Rated Doctor Who: Storm Warning 8/10
I'm acclimating to listening to audio dramas, but I enjoyed this a lot.
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Rated Doctor Who: Human Resources, Part One 10/10
This was excellent.
Rated Amora: Stories 8/10
<div>Solid collection of short fiction with some beautiful writing.</div>
Wants to read I Married You for Happiness
Rated The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love 8/10
<div>I read the first edition of this, so some of the people cited do not hold up to 2023, but I will assume any quibbles I have are addressed in the new second edition. I also wish it touched a bit more on disability. Still, there's lots of good thoughts here, whether you're just beginning your journey to body acceptance or you're a semi-jaded know-it-all who still needs to have a word with yourself here and there. Worth a read. </div>
Wants to read The Chitlin' Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll
Rated Doctor Who: Shada 10/10
I've read the book, watched the Eighth Doctor animated version of this, and now finally listened to the CD audio adventure of Shada, so I guess this means it's one of my favorites. It's a very good Doctor Who story from Douglas Adams (yes, THAT Douglas Adams, for those of you who were unfamiliar with his having written for the show) featuring Romana II and K9, and if they are indeed going to make an animated Fourth Doctor version, I expect I'll be into that one too.
Rated The Crow Road 6/10
<div>It's definitely not a bad book, but it takes until the second half to really kick off at all, plot-wise. I definitely wanted to know how it all shook out, but there are a lot of, let's say, privileged people problems. And one truly cringe-worthy sex scene at the end that involves Morse code. Yes, really</div>
Wants to read I'm Not Saying, I'm Just Saying
Wants to read The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Rated The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris 8/10
John Baxter effortlessly merges the stories of his walking tours with bits of additional history, as well as stories from his own life, and what the stories mean to him. He makes you want to binge out on all the books and art he mentions, followed by booking plane tickets. In short, he is a very good guide.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/11/most-beautiful-walk-in-world-pedestrian.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Clever Girl 10/10
What I like about Tessa Hadley’s writing is its detail. She describes scents particularly well — the top of a small child’s head, a lover’s neck, the cool air of early evening. Calling these different stages of Stella’s life “snapshots” is particularly apt because one can stare at a photo and see the texture of a chair, the way the light reflects off a person’s hair. She somehow manages to convey all the lust, loneliness, longing brimming in the woman’s heart through the use of a few succinct phrases. Writing rarely feels more true than when I’m reading her books.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2015/03/3-book-recommendations-illuminating-womens-lives/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated Mothertrucker: Finding Joy on the Loneliest Road in America 7/10
<div>Sometimes the writing was a little too romantic for my personal taste, but I think a lot of women will find value in this memoir. It's not only about finding your own way, but also about the broader difficulties American women face.</div>
Rated So You Know It's Me 10/10
Oliu’s missed connections could be any person out there, a person receiving attention from someone who over-thinks a little too often and sometimes wonders if he remembers too much. The tone of each essay is slightly obsessive and sad, yet beautiful in their moments of sincere flattery. I enjoyed the book a lot, and though I appreciate the structure, I thought by the end, <i>Ah, just let us have one more…</i><br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://www.wordriot.org/archives/3978">Word Riot</a>.)
Wants to read The Secret Lives of People in Love
Wants to read Creativity: The Perfect Crime
Rated Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook 8/10
Detailing portions of his life after <i>Kitchen Confidential</i> (and explaining some of what he said in that previous book), he talks about his transition from “the bad old days” of drug addiction into the life of a happily married (and happily employed ) man with a small child. “Life does not suck,” he regularly says.<br><br><blockquote>Like a lot of things in my life, there’s no making it prettier just ‘cause time’s passed. It happened. It was bad. There it is.</blockquote><br><br><br>In some ways he glosses over his personal life because, while it may inform where he is today, what he’d rather talk about is food and the people who make it, review it, and influence how we consume it. With time passed, he goes into more detail about his issues with Food Network and their culture of mediocrity. <br><br>And it’s true — six years ago, I would gladly laze about and watch Sara Moulton chop an onion. Two Fat Ladies? Hilarious. That network partially taught me how to cook. But now? There are so many other things I’d rather do than watch Sandra Lee or Guy Fieri massacre another dish. The Neeleys make my skin crawl, as does Paula Deen’s spackled-on make-up (though she seems like a perfectly nice lady). I will admit to catching Iron Chef America and occasional episodes of Ace of Cakes, but that’s about it. In some cases it’s not just mediocre, but downright terrible, disguised in shinier packaging. Somehow, it still sells. Like Mr. Bourdain, I find it puzzling and disappointing.<br><br>The book is not all criticism, however. Bourdain offers plenty of praise for the people he sees as heroes in the food world. From big names like Eric Ripert and Mario Batali, who regularly give to charity, to LA Weekly food writer Jonathan Gold, who consistently writes well and with respect. He talks to rising chef David Chang about his various neuroses and aspirations, and finds out just what happens after you lose on Top Chef.<br><br>It’s a good book, a funny book, and one that anyone even remotely interested in food should read.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/07/medium-raw-by-anthony-bourdain.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Doctor Who: Home Truths 10/10
Really excellent start to this storyline.
Rated Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group 6/10
What a delightfully odd little book this is. Presented as an old manual mixed with a narrator that's rather Lemony-Snicket-meets-Ted-Wilson, Supernatural Strategies For Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group manages to be just as funny as it is strange. Throughout, Ian F. Svenious injects enough knowing truth that anyone who has ever involved themselves with musicians will recognize.<br><br>(My full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2013/07/supernatural-strategies-for-making-rock.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)