Wants to read Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 1
book
Finished reading We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
Wants to read A Line Made By Walking
Edited 48d ago
Wants to read An Education: The Shooting Script
Rated 1983 8/10
<div>With this novel loosely inspired by his own childhood, Tom Cox examines the nature of memory and community in an unusual way. What at first seems like a straightforward story about a kid's perspective on his school, family, and friends —followed by his parents' remembrance of the time— soon turns into an exploration far beyond what anyone might expect. And it's funny too! I really respect how Cox is always trying new things with his writing and each new book has some weird little avenue he's interested in. Even if not everything resonates with me every time, I'm always game to see where he goes.</div>
Edited 48d ago
Rated A Common Pornography: A Memoir 8/10
Everyone has stories, brief anecdotes relating to our history. Our memories are at once humorous and heartbreaking, some retold again and again, some kept private forever. In <i>A Common Pornography</i>, Kevin Sampsell gathers his stories and assembles them into an atypical memoir, and the results are both intimate and intriguing.<br><br>Sampsell’s descriptions of the people he encounters are perfect in their spareness. He has a way of making a person clear within two sentences that might take other writers two paragraphs. I also appreciate his candor when it comes to more private moments, moments most people would hesitate to share at all, but still had an effect on their lives. From near-wordless encounters with other men to nights spent alone, he details his search for affection in a very real, honest way.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/04/common-pornography-by-kevin-sampsell.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Edited 48d ago
Rated Ancillary Justice 8/10
<div>I really liked this and will probably read the second one at some point, but I hope I don't have to read about anyone's lips having "quirked" again. </div>
Rated Annihilation 8/10
<div>I am quite late to the party with this book, but I enjoyed it enough to get the next installment from the library. I listened to the audiobook, which leant itself well to the diary style in which it was written.</div>
Wants to read A Queer History of the United States
Edited 48d ago
Rated The War Master: The Master of Callous 8/10
Properly unsettling, as a good Master story should be, though I do wish there was a bit more of him in it.
Rated A Vision of Fire 6/10
More of a 3.5. It's pretty good, and I'd be interested to see where the story goes, but something about the end of this one seemed rushed. Maybe it'll make more sense when partnered with the second book. I wasn't in love, but I liked it fine.
Edited 48d ago
Rated Absolution 9/10
<div>My favorite of the series. I laughed quite a bit, despite all the body horror at certain points.</div>
Edited 48d ago
I would not say that I'm a rodeo fan, but I do live in a place where it happens, so I am loosely aware of what it entails. That said, a good writer (or writers, in this case) can make any subject compelling, and that's what Wolman and Smith have done here. I didn't know anything about Hawaiian paniolos/cowboys, and it was interesting to read about how they are different from their continental counterparts, plus the related history of the islands that created the job. The book is also a fair bit about Wyoming and their Frontier Days festival, where the paniolos would eventually compete, and I appreciated that the authors did not gloss over the difficult history of the displaced native tribes.
Edited 48d ago
Rated Animals of the Ocean, in Particular the Giant Squid 8/10
Watch out for the terrible beak just waiting to rip you apart.
Rated Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking 6/10
Small book, big ideas and questions to ponder: What drives us to do what we love? What gives us the confidence to keep going and what keeps us from starting at all? First printed in 1993, one might expect some of the concepts raised in this book to be slightly out of date, but in the two and a half hours it took me to finish it, I never once felt like I was reading a sixteen-year-old observation, nor did I feel any of it crossed the line into preachy self-help nonsense.<br><br>(Full review at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/art-fear-by-david-bayles-and-ted-orland.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>
Rated Broken Ground 7/10
<div>This one's not quite as good as some of the others, but it was fine. The research seams show too much, and I wasn't as invested in the case.</div>
Rated ATA Girl 2 10/10
<div>Maybe it's because this set has only has 2 instead of 4 stories — or maybe because I was better acquainted with some of the characters, having just listened to the first set — but everyone was much easier to differentiate this time around. Loose ends from the previous installment are wrapped up, the story content remains strong, and I enjoyed listening a lot.</div><div><br></div>
Rated Barnyard Battle 7/10
<div>Read this (possibly a reread?) for a "Childhood Fav" category in a reading challenge I've been doing this year. I read every Sweet Valley book I could get my hands on in elementary school, and these characters still felt quite familiar 30+ years later. Lila sucks as a friend! The boys have early 90s misogynistic ideas! Jessica is a bit of a brat! I had also completely forgotten they have an older brother.<br><br>Read it all in about 90 minutes. Not a terrible way to spend an evening. </div>
Rated BASQUIAT, A QUICK KILLING IN ART, BY PHOEBE HOBAN 6/10
While I enjoyed some of the art gossip and New York history, this book too often describes Basquiat as an exotic, wild 'other.' Some quotes about him are straight up racist, and the book does little to analyze that. <br><br>Overall, just ok.
Rated Auberon 8/10
<div>Okay! I started out thinking this book was post-book 6, then realized it wasn't, put it down, read Book 7, then read this and realized it's post Book 8, BUT I don't think I've spoiled myself on anything that didn't seem like it was coming anyway, plotwise. It's separate enough of a story. Outside of all that, I very much found this interesting and I'm curious to see how it relates to Book 8, once I get on that.</div>
Rated Basic Witches: How to Summon Success, Banish Drama, and Raise Hell with Your Coven 6/10
This is like CBT and mindfulness under the label of witchcraft, which is fine, but I don't think I was the right audience. Some of the book will sound very familiar to anyone who has spent time in therapy, and there's value in having that information in one spot. If you're still in your 20s and/or still thinking a lot about "what does everyone else think?" and want to start relinquishing that, you'll get something out of it. If you're almost 40, were hoping to read more history paired with practice, and are not feeling particularly insecure when it comes to some of these topics... well, your mileage may vary.