Wants to read White Teeth
book
Rated Outlawed 8/10
<div>I wouldn't say I'm generally a "Western" fan, but if you involve women, especially queer women, I'm going to pay attention. Though the protagonist is a straight white woman, she at least has the good sense to pay attention to those around her who are different, and her naiveté becomes more a thing of the past. Set in a somewhat alternate western U.S., much parallels our present day struggles.</div>
Rated Red Clocks 10/10
<div>This is a book about choice — both the real, free choices women make, and also the choices they have to make when cornered. And what happens when the outside world keeps bearing down on women, what can they do next? Is it really possible to opt out from what is considered a "respectable" mode of womanhood? <br><br>Excellent characters, an interesting and inventive way of weaving their narratives together, and a real sense of place. Definitely recommend. </div>
Rated The Mysteries of Pittsburgh 10/10
This is probably my all-time favorite book. It's lovely, heartbreaking and just about perfect. Chabon's <i>The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay</i> is certainly a great book and deserving of its accolades, but this is the one that I revisit repeatedly.
Rated West of Sunset 10/10
I know a little bit about Fitzgerald’s biography, but it is more about his early career. Because of that, I wasn’t reading West of Sunset like a fact-checker looking to “catch” Stewart O’Nan making an error. Yes, it’s interesting that this story is based on a true one, with classic movie stars popping up and writers like Hemingway giving him shit about his output, but it’s a good book apart from all that. This is still a story about restlessness and the yearning for success, and it’s about trying to find camaraderie wherever one can.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2015/02/book-review-west-of-sunset-by-stewart-onan/">at Persephone Magazine.</a>)
Rated Doctor Who: Earthworld 6/10
Second time through. This is an odd choice as a selection for 50th anniversary reprint, as there's a lot of context from other books involved. Still, this a bonkers story that's pretty enjoyable and it's clear that Fitz and the Doctor should have something going on.
Wants to read Suburban 100: Selected Lyrics
Rated The Omega Factor 8/10
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this, with no prior knowledge of the show. Spooky, very page-turner. Glad I gave it a go.
Rated Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks 9/10
<div>Honestly more of a 4.5, given that a couple of the stories were a little less of interest for me personally, but Patrick Radden Keefe can make any subject worth reading anyway. Several times, my jaw literally fell open at some reveal or another. The first story about the wine fraudster, and the last about Anthony Bourdain, I'd already read when they were first published, but I enjoyed reading them again.</div>
Rated The Odyssey 8/10
<div>A very readable and compelling translation. I particularly appreciated the notes and analysis before jumping into the story itself.</div>
Rated The Death of Bees 10/10
<div>This was an ARC I received almost a decade ago, and to my regret, I hadn't read it until now. What a great book. Grim in some respects, but also very funny in others. Everyone is a fully realized character and full of their own loneliness that manifests in different ways, but there's also some nice oases of camaraderie too.</div>
Rated I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women at Factory Records 9/10
<div>Though the book starts out with a somewhat Feminism 101-style justification for its own existence, I'm willing to forgive that because I know it has to be there. Music bros will always want to wheedle away at a woman who dares to assert authority. After that, the book becomes a compelling oral history of a unique time in Manchester music and art history.<br><br>You've perhaps heard the legends about the bands involved (Joy Division/New Order, Happy Mondays), the go-big-or-go-home spending habits (1200 person club capacity in a weird building! expensive office furniture!), and seen or read other histories documenting the post-punk and Madchester years. That prior knowledge is helpful here, but this book isn't meant to be a definitive biography. Instead, this group of voices — musicians, managers, club staff, designers, artists, etc. — aim to fill in the gaps. Bands, music journalism, and music-as-business in that era, as we know, were (and still are!) male-dominated affairs, and even though Factory was better than most of its time, it still had its shortcomings. Not to mention, how Factory has been spoken about since did not always provide a full picture of how the women kept the show running while the men would often prioritize being "personalities."<br><br>Still, this isn't an act of revenge. For the most part, the women speak warmly about the others they worked with, and they all seem to give a pretty fair accounting of what it was like to live through Factory's various stages of existence. They speak honestly about the challenges, but not all of those challenges were gender-related. There are, of course, several funny stories. Factory Records, The Haçienda, and everything else that these women helped create was something really special. It gave us a lot of great art, and I'm glad that some of the story was recorded here.</div>
Wants to read Drinking with Men: A Memoir
Rated Doctor Who: The Skull Of Sobek 6/10
This one is just okay, but I so enjoy listening to Paul McGann's voice that I'm going to round up to three stars. It's worth listening to for a sense of continuity as one goes through the Lucy stories, but it's not AMAZING.
Wants to read Citizen: An American Lyric
Wants to read Everything I Never Told You
Rated Doctor Who: Thicker Than Water 8/10
<div>I accidentally listened to this WITHOUT having heard Arrangements For War first, so I was a bit like "....? I seem to have missed some things," but it was still a good story all the same. I'll go back and listen to part 1 now. I always enjoy Evelyn as a companion though.</div>
Rated The Middlesteins 10/10
I’ve followed Jami Attenberg’s work online for several years now, but I must admit that this is the first novel of hers that I’ve read (a gap I plan to remedy soon). The Middlesteins is, so far, also her most successful book, and for good reason. She has written a family saga that feels very grounded in reality, centered around matriarch Edie. Edie cannot stop eating or obsessing over food, and it is severely affecting her health. Her husband, Richard, after decades of marriage, leaves her, and now her adult children are wondering how they can care for her and process their parents’ split, all while managing their own complicated lives.<br><br>One of the things I loved about the book is that Attenberg does not write caricatures. In the hands of lesser writers, a character like Edie could have dissolved into a one-dimensional stereotype, but she is a whole person full of humor and love. The other family members, with all their quirks and problems, receive the same honest treatment. Though the plot deals with serious subject matter, it’s also a very funny book.<br><br>(This review also appeared on <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2013/08/22/5-book-recommendations-for-your-reading-pleasure/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)