Rated De levens van Jan Six 8/10
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Rated Out of True 8/10
Despite a tendency to try and tie too neat of a bow on some of the poems' endings, I really enjoyed this collection about a life knocked off-kilter by love.<br><br>(My full review appears on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/10/out-of-true-poems-by-amy-durant.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Bernice Summerfield: Road Trip 8/10
Very much enjoyed this. Looking forward to the final installment in this particular trilogy of stories.
Reviewed The Secret Life of Groceries
<a href="https://smus.com/books/the-secret-life-of-groceries">Full review on smus.com</a>
Rated Professor Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Masquerade of Death 7/10
<div>Sort of the spiritual successor to <em>Oh No It Isn't!</em></div>
Rated Shuggie Bain 10/10
Outstanding. Truly. One of my favorite books I've read in a long while. There's so much said here about loneliness and empathy and difficulty. Glad I finally read it.
Reviewed Wild Problems
<a href="https://smus.com/books/wild-problems-by-russ-roberts">Full review on smus.com</a>
Wants to read Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them
Rated Pivot: A Novel 8/10
<div>A solid queer rom-com! It's fun, touches on the struggles of hearing loss, and also? Be still my heart — it contains competent event planners. If you're looking for something lighter to close out the year with, you'll have a good time. <br><br></div>
Wants to read Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
Rated Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Doomsday Manuscript 8/10
<div>I was slightly surprised by how much I enjoyed this, my first Benny audiobook rather than the usual Big Finish audio adventure. I wondered if the style would be different, the writing weaker somehow, but it wasn't. I've certainly heard worse audio adventures centering around Benny. I'm sure the narration from Lisa Bowerman helps, since at this point, I bet she knows this character inside and out. I'm looking forward to listening to the other audiobooks with her that I got recently.</div>
Rated Quietly Hostile: Essays 10/10
<div>Very few writers make me cry-laugh while reading, or really do anything more than that amused rapid nose-exhale we do while writing LOL, but Samantha Irby is one of them. Maybe it's because I too will overshare about the various ways my body is falling apart, but I appreciate someone being funny about all that. Also, this book features my favorite way to consume Sex & The City (or AJLT) — which is through other people making jokes about it. (I've only ever seen a few episodes, and they were the edited ones on CBS or whoever aired them in the late-'00s.)<br><br>Also, if you're not subscribed to her "who's on judge mathis today?" newsletter, get on it because that too will be the peak way to consume the show.</div>
Rated Poorly Drawn Lines: Good Ideas and Amazing Stories 6/10
Though the content somewhat becomes the same sort of joke when it's compiled into one book, I really enjoy this comic, so I didn't mind too much. The darkly funny flash fiction between sections of comics were interesting, though a mixed bag.
Rated Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Gods of the Underworld 4/10
<div>It's just... ok. Honestly, it's the first Benny story that I really was waiting to be done with. It's not without redeeming features; there's the usual humor and Lisa Bowerman does a good job with all the voices, and I was at least invested enough to finish the story, but it's definitely not among the best.</div>