Wants to read The Artist of Disappearance: Three Novelas
book
Rated Doctor Who: The Blood Cell 6/10
This was better than the previous Twelfth Doctor novel I read in a lot of ways, but it did have a fair amount of weaknesses. I get the impression that the writers of both had only seen snippets of the new Doctor, and because of that, the voice isn't quite right -- Though in this book, it was better.<br><br>Fuller review forthcoming.
Rated Still Life 8/10
<div>I liked this one better than the previous one in the series, though this once again shows some of the research seams — You're going to learn this expository information just like the author! ha .... Oh well.</div>
Rated Survivors: Series Four Box Set 8/10
Rated The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl 8/10
Wants to read Street World: Urban Culture and Art from Five Continents
Rated The Best Small Fictions 2015 8/10
review forthcoming
Rated The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents 8/10
<div>My First Pratchett, believe it or not. My library happened to have the audiobook available and it seemed like a standalone enough story that I could jump into Discworld without too much trouble. This take on the Pied Piper tale is funny, smart, and full of great character names.</div>
Rated The Art Forger 8/10
I picked up this novel on a whim from the new books section at the library, and it was a lovely surprise. Using the real life art heist from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990, B.A. Shapiro has created a fictionalized story about a disgraced painter, Claire, who has been asked by a famous gallery owner to copy a Degás — the same Degás stolen from the museum. However, the more time Claire spends with this ill-begotten painting, the more she suspects that it may also be a forgery.<br><br>Because I’m a sucker for heist stories and because I’m quite interested in visual art, I enjoyed unraveling the mystery of what had really happened during the time of the theft and in the 19th century when the painting was originally created. There’s a whole side-plot about why Claire has a poor reputation in the art world that is also quite interesting, and though I could work out some of the twists on my own, the complete ending still held plenty of surprises.<br><br>(This review originally appeared in <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2013/08/22/5-book-recommendations-for-your-reading-pleasure/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)
Rated The Collective 4/10
I suppose the argument could be made that <i>The Collective</i> is a story about how we can never completely know another person, and that even our closest friends are capable of surprising us. I just wanted to hear about it from someone else. If we could see the inner workings of Joshua, rather than speculate, and juxtapose those thoughts with his outward behavior, I might have enjoyed the novel more.<br><br>I understand that creative people are often not the most stable — myself being one of them — and while I sympathized with these characters' causes, I just couldn't quite connect with them. I'm certainly not sorry I read it, but especially now going back through it, I wish the story could have been framed in a more effective way. Like Eric, it has potential, but I wanted better.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-collective-by-don-lee.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)
Wants to read The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
Rated The Call 8/10
While I'd hesitate to say that <i>The Call</i> would be a universal hit for everyone, it is certainly one that keeps your mind going in between reading sessions. It is a bit of a puzzle, but a good one, and one certainly worth giving a try.<br><br>(My full review can be found on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/12/call-by-yannick-murphy.html">Glorified Love Letters.</a>)
Rated The Eighth of March, Vol. 2: Protectors of Time 8/10
<div>Good stuff! I liked the Rani/Jo/Jac story the best, and I hope there's more of Rani (not THE Rani) in future adventures, UNIT or otherwise. The Jenny/Christina one, it took me until the second half to get more invested for whatever reason, but the Romana/Tharil story was enjoyable. I tend to like Romana though.</div>
Rated The Cat Who Saved Books 7/10
<div>Though this flavor of magical realism isn't my usual literary neck of the woods, this was an enjoyable fable on the importance of books and recognizing the people who care for you.</div>
Rated The Eighth of March 3: Strange Chemistry 8/10
Rated The Cutting Room 8/10
<div>A really solid Glasgow mystery that isn't cop-centric, though the subject matter is definitely not for the squeamish. Since this is from 2003, there are some terms regarding trans people that do not hold up 20 years later, and we definitely didn't need an epigraph for every chapter, but otherwise I liked this.</div>
Rated Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror 8/10
(More of a 3.5, but...) This was stronger than the previous Twelfth Doctor novels I read, mostly because I think Mike Tucker had actually viewed some of the new episodes before writing it. While the voice/attitude of the Doctor was not <i>quite</i> right, it felt a lot closer than the previous novel-efforts. Fuller review forthcoming.
Rated The Davros Mission 8/10
All of these Davros stories were really solid. Glad I gave them a listen.