Wants to read Shy
book
Rated Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair 6/10
For some reason, I didn't connect with this one as much as I did with his Cien Sonetos de Amor, but I still liked it. More thoughts soon.
Rated The Abortionist's Daughter: A Novel 6/10
I liked The Abortionist’s Daughter, and it reminded me a little bit of another book I’ve read, [b:The House of Eliott|748336|The House of Eliott|Jean Marsh|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1177989270s/748336.jpg|734478] by Jean Marsh. Though Marsh’s book is set a decade later, both she and DeCarlo delight in describing the fashions and food of their chosen time period. I’m not an expert, but it <i>feels</i> authentic, and that’s the important thing. Although there are technical and craft missteps that took me out of the story here and there, I’m still pleased that I read it, and anyone looking for a lighter take on early feminism may very well enjoy it too.<br><br>(My full review appears at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2014/11/book-review-the-abortionists-daughter-by-elisa-decarlo/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic 10/10
Excellent. Would love to see the musical.
Rated Bad Feminist 10/10
Of course I recommend this wholeheartedly.
Wants to read I Miss You When I Blink: Essays
Rated The Rise 6/10
<div>There are way too many characters stuffed into this 85 page story, and not enough dialogue tags, but after recently reading some heavier fare, a simply murder mystery procedural was still an enjoyable balm —though that does sound funny to say, considering the subject matter.</div>
Wants to read Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl
Rated The Last Repatriate 8/10
I told myself, “Just because this is a short novella does not mean you are going to stay up late and read the whole thing at once.”<br><br>… And then I read the entire book at once.<br><br>(My full review can be found at <a href="http://www.wordriot.org/archives/4480">Word Riot</a>.)
Rated Doctor Who: The Man Who Wasn't There 8/10
Rated Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution: A History from Below 6/10
<div>Candice Vadala/Candida Royalle definitely has an interesting story, but I don't quite agree with all the cultural analysis offered by Kamensky. For one thing, the book is a little too fond of Andrea Dworkin quotes. Though this <em>is</em> a look at several key moments in the "sexual revolution" and secondwave feminism, it is definitely with a heterosexual lens. And while one can't include everything and still have it also be a biography of one woman who lived through it, the book keeps a bit of distance from any queerness in Candice's life. Still, it was interesting enough to keep reading, even if the book was a bit overlong.</div>
Rated The Scarlet Letter & the House of the Seven Gables 8/10
(I only read the introductory chapters from the editor and The House of the Seven Gables, so that is what my rating is based on. I've read the Scarlet Letter, and I didn't like it, but that was over ten years ago and I was a teenager, so I'm not sure what my assessment would be today.)
Rated Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional 10/10
<div>I have followed Isaac Fitzgerald's literary career ever since he was an editor at The Rumpus back in the late 2000s, and it's been great to see where he's gone since then. A couple of these essays, I read wherever they were originally published, though long enough ago that I don't know whether or not they changed in any significant way. This is a great memoir, full of honest, insightful memories, and it's also interesting to see what was happening "behind the curtain," so to speak, during some of the times I was paying attention to his professional work. He's the same age as I am, so some of his childhood attitudes and memories felt very familiar, even though I did not grow up in the same area (and my childhood was considerably more stable). Like, of course you just get up to shit in the woods and are glad for only loose supervision! Of course every teen boy was obsessed with Fight Club and the Pixies after the movie came out! I definitely knew guys like the friends he describes.<br><br>Also, Zeitgeist sounds like an amazing bar.</div>
Rated Before You Knew My Name 7/10
<div>This is an interesting take on the "body of a young woman found murdered" mystery genre, and even though how it shakes out feels almost a <em>bit</em> coincidental, I was definitely invested enough before then. I also appreciated that our second protagonist has her reasons for pursuing an answer, and that pursuit does not focus much on teaming up with the NYPD, and it is more circumspect when it comes to "true crime" as a hobby. Her reasons aren't a hobby, but I also wish <spoiler>she had not pursued romance in the end. I get that it demonstrates she's pursuing something healthier, but I maybe would have preferred that, with the help of seeing her new friends, she was more committed to finding out who she was outside of men and the terrible things that they do.</spoiler></div>
Rated Pachinko 10/10
<div>This was absolutely as amazing as everyone said. Loved it. Glad I finally read it.</div>
Rated My Year Abroad 8/10
it was a little long and detailed, but never boring