Rated Doctor Who: The Anachronauts 8/10
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Wants to read Caca Dolce: Essays from a Lowbrow Life
Rated Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad 8/10
<div>It may have been the cover of the book that drew me in while browsing Libby, but I'm glad I read this biography of Shostakovich, which shows how his life and career intersected with that period of Russian history. There are parallels to world events today, particularly the war crime of letting an entire population starve. Heavy reading, but the information is presented in a straightforward, easy to understand way.</div>
Rated The Book of Unknown Americans 10/10
<i>The Book of Unknown Americans</i> is not about immigrants’ relationship to white people. Ideally, this would not be unusual in a novel, but in a literary landscape that is still struggling with diversity, it’s refreshing to read her insightful take on the American Dream.<br><br>(My full review appears at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2014/06/review-the-book-of-unknown-americans-by-cristina-henriquez/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated Alif the Unseen 10/10
Excellent. I enjoyed this tremendously. Get to this one.
Rated Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive 7/10
<div>Stein profiles people with rare or disappearing jobs from around the world and uses that as a springboard to talk about the surrounding history of the job and the area, but also talks a little bit about himself. I found the memoir aspects less compelling — I wanted to hear more about these interesting people with interesting jobs. Some profiles succeed more than others, but overall, I liked this. I particularly recommend the chapter on los lectores in Cuba (people who read news and novels to cigar rollers during their shifts), and the chapter on the "romantic" oak tree in Germany that ended up profoundly affecting the postal worker assigned to deliver letters there. Both of these chapters appeared in a previous form on BBC Travel, so I wonder if having extra time to percolate helped. Even if, overall, this wasn't love for me, ymmv.</div>
Rated On the Calculation of Volume IV 8/10
Edited 32d ago
Rated Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law 7/10
<div>I don't know if I liked this one as much as the other two of hers that I've read. The first half was more interesting than the second, and her light tone is a little incongruous with some of the subject matter. Still, I learned something!</div>
Rated Doctor Who: Voyage to the New World 8/10
I really enjoyed this! I am inching, bit by bit, into hearing more of the Sixth Doctor's audio offerings. (And I enjoyed hearing Jago refer to himself as a "confirmed bachelor" because I never viewed him and Litefoot as straight.)