Rated Babel 9/10
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Rated A Mist of Prophesies 4/10
Edited 32d ago
Rated Boo: The Life of the World's Cutest Dog 8/10
Short and adorable. Bought this when the e-book went on sale, and both the kids and I enjoyed it.
Rated Want 5/10
<div>You know how I know this book is British? Income bracket is apparently a stat we need to know about these anonymous writers. The British class system: always lurking nearby.<br><br>Sorry to these women, but this was sometimes like listening to another person's dream. It doesn't take away from the meaning it has for the storyteller, but I'm kinda glazing over a bit. I skimmed some of the entries. There are a lot of "straight" women in this book who maybe need to have a harder think about their own desires. Also, I wish many of them would quit hating their bodies so much. And dump some of those dudes. At times, the fantasies felt too similar to each other, which is fine if that's what you like, variations on a theme, but as a collective reading experience, I didn't love it.<br><br>That said, just because I didn't love this doesn't mean it won't be revelatory to someone else. Fantasies are personal, of course, and this is definitely a book for the phrase "your mileage may vary."<br><br>Gillian Anderson's involvement is what made me pick up the book, and her introductions to each section do have some insights. Still, glad this was only a library book.</div>
Rated Torchwood: Serenity 8/10
Very much enjoyed this. I'm a sucker for "We have to go undercover as a couple and pretend to be normal" type stories. Also, John Barrowman seems better at this audio adventure than he was in the earlier ones I listened to. Less stilted. Maybe because he wasn't recording it separately? But Gareth David-Lloyd is always excellent in these stories. I need to eventually catch up on the rest of the Torchwood audio adventures.
Rated Gender Queer: A Memoir 9/10
<div>Finally read this excellent graphic novel that has been at the center of so much book censorship. The memoir very clearly demonstrates one person's struggles with gender dysphoria, the power of having representation, and a vocabulary to describe oneself. It's a shame, to put it mildly, that some people don't want young people to have that information and secure sense of self. I wouldn't 100% say this is a book for younger teenagers (ymmv; I'd have been fine with it), but 16+? Definitely a good book, especially for the young adults who NEED to see that being genderqueer and/or asexual is a perfectly fine and normal way to be. Seeing the support Kobabe's family provides is great.<br><br>Some NOT-young adults need this education too. It's as much a memoir as it is informational, and Kobabe's artwork is wonderful.<br><br>This was published in 2019, and alas, the Harry Potter and Neil Gaiman references certainly do NOT hold up, but that is not the fault of the author.</div><div><br></div>
Rated The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories 4/10
A resounding "This is fine, I guess."<br><br>Her speech/essay at the beginning of the book is more or less a very good commencement speech. You'd be pleased to have it at your graduation. As an "amazing" essay? It's nothing extraordinary, though the idea of "The Opposite of Loneliness" is very lovely.<br><br>Keegan has a preoccupation with mentioning people's weight (fat is rarely portrayed as positive), or pressing her/her characters' foreheads/faces against each other (AKA... a writer-tic that one might not notice until all the pieces are presented as a whole), and maybe I'm just too far away from college to be excited by someone who, as the introduction says, "writes like she's 20." The ideas of her being jealous of others, while completely natural, kind of made me laugh a bit because Oh okay, you who has an internship at The New Yorker, lived on Cape Cod, and otherwise had all these interesting opportunities in life, you're somehow lacking? Sure. Okay. Fine. <br><br>I'm sure Keegan was a lovely person, with a lot of potential to do amazing things down the line. Her story is indeed tragic, but I remember being more moved by the essay about her from a friend on Buzzfeed Books, when this came out.<br><br>So, this is book is fine, but like Keegan said herself, there's always a better thing.
Rated It Chooses You 10/10
Not to get too heavy-handed with the metaphor, but despite a stack of books at home, this book chose me.<br><br>(My full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/05/it-chooses-you-by-miranda-july.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated The Empusium 8/10
<div>It was really only in the second half where I fully signed on to this book, but I think I would have gotten more out of it if I were more familiar with The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. While reading, I would occasionally understand that some details were significant somehow, but would not know the specifics. That's on me, since otherwise, The Empusium is compellingly written. Loved the ending.</div>
Rated Doctor Who: Last of the Gaderene 8/10
(Well, if I'm honest, it might be between 3 and 4 stars, but I'm a hopeless Who apologist, so I'm rounding up.)<br><br>This Third Doctor story, despite its problems (so many, many adverbs and characters' POV), feels very much in the spirit of Jon Pertwee’s time on the show. It’s interesting to see Mark Gatiss at an earlier writing stage, and it’s to our viewing benefit that he’s progressed so well. I still recommend <i>Last of The Gaderene</i> to fans of the show, and I’m hoping to further expand my knowledge of the Doctor’s literary universe.<br><br>Catch my full review over at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2014/01/doctor-who-last-of-gaderene-by-mark.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.
Rated How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights 8/10
What I like about this book is that while it has certain indie-hippie undertones, it doesn’t make any judgements one way or another about what the ‘best’ way to publish is. Self-publish, find an agent, make your own zines, start a blog, go for the big publishing house deal — do whatever works for you. “Be as crazy as you are,” she says.<br><br>Though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to people just beginning the writing process — better to get books that concentrate more on craft for that — but for anyone who has waded in a little or anyone who feels they might be stuck in a success-rut, it can’t hurt to give some of this advice a try.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-become-famous-writer-before.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>)
Rated Between the Bridge and the River 8/10
Wants to read Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures
Rated Into This World 8/10
I read from page 40-ish until the end in one evening, despite the fact that I should've gone to sleep. So that should give you an indicator of its appeal.<br><br>Read my full review at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/05/into-this-world-by-sybil-baker.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.
Wants to read Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands