I let this steampunk alternate history New Orleans novella just wash over me, relishing the details and not worrying about anything I didn't understanI let this steampunk alternate history New Orleans novella just wash over me, relishing the details and not worrying about anything I didn't understand. The world building, characters, and story are a ton of fun. Plenty of room for sequels - and a full book.
Merged review:
I let this steampunk alternate history New Orleans novella just wash over me, relishing the details and not worrying about anything I didn't understand. The world building, characters, and story are a ton of fun. Plenty of room for sequels - and a full book....more
Representation is great. What's not great, at least for this reader, is a nonstop lecture on gender pronouns hiding behind a plot about aliens visitinRepresentation is great. What's not great, at least for this reader, is a nonstop lecture on gender pronouns hiding behind a plot about aliens visiting Earth. I wish there had been more about Earth and how the characters were working to save it.
Aliens visit Earth in an attempt to get us to join them and leave the planet - maybe even blast it into pieces and turn it into a ring. Is your most pressing question "what are your gender pronouns?" It's not mine. This book was so focused on reminding us that gender pronouns are important (they are, I'm not disputing that) that the story is completely bogged down. There's some good writing in here - I came across it every now then. But it's a flat excuse to remind us that gender pronouns are important (WE GET IT). Also, call me narrow minded but the polyamory with an alien they just met was very ick for me.
I was intrigued at the beginning when the alien species turned out to be one that believes bearing young and being a mother are the only important attributes for being a leader, given the views of a current vice presidential candidate about childless cat ladies. However, I was left wondering - does the author believe this also? I think she does? Also, I'm sure representation of breast feeding is also lacking in books, but OMG the references to breastfeeding and heavy and leaking breasts. Enough. ENOUGH.
There are readers who may love the LGBTQ+ etc. representations. Enjoy. For me this was a soapbox lecture in search of a plot to hide behind. I finished it only because I chose it for a book club. ...more
This was an easy summer read, featuring a cute couple who have been married for 30 years but are as much in love as ever. Part travel guide, the authoThis was an easy summer read, featuring a cute couple who have been married for 30 years but are as much in love as ever. Part travel guide, the author did a good job of including information about the places the cruise ship (based on a real cruise in 1939) visited. I was pretty sure I knew who the bad guy was before Mamie and Bert Revealed All but I enjoyed the cruise, the characters, and the mystery. Book discussion coming up. ...more
This is one of the things I like about book club - I would never have chosen to read this book if it weren't for book club, and I really enjoyed it. IThis is one of the things I like about book club - I would never have chosen to read this book if it weren't for book club, and I really enjoyed it. It captures the time of Covid and covers a lot of ground - things related to knitting and things not related to knitting. I hope it is a good discussion book.
(One quibble - I don't think she ever says her sweater was ugly. Probably an editorial decision to make the title funny.) ...more
I wanted to like this more than I did. The topic is interesting, but the text is just not very dynamic. All the places discussed are in the Illinois WI wanted to like this more than I did. The topic is interesting, but the text is just not very dynamic. All the places discussed are in the Illinois Watershed, but I felt like connective tissue was missing.
It's short, and I'm glad I read it. Hurray for the people who have done this important work. ...more
I chose this in a hurry for my adult book club at the library without realizing just how political it was. Fortunately for mRounded up from 3.5 stars.
I chose this in a hurry for my adult book club at the library without realizing just how political it was. Fortunately for me as a reader, I agree with his opinions on most things, and almost everyone at the first discussion liked it.
I particularly was interested in the section on Native American mascot names. Also, Nick Offerman is from Illinois, which is a plus. The mix of humor and anger didn't always work, but overall it was a good read. The author is both full of himself and self-deprecating, and his love of words is enjoyable. The travel parts of this travel memoir were interesting.
I listened to part of it and read part of it. It was hard at first to get into his narration style but once I settled into it, I enjoyed it. ...more
Human beings are a blight on the planet. If any species deserves to go extinct, it's homo sapiens.
This is possibly the most depressing book I have eveHuman beings are a blight on the planet. If any species deserves to go extinct, it's homo sapiens.
This is possibly the most depressing book I have ever read. It's a long and detailed (and probably exhaustively researched) description of animal life in North America and man's need to senselessly and ruthlessly slaughter it.
Trigger warning: detailed information about the extinction of the passenger pigeon at the hands of man. I hope I never read another book describing this indefensible, tragic, and pointless event in human history.
Is this a good book? I don't know, probably, but after reading it I feel utterly hopeless about what mankind has done and is doing to Earth and the other species on it. (Especially combined with the recent news story about that psychopath Cody Roberts in Wyoming who tortured a wolf to death for fun.)
Also the ending is a mess. The epilogue was unnecessary. Was he trying to hit some page or word count?
This was Overdrive's Big Library Read for May 2024. ...more
This year my library read The Bear as a community read. It's an apocalyptic fable about the last people on Earth, a man and his daughter. I picked TheThis year my library read The Bear as a community read. It's an apocalyptic fable about the last people on Earth, a man and his daughter. I picked The Wall as a tie-in title for my sci-fi/fantasy book club.
I didn't much care for the Bear, but I liked the Wall a lot. I think it's a better book than the Bear. It's in translation, but the translator did a great job. The book is narrated by a woman living alone in a remote location. One day, a clear wall came down between her and everything else. Everything inside the wall died. She has no way to explore how far the Wall goes or look for other people outside the wall, so she settles down and goes about living. With her is a cow, a dog, and eventually a cat. She knows how to harvest hay, plant potatoes, plant beans, cut wood. She is a survivor.
The pace is slow. She hints at one terrible event to come which adds a level of menace to the story, but overall it's a diary of someone staying alive and making the best decisions she can. It sounds a bit boring, but every time I spent some time reading it I'd be astonished to see how much I read. I found it a very immersive read.
The author was a housewife, an unhappy one, I'd guess. Life with a cow, a dog, a cat, and the knowledge to stay alive sounds pretty good (although the lack of things to read sounds painful).
"The barriers between animal and human come down very easily. We belong to a single great family, and if we are lonely and unhappy, we gladly accept the friendship of out distant relations. They suffer as we do if pain is inflicted on them, and like myself they need food, warm and a little tenderness." ...more
I'm not really a memoir person or a "father and daughter relationship book" person or a person who enjoys graphic descriptions of trapping, killing, aI'm not really a memoir person or a "father and daughter relationship book" person or a person who enjoys graphic descriptions of trapping, killing, and eating wild animals, but this book is well written. ...more
I mostly listened to this, and the reader was very good. He had a lot of dialog to read in different voices and handled that well.
Overall, the book waI mostly listened to this, and the reader was very good. He had a lot of dialog to read in different voices and handled that well.
Overall, the book was pretty entertaining. Not outstanding, but a decent read. I liked that the book jumped from 1987 to 2019, and bioterror operative Roberto Diaz went from hot young stud considering cheating on his wife to middle-aged man worrying about his back. I like that his original partner was a competent woman, and a woman older than him at that. The other two main characters, Teacake and Naomi, were fun to watch. There is an Independence-Day-like happy ending. Written by a blockbuster screenwriter, Cold Storage could make a terrific movie. ...more
A warm, slow-moving, contemplative memoir from an English woman about becoming a beekeeper.
Many facts about honeybees from other books are scattered tA warm, slow-moving, contemplative memoir from an English woman about becoming a beekeeper.
Many facts about honeybees from other books are scattered throughout; she also documents her first steps in a new relationship with a friend of a friend.
Good for people who are really interested in honeybees. ...more
This Is How You Lose the Time War won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction, the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2019, and the 2020 Hugo Award for This Is How You Lose the Time War won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction, the Nebula Award for Best Novella of 2019, and the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
How. HOW. This book is in the running for the most pretentious book I've ever read. Despite multiple references to birds, which normally soften me toward even the worst books, I found this book unbearable. It's like spending time with your high school best friend who is obsessed with their new boyfriend/girlfriend/romantic partner, with a little Romeo and Juliet drama thrown in. Gag me with a spoon. Ugh ugh ugh. ...more
I'll admit, I was prejudiced by the opening chapter in which a cat meets a gruesome death. I had a hardParts of this book are better than three stars.
