Wants to read Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys
book
Rated Unfollowers 8/10
<div>Having female characters make unlikable decisions, as well as adding depth to complex male friendships — without resorting to caricature for anyone — is something I will always be a fan of. The subjects of doubt and colonization are handled in a way that seems believable for these characters, though some of the supporting cast seems to be there only so our main people can see their own reflection. Which is realistic in its own way, but not always necessary. I also wished some of the queerness in certain characters was less danced around, even for characters who don't quite know what to do with such feelings. Still, there's a lot about this book I liked.</div>
Rated Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome 8/10
<div>I'd had this novella kicking around on my kindle for a long time, and it did make me interested in the novel that follows. Weirdly, I've followed John Scalzi on Twitter and now Bluesky, but I hadn't actually read anything by him until now. He writes about a pandemic in a way that we now know, 10 years after this came out, is not unlike how people would behave in real life. </div>
Rated Villager 7/10
<div>I think I enjoy Tom Cox's non-fiction more than his fiction, but I still liked this weird, sprawling look at the fictional (though Dartmoor-inspired) area of Underhill. He jumps around in time through past centuries and our future, occasionally dips into both folk-horror and music journalism, and we meet a lot of different voices along the way. Some I liked more than others, but I respect the scope and strangeness of it all. I'll always want to read what he does next.</div>
Rated We Travel the Spaceways 10/10
<div>A really excellent short story, and definitely worth listening to the audio version.</div>
Interesting reading. Though not as personally satisfying as <i>Why We Need Love</i>, <i>Why We Fight</i> is still a thought-provoking counterpoint and even the words from thousands of years ago still hold their relevance in our current culture.<br><br>(Full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-we-fight-by-simon-van-booy.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Rated Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race 8/10
I recommend this to nearly every white person, even if they think they know what's what when it comes to racism, both overt and invisibly structural. Some of her past moments made me cringe, and some moments made me think more deeply, though there were a few places where I wish she had explored more deeply herself. A very good book.
Rated Whiteout Volume 1 – The Definitive Edition 8/10
Wants to read What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher
Wants to read Kingsman: The Secret Service
Edited 86d ago
Rated The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes 8/10
<div>A useful cookbook that is full of the type of recipes I make frequently. Think of this as a more science-y version of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30753841.Salt__Fat__Acid__Heat_Mastering_the_Elements_of_Good_Cooking">Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking</a> (which is listed as a source consulted, among many). I'll admit that my dusty knowledge of biology was helpful for some of the terms used, but I did sometimes glaze over a bit. Your mileage may vary. In general though, I'd love to have a print copy of this book at some point (I checked out an ebook), as I suspect the layout is as beautiful as the photographs contained within.</div>
Edited 86d ago
Wants to read Before Holmes Met Watson
Reading The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks:
Wants to read LIGHT: a collection of prose poetry vignettes
Rated Op pad met Pim: Van Eindhoven tot Hilversum 6/10
Wants to read A Study in Velvet and Leather
Wants to read Kissing Sherlock Holmes