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Rated Last Night at the Telegraph Club 9/10
<div>Though it took me the first quarter of the book or so to really be hooked on the story, I liked this book a lot. At the halfway point, the plot really starts moving, and the details throughout are excellent. Between the clothes people choose, to the different environments the characters find themselves in, all of it seemed really well researched. Maybe we didn't have to know EVERY street name the characters walk down, but that's ok. Having been to North Beach/Chinatown several times, it was fun to read about somewhat familiar places as they would have been in the early '50s. I also appreciated reading a YA book that felt real. Nobody has a twee name, the ending isn't tidy, and the treatment of romance (and acting upon it) felt true to life, no matter the decade. Definitely recommend this one</div>
Rated Doctor Who: The Skull Of Sobek 6/10
This one is just okay, but I so enjoy listening to Paul McGann's voice that I'm going to round up to three stars. It's worth listening to for a sense of continuity as one goes through the Lucy stories, but it's not AMAZING.
Wants to read The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s
Rated Doctor Who: The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield 10/10
<div>Really, really liked this interlinked set of Benny stories.</div><div><br></div>
Rated Doctor Who: Regeneration Impossible 10/10
Oh this was great, and I didn't even mind that another person was doing both voices, as they're very close. Even though they barely ever remember it happening, I always enjoy multi-Doctor stories.
Rated So You Want to Talk About Race 10/10
"To refuse to listen to someone’s cries for justice and equality until the request comes in a language you feel comfortable with is a way of asserting your dominance over them in the situation."<br><br>Even if you think you know it all, you should still read this book. Everyone has something upon which they could improve, and Ijeoma Oluo's work is informative, direct reading.
Rated The Odyssey 8/10
<div>A very readable and compelling translation. I particularly appreciated the notes and analysis before jumping into the story itself.</div>
Rated Doctor Who: Thicker Than Water 8/10
<div>I accidentally listened to this WITHOUT having heard Arrangements For War first, so I was a bit like "....? I seem to have missed some things," but it was still a good story all the same. I'll go back and listen to part 1 now. I always enjoy Evelyn as a companion though.</div>
Rated Your Dazzling Death: Poems 9/10
<div>Beautiful, sad, heartfelt, fair. I liked this collection very much, and though some might disagree, I'm glad I read this before I read LETTERS TO FORGET by Kelly Caldwell. These poems provide some outer perspective on the inner turmoil Donish's partner went through.</div>
Rated Children and Lunatics 8/10
Really liked this.
Rated Detransition, Baby 8/10
<div>Though sometimes the dialogue came off a bit more like a monologue than a conversation, the book is a good one. More messy, complicated queer stories that aren't necessarily tragedies, please. I can understand why some maybe did not enjoy the ending, but life doesn't have tidy resolutions, so for me, it worked.</div>
Wants to read The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood
Rated Doctor Who: Excelis Dawns 8/10
<div>Normally, I'm less into the Fifth Doctor stories for whatever reason, but having him be exasperated by Iris Wildthyme's gleeful shenanigans is a great place for him to be. This is a good first part to the story, so I'm looking forward to listening to the next installments.</div>
I finished the book in about two nights, and it nicely sated my curiosity about the Queen. I don't know that I'm so enamored with British royalty that I'll pick up Lacey's other books, but I would definitely recommend <i>The Queen: A Life in Brief</i> to anyone looking for a basic rundown of recent history. This book accomplishes exactly what it set out to do, and for that, it is worth mentioning.<br><br>(My full review appears on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-queen-life-in-brief-by-robert-lacey.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy 8/10
<div>A really great starting point for how to think about what is essential to your life, how to pay better attention to what's around you, to look for context, and resisting the idea of being just another product for ye olde algorithm.</div>
Rated The Recipe Project: A Delectable Extravaganza of Food and Music by One Ring Zero 8/10
It's good fun, with a bit of seriousness thrown in. The book is more like elaborate liner notes for the CD, rather than the CD being bonus material for the book.<br><br>(My full review appears at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2012/05/the-recipe-project-by-one-ring-zero-more">Persephone Magazine</a>.)