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Rated Doctor Who: The Zygon Who Fell to Earth 8/10
The Zygons aren't necessarily my favorite (I get stressed out by the dramatic irony of their body-snatching, but that's me), but this was a good story. The Eighth Doctor is a romantic in many cases, but there are bits (like at the end of this story) that reveal some of his icier, "I know best" traits.
Rated Doctor Who: Inferno 6/10
Enjoyable enough to read with my son, but I think the TV episode version is a bit more brisk and to the point. And oh man does Terrance Dicks love his adverbs. I'm not an adverb hater, but wow... she said astonishedly (ha).
Rated Doctor Who: Excelis Rising 7/10
<div>Very much the middle bit of the Excelis story, but still a good installment. I definitely want to keep going with it, and the Sixth Doctor is always a fun listen.</div>
Rated The Picture of Dorian Gray 8/10
I enjoyed this adaptation a lot. I must admit that I haven't read the original (though how can one not be familiar with the gist of the story, at this point in time?), but I always meant to read it, so I figured this was a way in. Worth it.
Rated Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction 10/10
<div>PAPERBACK CRUSH by Gabrielle Moss is a funny, nostalgic look at the many, many varieties of tween/YA paperback series that were released in the '80s and '90s. Moss keeps it moving with basic overviews and cultural trends happening during the books' publication, but she does take the time to point out which series had regressive views, as well as those that hold up pretty well today. Interspersed with her research and analysis are interviews with some of the writers who gave us these books.<br><br>I am 41 years old, which means I am exactly the right age for PAPERBACK CRUSH. So many of these series I remembered from friends' bedrooms or the school library or the many afternoons I spent in Hastings or Waldenbooks. My elementary and middle school days were filled with Babysitters Club (Team Claudia), Sweet Valley Twins AND High (Team Jessica), R.L. Stine, and my fav at the time, Christopher Pike. I wanted drama! Fashion! Travel! Evil twins! Psychotic breaks! Past lives! Goddesses and ghosts! These books provided all that and more as fast as I could gobble them up. In my school's Apple IIE computer lab, I even wrote a 20+ page story with many of these elements, took the time to print a few copies on the slow dot matrix printers, and distributed the copies to friends. Ah, the early '90s: when 10-yr-old you could get away with using school resources to write a "book" about murderin' and everyone said, "It's great that you're so creative!"<br><br>I wish I still had many of these paperbacks, but most of them were donated to my elementary school library once I was in high school. I hope the lil weirdos just a bit younger than me enjoyed the books as much as I did.</div>
Rated The Antidote 10/10
<div>Karen Russell is such a great writer. I love how she writes semi-feral girl characters, especially. Asphodel/"Dell" is definitely one of those characters, clinging to her basketball team's possible success as one consistency in her life. Still, I loved all the perspectives in this novel, all these people trying to survive the Great Depression and the aftermath of Black Sunday, a gigantic dust storm that obliterated farms in the American West. This is a story about secrets, the environment, colonization, and so much more. I can see why the library has a berzillion people in the holds queue waiting for their turn to read.<br><br>CW: for animal cruelty at the beginning though. This does have plot relevance, but be forewarned.</div>
Wants to read Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music
Wants to read The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait
Rated Doctor Who: The Apocalypse Element 7/10
Rated A Brief History of Thought: A Philosophical Guide to Living 6/10
Accessible book, but not necessarily for the beginner either. I was semi-familiar with the subjects, and I still glazed over at times. Perhaps not the book for me, but it has its moments.
Wants to read Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You: A Memoir
Wants to read Bringers of the Dawn: Teachings from the Pleiadians
Wants to read I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream