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Rated When My Name Was Keoko 8/10

Rated The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century 7/10

Added Atmosphere to Currently Reading

Wants to read How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

Added Liberalism to Want to Read

Rated Speak 6/10

Beautifully written sci-fi-ish novel about artificial intelligence, told in six separate storylines that don't quite hang together and vary in interest level. Thought-provoking and a quick read.

Wants to read Chas Addams: A Cartoonist's Life

Rated A Winter's Night by Valerio Massimo Manfredi 8/10

“Told in the tradition of country folktales,” <i>A Winter's Night</i>'s jacket copy reads. For some readers, I imagine that might be a deterrent, and if it is, resist your resistance. This expansive, multi-generational novel set in the first half of twentieth century Italy is as enjoyable as it is lovely. Manfredi gathers a lot of history into 400 pages, and while it's not exactly a quick read, <i>Night</i> never feels like a slog either — even if the characters themselves wonder when they might escape certain slog-like points in their lives.<br><br>(My full review appears on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-winters-night-by-valerio-massimo.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)

Rated Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives 8/10

Brad Watson's collection of short stories ache with confusion and loneliness, and the result is akin to a lucid dream. Each of his stories recall the recent past, a pre-internet stillness that amplifies his characters' disconnect. While I enjoyed this collection, I finished with some uncertainty over what I'd just read. Not every story stuck with me, but the ones that did have made me curious to seek out Watson's other work.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/06/aliens-in-prime-of-their-lives-by-brad.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)

Wants to read The Book of Salt

Rated All My Puny Sorrows 10/10

<div>Outstandingly great. Funny, sad, a wonderful, complicated family of weirdos (affectionate) trying to figure out how (or if) they want to live. This is one of those 5 star books where I recommend just reading it, and otherwise, I don't have a lot to say besides I loved it.<br><br>&nbsp;TW: for discussion of suicide, of course, and I guess if you were/are Mennonite, some of this may bring up some feelings. Then again, this is Miriam Toews. If you're Mennonite, you know what her whole deal is.... but if you are in the headspace for all that, get thee to a library/bookstore.</div>

Wants to read Arboreality

Rated Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly 10/10

Wants to read The Keeper's Six

Rated Chapterhouse: Dune 7/10

Rated Bring Up the Bodies 9/10

<div>Mantel's prose is pretty one of a kind. Terrific storytelling with a clear appreciation for history.&nbsp;</div>

Wants to read 300 Arguments: Essays

Rated Children of Strife 9/10

Richer characters and deeper exploration of established setting elements make for a pleasant improvement over the previous entries in the series.

Finished reading Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks

Finished reading Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Finished reading Together Is Better

Finished reading Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters

Finished reading Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization

Reading The All New Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate

Wants to read Who Owns the Future?