Rated Heads of the Colored People 8/10
A brief and clever collection of stories, loosely connected by characters, geography and theme - many of them about Black protagonists navigating relationships with other Black people in both Black and white social milieus. Engaging and well-executed.
Rated Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream 10/10
Exceptional - well researched and reported, eye-opening, infuriating. As mad as you think you are at private equity, you can always be madder
Wants to read Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War
Rated The Cartographers 8/10
enjoyable, but takes a long time to get where it’s going.
Rated Iron and Magic 10/10
My first book by Ilona Andrews, after reading a recommendation in The Reactor. Amazon had indicated it was a one-off, without any indication it was related to the Kate Daniels series. I can already feel my bank account wincing.
Rated Of Mice and Men 9/10
Rated Several People Are Typing 8/10
fun! i knew it *involved* workplace Slack chats but didn't realize it was *entirely* workplace Slack chats
Rated Beautiful Ruins 8/10
this is so lovely. cleverly done, emotionally affecting.
Rated Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory 8/10
It's good to take a moment out of the series and acknowledge that some horrible stuff has happened to several people. The question is, when is Murderbot going to see a shrink?
Wants to read Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine
Wants to read Wizard of the Crow
Rated Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection 10/10
wonderful. heavy subject but a light read - it's brief, but dense with both emotionally rich storytelling and fascinating detail.
Rated Women & Power: A Manifesto 8/10
Two good, brief essays on the titular subject by a terrific historian who uses her knowledge of Ancient Rome to inform her perspective.
Rated The City of Brass 8/10
pretty good, takes some twists I was expecting and some I wasn't, too much trilogy setup at the end.
Rated Peace Talks 8/10
It's been some 5 years since the last Harry Dresden novel and I was sure Butcher had decided to quit. At least that's what I thought. It wouldn't have surprised me considering the last 3 books felt a bit directionless after the series-altering "Changes" (12). I think in my review of "Skin Game" (15) or "Side Jobs" (15.5?), I said something about it's what happens when a series introduces Cousin Oliver. Not to mention it's hard to continually escalate the Big Bads and going to Hell and back. Or Hades, I guess. Tartarus? Anyway, I was left a bit disappointed after my first read of that last book and when I decided to re-read the entire series in lead up to "Peace Talks," I was left pretty much with the same feeling.<br/><br/>I think it was good that Butcher seems to have decided to take a break on The Dresden Files and leave it fallow for years. He's come back with an all new Big Bad rising from the depths and most of this novel is spent with Harry playing politics. Whaaaat? Yes, for once Harry is trying the diplomatic route. Gone is the Harry of kicking in the door and setting a building on fire to get out the innocent. I guess he's leaving that for the young kids these days. Among all the fighting-without-fighting with the White Council/Wardens, White Court, and the Fae, he also has to think about his family and, as he says at one point, having to go back home to someone now. By his side, though, despite all the hell she's gone through and getting completely beat up in "Skin Game," is Murphy. She insists on staying by his side come hell or high water (often both at the same time) and this newly mature Dresden has learned that he also can't tell her what to do, less than ever and no matter how terrifying that is, if that's what she chooses to do.<br/><br/>For the most part, though, "Peace Talks" works as a preamble, if you will. It's the set up of the apocalypse to come. The thought I had was that this novel is as though "Cold Days" and "Skin Game" had a baby, a lot of politics with something of a crazy heist at the end. Most of what I got out of it was that Harry has a finger in too many pies and often that means that a lot of friends and family and past allies don't know what to make of him. Is Dresden trustworthy? Who does he really work for now? The one thing I miss in this new Harry (which I realized near the end of this book) was the fun of his smartassery. It took me a while to realize it was largely absent and it wasn't long after that Harry himself said something to the effect of him having learned to just keep it shut. Which on one hand is great for maturity, but on the other hand that attitude is one of the big reasons I've always loved this series. The quips and thumbing the nose in the face of ugly odds was fun. I hope it comes back soon.<br/><br/>Some main plot points I'm putting here to remind myself about the story, so don't click through or continue reading if you don't want to <spoiler>see spoilers.<br/><br/>All the heavy hitters decide to converge on Chicago to get together for peace talks with the constantly attacking Fomor. Or so everyone is lead to believe. As I mentioned, the Wardens and the White Council don't trust Harry what with him being Mab's enforcer now and he's about to be on the outs with them soon. Thomas has for some unknown reason been sent in to kill the Svartalves' king. Conveniently, Thomas has been beaten to a pulp, including his mouth, so he has nothing enlightening to say at all about what the hell was his motivation. Other than a threat to Justine, of course, who to top things off is somehow now pregnant with his kid. Of course Harry isn't going to let Thomas get executed for the attempt and that means getting in bed, figuratively, with Lara Raith, to try and save him. Which they do. Sort of. He ends up in some sort of suspended animation thanks to the "hospitality" of Demonreach island. In the meantime, McCoy loses his control while trying to stop him from his utter hatred and distrust of vampires to the point where he mortally attacks Harry. That is, if that Harry hadn't been an amazing glamour courtesy of Molly used to feint while he and the escape boat got away. I still want to know what exactly is McCoy's beef with the vampires other than generalized centuries of cold/hot war with them. And that's not even getting into the apocalypse set up with the Titan goddess, Ethniu, that's yet to come in the following book(s)</spoiler>.