Wants to read Virtue
book
Rated Autobiography 6/10
My feelings about Morrissey are conflicted, for a lot of reasons, and I wasn't surprised to find this book kind of insufferable. Very little about the process of making music, tons and tons of petty passive-aggressive score-settling that I think is supposed to be "delicious" but is actually kind of sad. Also, there are no chapter breaks; it's like a seven-hour monologue. Still, somehow glad I read it.
Rated The Invaders 6/10
Well-done, and nicely balanced on the line between literary-MFA-ish and soapy, but doesn't quite land as hard as it wants to. It's told from the perspective of two unhappy people in a wealthy Connecticut town - a lonely second wife and her college-age stepson. The writing is skillful and there's a lot of plot to stay engaged with but it seems a little self-focused and small-scale, and it's definitely a bummer.
Rated The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction 6/10
Not a lot I didn't know already, but nicely done - efficiently walks through the major points while still having room for a little analysis of what did and didn't work.
Wants to read The Unknowns by Gabriel Roth
Rated A Dance with Dragons 8/10
a blast, although it suffers a little from the fact that it's (a) interminable thanks to a lot of GRRM's writing quirks (b) overshadowed by the knowledge that even though it's interminable, it still won't actually *end*, and the next book is who knows how far off.<br/><br/>
Rated A Common Pornography: A Memoir 8/10
Everyone has stories, brief anecdotes relating to our history. Our memories are at once humorous and heartbreaking, some retold again and again, some kept private forever. In <i>A Common Pornography</i>, Kevin Sampsell gathers his stories and assembles them into an atypical memoir, and the results are both intimate and intriguing.<br><br>Sampsell’s descriptions of the people he encounters are perfect in their spareness. He has a way of making a person clear within two sentences that might take other writers two paragraphs. I also appreciate his candor when it comes to more private moments, moments most people would hesitate to share at all, but still had an effect on their lives. From near-wordless encounters with other men to nights spent alone, he details his search for affection in a very real, honest way.<br><br>(Full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2010/04/common-pornography-by-kevin-sampsell.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Edited 33d ago
Rated A Wrinkle in Time 8/10
Ah! Finally I have read the book that pretty much everyone read as a kid, and I somehow never picked it up. (I was probably too busy with R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike, tbh). Enjoyed this a lot, and I enjoyed how this edition gave some additional facts about L'Engle and the genesis of the book itself.
Edited 33d ago
Rated Still Here 6/10
A generally engaging multi-character-viewpoint story about Russian immigrants in New York and their relationships to each other, with a special focus on the technology that mediates those relationships. Well-drawn if not especially compelling; it's more of a slice-of-life than an arc, but it's a good solid read about convincing characters.
Rated Abaddon’s Gate 10/10
Edited 33d ago
Rated The coup / John Updike 6/10
Hmmm. Enjoyable, but ultimately kind of slight; beautifully written but too in love with its own language; too queasy-making about race and touched through with whatever the Africa version of "Orientalism" would be. Recommended with reservations - I haven't read much Updike but have to assume this is regarded as a lesser work.
Wants to read [(Selected Stories)] [Author: Alice Munro] published on