Rated Doctor Who: Fear of the Daleks 8/10
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Wants to read Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space
Rated Desperate Characters 4/10
While I didn't hate it, and there were some good/interesting lines, I was so very bored.
Rated A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance 10/10
<div>One of the better things I have read this year, and the audiobook narrator is also good. A great mix of history and memoir.</div>
Rated Valentine 10/10
An excellent, immersive novel set in ‘70s West Texas, where the oil fields bring monstrous men, doing their damndest to chew up the women in their lives. This is not about those men, but the women and the degrees by which they survive. I thought of the North Dakota oil fields while reading — a regional parallel — and how, decades later, these places still exist... that ever-persistent callback to the Wild West. Though the circumstances in VALENTINE are not easy ones, they feel as true as ever. I’m so very glad I read this.
Rated Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse 8/10
A really solid Doctor Who novel. Some of the bits with side characters got a bit muddled at times, but Kennedy captures the voice of the Fourth Doctor well.<br><br>Edit for the second read-through: I read this to my 11 yr old son before bed, and he enjoyed it. He thought it was a lot funnier than some of the other DW books we've read. And since it had been three years since I'd first read this, I didn't remember every detail. Still good the second time around!
Rated Doctor Who: Relative Dimensions 10/10
I am very much a sucker for bringing in companions past and present, AND I'm also always game for the Christmas specials in any format, so of course I enjoyed this. I very much enjoy seeing (or hearing, in this case) how Susan has gotten on in her life on Earth. This was a great one for me.
Wants to read Everything I Never Told You
Rated The Price of Salt: Or, Carol 10/10
God this was good. Easily, EASILY one of my favorite things I've read this year, and it just might have a spot in my Favorites of All Time. Patricia Highsmith is one of my favorite authors, but somehow I'd let myself go far too long without reading this book. With its adaptation, <i>Carol</i>, out this year (starring another long time love of mine, Cate Blanchett), I finally devoured it. It's so good. SO GOOD. All my favorite elements — love, lust, loneliness, and longing. Read it.<br><br>(See the rest of my Top 10 Favorites for 2015 at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2015/12/glorified-love-letters-top-10-favorite.html%22">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls 10/10
Rated Doctor Who: Invaders from Mars 8/10
I quite like War of the Worlds, so combining it into this story was fun.
Rated The Omega Factor 8/10
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this, with no prior knowledge of the show. Spooky, very page-turner. Glad I gave it a go.
Rated The Psychology of Time Travel 6/10
<div>The concepts and premise behind this book are definitely interesting, but a few of the plot points felt unearned. I understand that time travelers are not going to have the same sort of sense of pacing that the rest of us would have, but it's the rest of us who are reading the book, and some of it — like the romances — involves at least one non-time traveling person. A sometimes impulsive one, sure, but the whole thing felt shoehorned in. The writing itself borders on excessively twee on occasion. I'm indulgent of a little of that, especially in a fantasy or sci-fi plot, but everyone's got a special twee name, and their inner monologues feel as though they are run through a thesaurus filter first.<br><br>I mean, I'm not sorry I read it, and I think the ideas behind how time travel can affect all sorts of different personalities are good ones, but I didn't love the execution.</div>
Rated Their Eyes Were Watching God 10/10
<div>I am both glad that I read this as a full-on adult, so I could properly appreciate it, and that I read it via audiobook, narrated by Ruby Dee, who does an excellent job with all the different voices.</div>
Rated Red Clocks 10/10
<div>This is a book about choice — both the real, free choices women make, and also the choices they have to make when cornered. And what happens when the outside world keeps bearing down on women, what can they do next? Is it really possible to opt out from what is considered a "respectable" mode of womanhood? <br><br>Excellent characters, an interesting and inventive way of weaving their narratives together, and a real sense of place. Definitely recommend. </div>
Rated American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot 8/10
Much like his monologue, and much like his tweets, Craig Ferguson’s memoir is self-deprecating, funny and honest. And unlike the majority of celebrity memoirs out there, I fully believe he wrote it himself – I’ve read his novel, [b:Between the Bridge and the River], and it’s fantastic.<br><br>Without giving everything away, I can say that some of the best moments come when he talks about the people who influenced his life – from his family, to roommates and longtime friends, and especially the women. He reveres them all, speaks glowingly of their skills and their patience with him, even when he did not deserve it. He gives credit to all the people and places that brought him to where he is today, and it’s a fascinating journey to sobriety and success.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/04/american-on-purpose-by-craig-ferguson.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>)