Wants to read The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
book
Edited 47d ago
Rated The Calculating Stars 4/10
<div>I just did not vibe with this one, though the beginning of the book made me hopeful that this would be an enjoyable exploration of an alternate history space program. In this version of Earth, a meteorite has wiped out much of the east coast in 1952, and Elma, our protagonist, is the one who notices that this will be a slow-moving extinction level event, and since her husband is an engineer in the fledgling space program, she gets an audience with the people who can do something about it. I mean, sure we could also hear about how everyone is getting their food after a long winter and other apocalyptic considerations, but aside from briefly mentioning it in the beginning, she is barely troubled by it.<br><br>Her husband is always perfect to her, always supportive, represses his anger with others through grimaces and tight fists. We hear a lot about it when someone is mean to his wife. Because 1950s misogyny still abounds, but nary a thought like that passes through sweet lil Nathaniel's head. Barf. And I am of course not against sex scenes in books, but these are SO cheesy. PLEASE I do not want to hear rising rocket puns every time you two get a moment alone.<br><br>Everything else is hamfisted 2010s white feminist #Representation. Of course she's friends with a diverse group of pilots who all get such personalities and depths as .... being pilots. From other countries. They pepper in, ah, how you say, phrases from their native language. The French lady's last name is Lebourgeois. The most misogynist astronaut is named, I shit you not, STETSON PARKER. (Apparently we have Brandon Sanderson to blame for that character, according to her acknowledgements, and believe me, I will blame.) Elsa and Nathaniel are Jewish, but their last name is York, for some reason.<br><br>And just when you think, hey maybe we'll hear about some interesting space stuff, a real alternate history besides the stuff in the beginning... No! Not really! We're mostly going to hear about Elsa's struggles with ~aNxIEtY~ because poor genius mathematician and WASP pilot barfs if too many people look at her, see. Reporters are scary and therefore we must spend the majority of the book hearing about her stomach issues anytime someone mentions them.<br><br>And if you know enough about space to know why people need to be quarantined beforehand, then why are you having non-quarantined people interact with astronauts if their mission was only temporarily delayed??<br><br>Just so much bugged me, and I am baffled that it won so many awards in 2018. I will not be reading the next one in the series. Next season of For All Mankind can't come soon enough.</div>
Rated The Call 8/10
While I'd hesitate to say that <i>The Call</i> would be a universal hit for everyone, it is certainly one that keeps your mind going in between reading sessions. It is a bit of a puzzle, but a good one, and one certainly worth giving a try.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/12/call-by-yannick-murphy.html">Glorified Love Letters.</a>)
Rated The Cat Who Saved Books 7/10
<div>Though this flavor of magical realism isn't my usual literary neck of the woods, this was an enjoyable fable on the importance of books and recognizing the people who care for you.</div>
Rated The Circle 10/10
Really *good story, that last update should read.
Rated The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays 10/10
So glad to have finally read this. Though we don't share the same chronic illnesses, there was a lot here I found very familiar.
Rated The Collective 4/10
I suppose the argument could be made that <i>The Collective</i> is a story about how we can never completely know another person, and that even our closest friends are capable of surprising us. I just wanted to hear about it from someone else. If we could see the inner workings of Joshua, rather than speculate, and juxtapose those thoughts with his outward behavior, I might have enjoyed the novel more.<br><br>I understand that creative people are often not the most stable — myself being one of them — and while I sympathized with these characters' causes, I just couldn't quite connect with them. I'm certainly not sorry I read it, but especially now going back through it, I wish the story could have been framed in a more effective way. Like Eric, it has potential, but I wanted better.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-collective-by-don-lee.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated The Cows 10/10
I love everything about this little chapbook. I first read this in Electric Literature, but loved it enough to buy the standalone copy. Perhaps this will only amuse/enamor a certain type of reader, but I am that reader.
Rated The Cutting Room 8/10
<div>A really solid Glasgow mystery that isn't cop-centric, though the subject matter is definitely not for the squeamish. Since this is from 2003, there are some terms regarding trans people that do not hold up 20 years later, and we definitely didn't need an epigraph for every chapter, but otherwise I liked this.</div>
Rated The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act 8/10
I Iiked this a lot, though I suspect I'll glean even more by rereading it. Lovely art, great characters.
Rated Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror 8/10
(More of a 3.5, but...) This was stronger than the previous Twelfth Doctor novels I read, mostly because I think Mike Tucker had actually viewed some of the new episodes before writing it. While the voice/attitude of the Doctor was not <i>quite</i> right, it felt a lot closer than the previous novel-efforts. Fuller review forthcoming.
Rated The Distant Echo 8/10
<div>What a difference a murder mystery written by a woman makes! No lingering breast descriptions, no looking women up and down as if it's the correct way of operating, actual thought put into having women police officers present, but hardly any lionization of the police in general. Not everything holds up (this came out in 2003), and some character choices are a bit abrupt, but overall, a good, solid book. I kinda saw the ending coming, but hey, I DO watch a lot of this stuff on TV.</div>
Rated The Diary of River Song, Series 5 10/10
"I'm almost hoping we crash so I can regenerate and wake up next to your body!"<br><br>This Master-filled Diary of River Song set has some very funny moments. Really loved this.