Finished reading Children of Time
book
Finished reading Children of Ruin
Finished reading Children of Memory
Finished reading Shards of Earth
Wants to read Love and Fatigue in America
Finished reading Alien Clay
Rated Marine Park: Stories by Chiusano Mark (2014-07-29) Paperback 8/10
This collection of short stories about a less popular section of Brooklyn came my way through a Penguin marketing email looking for book reviewers who might be interested. I neglected to do a proper review (my “being behind on reviews” tales of woe are best saved for another time), but I still enjoyed this book. Let it be known to the marketing people within publishing houses that those emails do their job because I’d never heard of Chiusano before that day, and I’m not sure if I would have noticed the book otherwise.<br><br>(This mini-review appears at <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2015/05/the-delight-in-reading-lists-and-challenges-20-suggestions/%22">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales 4/10
Major highlights for me were Michael Chabon and Adam Levin's contributions, as well as the play from Wajahat Ali. Colm Tóibín's short story "The Street" was absolutely fantastic, and the fortune cookie scroll was amusing. However, I hated <i>Jungle Geronimo</i> and <i>Bicycle Built For Two</i> wasn't much better. An imperfect, but still good collection in a great package.<br><br>My full and more detailed review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/06/mcsweeneys-36-including-work-by-michael.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.
Edited 86d ago
Rated Drowned Country 10/10
Edited 77d ago
Wants to read The Rosewater Insurrection
Wants to read Making Dough: Recipes and Ratios for Perfect Pastries
Wants to read Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy
Finished reading The Necessity of Stars
Finished reading The Two Towers
Finished reading The Return of the King
Rated Man, Underground 4/10
<div>The story had its nice moments and a fair amount of humor, but I didn't overly care for this. I get what Hummel was doing — revealing information about both characters gradually, mirroring the way they are shedding their accumulated defenses — but if I wanted to have an older dude snobbily pontificate about music and culture, well... I only have to dust off the memories. At times, characters speak in monologues, not in dialogue people might actually say, near-perfect SAT score or not.<br><br>Besides, wouldn't a music snob know that Nico is spelled with only one c?<br><br>Also: Men Be Normal Writing About Women Challenge<br><br>(Apparently, Difficulty: Near Insurmountable)</div>
Finished reading The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Finished reading The Silence of the Wilting Skin
Finished reading Owlish
Finished reading Digging Stars
<div>It took me a minute to acclimate to the language of the 1790s, but what a book! It's too bad that it's unfinished. Ahead of its time, smart, and were it a miniseries, you know you'd be there for every installment.</div>
Rated Men, Women, and Children 6/10
I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call <i>Men, Women and Children</i> beautiful, but I do recognize the intricate dance Kultgen has created. Each story element cycles into the other, and there is certainly no ambiguity, but I find it hard to say whether or not I enjoyed the book. It was compelling, thought-provoking and well-written, but "enjoy" is not the right verb. That doesn't mean it isn't worth reading. It is a modern cautionary tale mixed with voyeurism, and it is not without humor, but I can't say I felt <i>good</i> after reading it.<br><br>(My review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/07/men-women-and-children-by-chad-kultgen.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)