opportunity to awaken to timeless truths and demonstrate our power to navigate through periods of change and transition."

Original text from https://greensboropubliclibrary.overdrive.com/media/147859 "O’Donohue looks at life’s thresholds—getting married, having children, starting a new job—and offers invaluable guidelines for making the transition from a known, familiar world into a new, unmapped territory….O’Donohue awakens readers to timeless truths and shows the power they have to answer contemporary dilemmas and ease us through periods of change."

3. Peter Banko: "I wish we could be excruciatingly honest when axing someone. Something comparable to the fate of William Wallace (depicted by Mel Gibson) in Braveheart. King Edward I of England declared him guilty of treason and sentenced him to death. Wallace was killed publicly using one of the most brutal punishments in the medieval era—hanged, drawn, and quartered. The king’s communication strategy was simple—tar Wallace’s head, place it on a pike on London Bridge, cut up his body, and distribute the parts to all corners of the empire."

Original text from https://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/2023/07/wallaces-capture-and-execution/ On 23rd August 1305 Wallace was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Wallace was killed using one of the most brutal punishments in the medieval era: he was to be hung, drawn, and quartered…To warn others away from rebellion, Wallace’s head was dipped in tar and placed on a pike on London Bridge. His four limbs were sent to be displayed in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth.

Hem and Haw have become good friends in Tomadachi Life!

passing along a gift link