Wants to read Last Night in Nuuk
book
Rated Lawnboy 6/10
Is it fair to compare one writer to another? Is the comparison ever quite right? Blurbs for <i>Lawnboy</i> compared Paul Lisicky to [a:Michael Cunningham|1432|Michael Cunningham|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1198584594p2/1432.jpg] (<i>The Hours, A Home at The End of the World</i>, etc.), and the cover even boasted a blurb from Cunningham himself. While certainly flattering, how does Lawnboy compare?<br><br>Non-straight characters? Check.<br>Coming of age/awakening type plot? Check.<br>Complicated romance? Checkity-check-check.<br><br>But couldn’t one say this about plenty of other books? Francesca Lia Block also had these things, but <i>Wheetzie Bat</i> and <i>Lawnboy</i> and <i>The Hours</i> are three entirely different books. Then again, it’s been a little while since I’ve read Cunningham’s work. Still, there is one clear way that Lisicky and Cunningham reminded me of each other: It took me the first third of the book to really get into it. That’s not to say I spent the first third uninterested; I just questioned how much I would enjoy the whole thing. Lawnboy is divided into three parts, and by Part 2, I became much more engaged in how things turned out.<br><br>I enjoyed <i>Lawnboy</i> well enough that I will keep an eye out for Lisicky’s other work. The lingering, awestruck descriptions of physicality, and the unabashed searches for affection were enough to make me want more. It doesn’t matter whether Paul Lisicky writes anything like Michael Cunningham — Let the man stand on his own.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/07/lawnboy-by-paul-lisicky.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Doctor Who: A Town Called Fortune 6/10
<div>Love Evelyn, but this story was just ok.</div>
Rated The Boxcar Librarian 7/10
<div>Okay, the research seams REALLY show during the first half of the book, but the research is good, so the "Yes, girl, we can see you searched a bunch of different words for storyteller" are not too distracting. Once the story gets cooking, the "Look at me trying hard to get it right" falls away, and we're more invested in what is happening to these characters specifically. Brianna Labuskes does seem to get a lot right about Montana, despite not being from here, and it's nice to have a story that is about books and workers' rights and not forbidden romance at the ranch. For awhile, I was more invested in Alice and Collette working together, so once we switched back to Millie's point of view, had literally forgotten who she was and needed half a page or so to remember. That's kinda on me, but also, Millie's importance doesn't come to the forefront until the end.<br><br>Also, I expected there to be more queer people? Or maybe I read certain characters that way, like Sidney, and kept waiting for the reveal and... I mean, it's fine! I was just surprised.<br><br>Still, I was invested in how this all shook out. It was a little tidy for my taste, but ymmv.</div>
Rated Doctor Who: Something Inside 8/10
Another "amnesia" story. Man, that whole "regenerating under anesthetic" thing is rough on a Time Lord! The brain worm seems like a precursor to the memory worm used on the show, and it's a little bit funny to hear things like, "It's the brain worm!" and take it seriously, but this is a pretty good story all the same.
Rated Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers 6/10
This was ok. I liked the sections dealing with taking your work and your family seriously, but when she got into tattoos being detrimental to the souls of one's children, she lost me a bit. It's a lovely tribute to her grandmothers, but not all of it is practical advice.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2012/07/06/book-review-dont-sing-at-the-table-by-adriana-trigiani/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated Emma 10/10
<div>Dare I say that this is my favorite Austen I've listened to this year? I listened to the version available through <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55873397.The_Jane_Austen_Collection_An_Audible_Original_Drama"><strong>The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama</strong></a>, narrated by Emma Thompson and other actors doing much of the dialogue, and it's great. I also think this might be one of the books for which I've only seen one adaptation — not the Gwyneth Paltrow one, but the Romola Garai/Jonny Lee Miller BBC miniseries — unless we're also counting Clueless, which I do. (Much like I also count 10 Things I Hate About You as a Taming of The Shrew adaptation, which is probably the best one for that story.)<br><br>But yes, Emma's great. Funny, knowing, and at times, cutting. Not that the other books aren't, but this one is also paired with a little less "What will people think?!" Emma considers herself an expert in most everything until she's reminded otherwise, and it's fun to read that process of her figuring out how to be a better friend.</div>
Rated Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution 8/10
<div>The updated version of this book was published in 2017, and while it ends with a sense of apprehension about what's to come in the first Trump administration, it is heartbreaking to now know how much progress has been undone in the decade since. Still, as Stryker reminds us, the arc of moral justice is long, and there is still much work to be done. <br><br>I knew some of the history talked about here, but I also learned a lot. It does not go much into Native American trans people, but otherwise covers a pretty wide American history. The writing is very straightforward, fair-minded, and readable. If you haven't seen Stryker's documentary, <em>Screaming Queens</em>, about the Compton's Cafeteria riot, I definitely recommend. I also liked the questions for the reader at the end. A lot of leftie book groups could stand to read this history.</div>
Rated Doctor Who: Myths and Legends 6/10
This is a deeply nerdy book that I enjoyed, though I did not love. It fills in some of the blanks as to how certain stories came out, or the in-between times, explaining how the Doctor might be familiar with other planets/aliens based on the Time Lords' history. There are a lot of good callbacks, but if one is not as familiar with Classic Who, this isn't going to be the book for them. I got most references, but I felt like I was maybe missing a few things. The writing is just okay, and the myths/legends themselves are mostly interesting, but this isn't going to be a book for a casual fan.
Rated The Way the World Ends 10/10
What a great (long) short story. I had recently wondered if Jess Walter had any new material out, and how great to find this.
Rated Legs Get Led Astray 8/10
Chloe Caldwell's personal essays have a way of making me dissect my own life, whether I want to or not. I say 'me' instead of 'you' (though I bet it would be true for you too), and I am disregarding the editorial 'we.' Reading Legs Get Led Astray is not an abstraction — it is her voice and my brain having a conversation through the page. And though at times what I remembered through her past made me uncomfortable, it was only because I knew the feelings to be true. I enjoyed <i>Legs Get Led Astray</i> in the same way a song can hurt so good. Love, lust and loneliness — Over and over I say that is what I want to read and what I want to write, and this book makes me want to write.<br><br>Wrapped up in music and smells and drugs and strewn pieces of clothing, Caldwell writes from a place of longing for connection, while also yearning for distraction. Release. If you gathered all the songs she mentions throughout the book, you'd have a really good playlist. She is unafraid to admit when she's been fearful, when she's been the fuck-up, or when she judged too soon. But she also loves wholeheartedly, generously, and it's endearing. None of her stories come across like, "Hey, look at me shocking my audience!" No. She is writing to someone.<br><br>Is it you?<br><br>(My full review appears on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/04/legs-get-led-astray-essays-by-chloe.html">Glorified Love Letters.</a>)
Edited 32d ago
Rated Doctor Who: The Deviant Strain 8/10
This was an excellent story that would have been great on screen too (though with later series' budgets), but the sentence fragments during moments of action were frustratingly bad.
Rated The Worlds of Big Finish 9/10
<div>I do like a Big Finish crossover and this one is better than most.</div>
Rated The Payback 10/10
<div>Set in the near-future where people who are behind on student loans risk a beatdown from the Debt Police, <em>The Payback</em> begins with a lazy shift at an LA mall and increasingly amps up the pace. I loved reading from a retail store employee's perspective. An underutilized profession in novels! More "Mall Novels," please, even if only half of this book takes place in one.<br><br>And then it all turns into a heist? One of my favorite genres? Yes, of course I loved this book.</div>
Rated Silver Nitrate 8/10
<div>This was really good. Spooky old cinema magic? Yes, please.</div>