book

Rated Doolittle 6/10

Wants to read Dust

Rated Frankenstein: By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley : Illustrated & Unabridged 8/10

A fascinating book to read for the first time, because it has an enormous pop-cultural footprint that is in many ways independent of and different from the book itself. Basically all of horror and science fiction is downstream of <i>Frankenstein</i>; the book has an interesting structure with embedded narratives and flows quickly despite the elaborate, heightened language of its era. It's composed of a couple of different horror-movie nightmare scenarios. The first, affecting the doctor, is the classic "you've done something terribly wrong and it's putting you and people you love in danger"; the second, narrated by the erudite creature himself, is "you're thrust into a world where everyone seems to hate and fear you and you're not sure why." The first-person narrative style foregrounds the subjective emotional experience, the suspense and grief and self-loathing, rather than the plot, which is actually pretty simple. Although it's about big questions and themes, takes place over a big geographical scale, and is considered a monumental work, it's very intimate, with very few named characters. It's also much more horror-y and not very science-y; absent is the focus on the "how" you usually get in subsequent sci-fi (I was surprised, for instance, that there's no *process* described, and no lightning-and-dials-and-switches "it's alive!" scene). It remains a rewarding read two centuries after it was written.

Wants to read Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

Rated A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons 6/10

<div>This was fine, but it wasn't love. The writing style is a bit (forgive me) <em>flowery</em> for my taste, and Saffron is written as though she is very smart, and she mostly is, but she's also painfully naive. Also, she and this Alexander dude should just be buds, what with her "housemate who does housewife duties" bestie pining away at home. Maybe in future books there is a queer awakening for everyone involved? One can dream! But I am unlikely to continue on with the series. This might be more the sort of thing I'd watch instead of read.</div>

Wants to read Happiness

Rated The Spirit of Aikido 8/10

not the best writing but a good quick intro to the history and principles/practices of aikido.

Reading Numbercaste

Rated NW 8/10

A story-suite more than a novel - extremely vividly drawn, emotionally rich as Smith’s books always are, doesn’t quite all fall together as intended. As usual, her focus is on the lived experience of racial, cultural and class divides among a diverse cast of Londoners. Not as gripping as White Teeth or Swing Time but if you liked those you’ll appreciate this one.

Wants to read The Trial: A New Translation Based on the Restored Text by Franz Kafka published by Schocken

Rated The Wife and Other Stories 8/10

I think I liked "About Love" and the title story the best, but I suspect I may be more of a Bulgakov gal.

Rated The Invaders 6/10

Well-done, and nicely balanced on the line between literary-MFA-ish and soapy, but doesn't quite land as hard as it wants to. It's told from the perspective of two unhappy people in a wealthy Connecticut town - a lonely second wife and her college-age stepson. The writing is skillful and there's a lot of plot to stay engaged with but it seems a little self-focused and small-scale, and it's definitely a bummer.

Finished reading The Road to Roswell

Finished reading Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

Rated The Enthusiast 8/10

Clever, breezy, thoroughly enjoyable comic novel about the interlocking misadventures of an undercover marketing agent. A pleasant surprise - I bought the book to support the writer of a blog I like but it was a great read on its own merits.

Wants to read The Book of Pot

Wants to read 300 Arguments: Essays

Rated Speak 6/10

Beautifully written sci-fi-ish novel about artificial intelligence, told in six separate storylines that don't quite hang together and vary in interest level. Thought-provoking and a quick read.

Rated A Psalm for the Wild-Built 6/10

<div>I think I would enjoy watching rather than reading this. I liked the premise, but the writing style wasn't always for me. Ymmv</div>

Finished reading Orbital

Wants to read Ceremony

Wants to read Off the Map

Rated A Game of Thrones 8/10

Rated Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity 8/10

Very striking - journalism that reads like a novel. A few years in the lives of families living at the edge of subsistence in a slum in Mumbai, right behind the airport and luxury hotels that symbolize a rising global upper class. Boo, the author, mostly removes herself from the story and narrates from the perspectives of her protagonists as they deal with poverty, corruption, religious conflict and their efforts to carve out a space for themselves. Beautifully done.

Rated The Inferno of Dante Alighieri 10/10

Feels weird to give a classic of the Western canon a star rating, but it’s my first time with it and I think the translation and commentary Ciardi offers is very good.<br/><br/>An inspiration to petty people everywhere: you can create something enduring, resonant, widely beloved and taken seriously for centuries and still have it basically be a burn book to settle a bunch of esoteric political and personal scores. <br/><br/>It’s not going to be a surprise that so much of Western culture is downstream of this, from religious imagery to fantasy literature to heavy metal lyrics, but it’s interesting as always to be able to see the well-worn references and images in their original context. And if there’s anything I want to explore in more detail I certainly don’t need to wonder if there’s an explanatory essay I could read. There’s seven centuries’ worth! <br/><br/>Glad I read this, and it’s more engaging and less chore-y than I expected.