Rated The War Master: Future Phantoms 8/10
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Rated There There 10/10
Easily one of my favorite books I've read this year.
Rated The Night Circus 8/10
One criticism I have read about The Night Circus is that it relies too much on set description at the expense of action, and I suppose I can see that point, but I rather enjoyed all the scene-laying. If we are to believe in the fantastic beauty of this place, then we need to be able to see it. The plot, especially the challenge, is a slow-burner, but I didn't mind.<br><br>Part of what makes the book so effective is that it taps into our desires for something greater than ourselves, and our yearning for moments of magic. The circus provides an escape for all who visit it, a place where they have no responsibilities other than to enjoy the experience. Because there are different tents instead of one big tent with different scheduled events, the guests are invited to choose their own path. The circus does not dictate what one should find pleasurable, or when one should see it. A person can spend all night in one tent, or they can try to visit as many as they can before sunrise. It's a lovely idea.<br><br>(My full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-night-circus-by-erin-morgenstern.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish 10/10
What a remarkable book, not only just for the time in which David Rakoff wrote it before his death, but for the sheer feat of its poetic structure. This reminded me of Simon Van Booy's Everything Beautiful Began After, which I read last year.
Rated Late in the Day 4/10
I just couldn't get into this, which is unusual because I normally love Tessa Hadley's work. Her sentences are full of great details, and I wanted to like this, but I just couldn't bring myself to fully care.
Rated Call Me Master: Inner Demons 8/10
<div>I don't know that it was instant LOVE like I had with the War Master, Missy, or the Roberts Master series, but I liked this quite a bit, and I'm glad it's finally out, since it was announced so long ago. Sacha Dhawan's Master is an interesting version of the character, and I'm interested in further stories with him.</div>
Rated If a Lion Could Talk 8/10
It took me all of the first half to really get into it, but I ended up enjoying this a lot.
Edited 47d ago
Rated The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes 8/10
<div>A useful cookbook that is full of the type of recipes I make frequently. Think of this as a more science-y version of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30753841.Salt__Fat__Acid__Heat_Mastering_the_Elements_of_Good_Cooking">Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking</a> (which is listed as a source consulted, among many). I'll admit that my dusty knowledge of biology was helpful for some of the terms used, but I did sometimes glaze over a bit. Your mileage may vary. In general though, I'd love to have a print copy of this book at some point (I checked out an ebook), as I suspect the layout is as beautiful as the photographs contained within.</div>
Edited 47d ago
Rated Doctor Who: Deep Time 8/10
Pretty good! Still doing that weird thing where the Doctor is commenting on Clara's appearance (stop that, writers), but the story is good and the characters don't become one big indistinguishable blob of support staff. <br><br>The quality of Doctor Who novels varies so much, but they're honestly like candy. You're not looking for great literary achievement -- you're looking for an author to get the voices right and to have a plot that makes you want to keep reading. That's it. This does that.
Wants to read I Want to Burn This Place Down: Essays
Rated The Bone Clocks 10/10
This book isn't going to be for everybody, and it's hella long, but what a feat this is to dream up and execute. In a lesser writer's hands, this would be a convoluted POS. Maybe if David Mitchell wasn't already one of my favorite authors, I might have been tempted to rate this 4 stars instead, but the farther I read, the more I could see how everything connected. I like the shout-outs to his other books contained within as well.
Wants to read Vegetable Simple: A Cookbook
Rated Ghost Stories of an Antiquary 9/10
<div>Very much enjoying my first time reading M.R. James. Perfect reading for October (or Christmas).</div>
Rated NANO Fiction, Volume 6 Number 2 6/10
Rated The Morningside 10/10
<div>What a great book. I've never read a Téa Obreht novel before (somewhere in my memory, I've come across a short story), and I'm glad I finally got to her.<br><br>THE MORNINGSIDE concerns a mother and daughter who live in the last upscale apartment building on their island, where the mother works as the super. They live in a not so distant future, where the tides are ever-encroaching and natural disasters cause population displacement around the world. The daughter does not know much about her past, or her mother's, but the unusual people around their building mix in her head with half-known folk tales, which sets a series of too-real events in motion. Is magic involved? Or is it a girl's magical thinking? What does everyday environmental trauma do to a person? How might we feel in control? But what if...?<br><br>There's a lot to consider here, and I like that the book does not offer easy resolutions. Well worth the read.</div><div><br></div>
Rated Emma 10/10
<div>Dare I say that this is my favorite Austen I've listened to this year? I listened to the version available through <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55873397.The_Jane_Austen_Collection_An_Audible_Original_Drama"><strong>The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama</strong></a>, narrated by Emma Thompson and other actors doing much of the dialogue, and it's great. I also think this might be one of the books for which I've only seen one adaptation — not the Gwyneth Paltrow one, but the Romola Garai/Jonny Lee Miller BBC miniseries — unless we're also counting Clueless, which I do. (Much like I also count 10 Things I Hate About You as a Taming of The Shrew adaptation, which is probably the best one for that story.)<br><br>But yes, Emma's great. Funny, knowing, and at times, cutting. Not that the other books aren't, but this one is also paired with a little less "What will people think?!" Emma considers herself an expert in most everything until she's reminded otherwise, and it's fun to read that process of her figuring out how to be a better friend.</div>
Rated Zone One 10/10
Colson Whitehead has written a fantastic, expertly-written story that occurs over just three days, and I think it's worth reading more than once to really catch everything he has happening beneath the surface. It is easily one of the best books I've read this year.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/05/zone-one-by-colson-whitehead.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Torchwood: The Green Life 9/10
<div>I like it when older Jo pops up in things, and pairing her with Captain Jack worked well. And I gotta say, just hearing about the giant maggots instead of seeing them this time was preferable, ha.</div>