book

Finished reading Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel

Wants to read The Listeners

Rated A Master of Djinn 8/10

<div>While sometimes the writing style wasn't for me — a Me problem, as I like my descriptions unfussy — I was still very much invested in this book. I liked the alternate-history-Cairo setting, where magic is real and its particulars legislated on a variety of planes, and the characters were all very distinct from one another. I'm interested in reading more, which works out nicely, since I have a novella set in this universe too.</div>

Finished reading Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law

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>

Rated How Did You Get This Number: Essays 6/10

Very nicely written, and Crosley is charming and a great observer, though these essays don't quite close the deal for themselves - you might be left asking "so what?" A quick and pleasant read.

Wants to read Miniatures

Wants to read The Goblin Emperor

Rated Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions 8/10

A really tough and important book that you can read in a few sittings. Luiselli, a writer from Mexico, worked as a translator for kids facing immigration courts, and she structures this book around the interview questionnaire. It's very high-stakes and upsetting, a look at just a few of the tens of thousands of stories of children and teens making the long journey from Central America. It's an indictment that doesn't offer many answers, and it's important to point out that it takes place during the Obama era, not the Trump era. Luiselli lays out the case, simply, that the system by which we rush these kids through the process of deciding whether they stay or go is deeply inhumane. Everyone should read it because it really cuts away all of the abstraction and puts in front of you what this issue is really about.

Wants to read The Unknowns by Gabriel Roth

Rated Still Here 6/10

A generally engaging multi-character-viewpoint story about Russian immigrants in New York and their relationships to each other, with a special focus on the technology that mediates those relationships. Well-drawn if not especially compelling; it's more of a slice-of-life than an arc, but it's a good solid read about convincing characters.

Rated A Dead Djinn in Cairo 9/10

<div>I really enjoy all the stories set in this alternate Cairo universe.&nbsp;</div>

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.

Rated The coup / John Updike 6/10

Hmmm. Enjoyable, but ultimately kind of slight; beautifully written but too in love with its own language; too queasy-making about race and touched through with whatever the Africa version of "Orientalism" would be. Recommended with reservations - I haven't read much Updike but have to assume this is regarded as a lesser work.

Finished reading In My Kitchen: A Collection of New and Favorite Vegetarian Recipes

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