book

Rated Doctor Who: Old Soldiers 8/10

Always nice to spend some time with the Brig.

Rated The Story of a New Name 10/10

<div>I wish I'd started on Ferrante when these books came out! I was even on the list for review copies!! AND YET.<br><br>Better late than never!<br><br>Anyway, this book was even better than MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, which I also loved.</div>

Rated The Omega Factor: Immaculate Possessions 8/10

<div>A solid, spooky tale. Now having finished this, I've listened to all the Omega Factor content from Big Finish, so I hope they make more. Here's hoping.</div>

Rated Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe 10/10

Rated The Yiddish Policemen's Union 6/10

Reading Leaves of Grass

Rated The Glass Hotel 10/10

Loved it. A great exploration of the things we tells ourselves to feel okay with our lives, the boundaries we create, and a particular sort of time in the 00s.

Rated The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 10/10

Wants to read Orlando

Rated The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself 6/10

Wants to read Hav

Finished reading Land

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 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 Birnam Wood 9/10

<div>In some ways, this book is the spiritual successor to Catton's previous novel, The Luminaries — nefarious businessmen, money to be made off elements in the ground, and the consequences of entangling yourself with the sort of person who sees you as a means to an end. However, Birnam Wood is definitely not the same book, moving us to the modern day fictional area of Thorndike, New Zealand. There are young idealists, gardeners who just want to save the world a little a time, and the willful ignorance of the always upwardly-grasping rich (and the ultra-rich taking advantage of them all). Everyone is compromised in their own way, despite their posturing and efforts to appear otherwise. You definitely won't like everyone here, but that's not the point.<br><br>If I had any complaints, the semi-abrupt ending left me with a few questions, but I also see what Catton was doing with it. When pressed against the wall, when you only have what is in front of you to work with, all your speeches and myth-making no longer matter. With the time remaining, what are you able to DO?<br><br></div>

Wants to read David Bowie: Starman

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.

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>

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 Saint Mazie