Rated Swamplandia! 10/10
I can't believe it took me 10 years to read this. I'm so glad I finally did. What an interesting, innovative book.
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Rated Werewolves in Their Youth: Stories 6/10
Rated Gasoline Heart 10/10
A very real, short book of poetry celebrating the messy, the loud, the queer, the black, the up and down mechanics of survival. Enjoyed this and regret taking too long to read it.
Rated Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules 6/10
Rated Fathermucker 8/10
Fathermucker is a quick-but-satisfying read, and certainly one with which less-uptight parents will identify. The question of "Is Stacy having an affair?" propels us to the very end, and it goes for self-deprecation over melodramatics. Olear makes us consider the definitions of honesty and identity within our day-to-day life, and I am officially a fan.
Rated UNIT: Brave New World 1: Seabird One 6/10
<div>Just ok. If it were very on sale, I would be interested in the next installment to see if it finds its legs, but I am not in a hurry.</div>
Rated Piranesi 10/10
<div>I knew almost nothing about this book, other than "People say it's good," and it is! And I suggest going in with very little knowledge. Let the House reveal itself to you. Beautiful, amazing work.</div>
Rated The Complete Johnny Nemo 6/10
Not really for me, but there were a few funny bits, especially the bizarro Bing Crosby story.
Edited 47d ago
Rated Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes 10/10
I confess a weakness for the most brilliant person in the room. People who are great at what they do, whatever their “thing” may be, are my favorites. Excellence is dead sexy, especially when it comes to intelligence and the desire to improve. For this reason, I'm interested in the character of Sherlock Holmes.<br><br>Oh, sure, he's maddening to deal with — abrupt, insensitive, and distant at times — but the skill with which he gathers and assesses information is why his character has endured since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created him in 1887. In <i>Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes</i>, Maria Konnikova examines what goes into Holmes' process, the way he can block out all other distractions in order to solve his cases, and how ordinary people can use these skills in their everyday life.<br><br>(Read the rest of my review at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2013/12/mastermind-how-to-think-like-sherlock.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Gallifrey: Lies 8/10
I enjoyed this very much and was glad to hear the first Romana in the Doctor Who world again. <spoiler>Getting an answer as to why Romana regenerated seemingly on a whim that first time, was good to hear. After long last!</spoiler>
Rated Lanark 8/10
<div> is one of the wildest, most ambitious books I've ever read. Sort of set in Glasgow, also set in the Glasgow-like city of Unthank, the story is so many things at once. It's a disillusioned youth losing grip on his sense of reality, it's a surreal Vonnegutian descent into bureaucratic hell, it's an allegory for the slum tenements destruction in '70s, but also the oncoming storm of the corporate '80s.The references and acknowledgements sections are handled in perhaps the most inventive way I've ever seen. Not everything holds up since its publishing in 1981, but I hope more dedicated people than me have written papers on this weird, perpetually interesting book.</div>
Rated The Many Daughters of Afong Moy 3/10
<div>Too many similes, too many words lifted from other people. The overall concept is interesting and understandable, but I didn't care for the the execution. In short, not for me.</div>
Rated The Master Bedroom 4/10
The trouble with The Master Bedroom is that while I found sentence after paragraph after page that made me want to start writing something new, I still found Kate rather unlikeable. She didn’t grow to any significant degree. She potters around her life, straining to feel like “herself,” though I was never quite sure who that was. Though she’s willing to vaguely complain to her friends, she expects her romantic interests to read her mind. She can’t be bothered to take charge, despite her feelings. It’s an attitude I don’t really understand. <br><br>However, Tessa Hadley’s exceptional writing and varied points of view kept me going, still eager to discover how it all worked out in the end. <br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/06/master-bedroom-by-tessa-hadley.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated The Russia Shift 8/10
Ending was just an ok payoff for an otherwise very interesting world. Good art.
Rated The Castle 8/10
<div>I might have been tempted to rate this lower, but I think I would have enjoyed this more if I'd read it instead of listened to the audiobook. That said, the way it ends made me literally say, "HA!" aloud. I knew it was an unfinished novel, but I just didn't imagine how it was unfinished would be so amusing to me. That's what much of The Castle is — grimly amusing.</div>
Wants to read The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll
Rated Doctor Who: Human Resources, Part One 10/10
This was excellent.
Rated The Haunting 10/10
<div>Even better the second time through. </div>
Rated Gigi and The Cat 7/10
<div>It wasn't love, but I liked these two stories. The characters are all very compelling. I'm interested in (finally) reading more Colette.</div>