I'll admit, I was prejudiced by the opening chapter in which a cat meets a gruesome death. I had a hard time getting past that. Later, the author reminded me of the tragic death of Omayra Sánchez. The author seemed determined to remind the reader of how many sad and tragic things happen in the world (both in Colombia and the United States) and yet ends with a surprisingly easy and happy-ish reunion.
The passage that struck me the most was this one. Elena is in the U.S., taking care of her employer's child. Her mother has died in Colombia and her husband Mauro finds her. Mauro and their daughter are with the grandmother, and Mauro says he could feel Elena's presence.
"He said he could feel Elena in the room with them, as if she were in the air or in the plume of light parting the curtains. Elena told him it was true. She had been there with them. Even as she lay in that twin bed with a boy who was not her own in a house that was not her own in a country that was not her own. For those minutes, as the one who gave her life, the one she created life with, and the life she created, held one another and her mother's spirit slipped away, they were together again." (p. 178)
(spoiler) I'll say this for Catherine Adel West, she does not mind writing a book with an unhappy ending. This is a beautifully written book 3.5 stars
(spoiler) I'll say this for Catherine Adel West, she does not mind writing a book with an unhappy ending. This is a beautifully written book that does not end well. I didn't know when I started it that it's a prequel. Apparently Sara is not a nice person in Saving Ruby King, and West had to lay the path to the person she is in that book. But without having read Saving Ruby King, it was hard for me as a reader to see and accept how self-sabotaging Sara is of her own chances at happiness.
I feel like reading this if you've already read Saving Ruby King would be an entirely different experience from mine.
The best parts of this book for me were "every writer, singer, artist and civil rights leader" mentioned. "Black art, Black culture and Black history are beautiful and should be celebrated. This discussion shouldn't be censored so we don't have to come to terms with the complicated and ugly history of this nation. If anything, let the benefits of our heritage guide you to a better understanding of who Black people are, how we've contributed to the birth and the sustained greatness of American, and our undeniable magnificence!" (end of the author's acknowledgments)
A lovely, feel good read about a group of people ranging from a teenager to a man in his 60s who commute on the same train and accidentally gradually A lovely, feel good read about a group of people ranging from a teenager to a man in his 60s who commute on the same train and accidentally gradually become friends. Deals with, among other issues, sexting, sexism, ageism, homophobia, losing your job, imposter syndrome, gaslighting and psychological abuse, aging, dementia, bullying, and anxiety. And still a delight....more
Not quite as good as I had hoped, but still a ton of fun. I loved how it both honored and poked fun at magical worlds. Loved all the Oxford referencesNot quite as good as I had hoped, but still a ton of fun. I loved how it both honored and poked fun at magical worlds. Loved all the Oxford references.
The book was set during the pandemic, which added a thought-provoking twist. The language was very today, but the book also captured the old world feel of our most familiar magical worlds.
One of the questions I often ask in book club discussions of nonfiction books is "Did you feel there were too many scientific facts, or not enough, orOne of the questions I often ask in book club discussions of nonfiction books is "Did you feel there were too many scientific facts, or not enough, or just the right amount?" Flight Paths unfortunately was a little too science-y to truly qualify as popular nonfiction. There were sections I really could not follow (or perhaps I just didn't want to make the effort to follow). ("Imagine you're a deuterium atom." Say what now?)
But in between the love of scientific facts, the author's love of birds does come through. Migration is truly amazing, and awe over the migration spectacle also comes through. I always enjoy reading about banding birds (and how weirdly attitudinal some birds are, and that there are even birds that seem to enjoy being caught in mist-nets), and I liked that she included information about citizen science projects like Project Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count.
The book is well written and seems well researched. I liked that when it came to the attaching of tracking devices to tiny birds, she asked not just researchers but also an animal ethicist whether this is the right thing to do. ("How do we decide when the benefits of the knowledge we gain from these studies outweigh the potential harm to the individual birds?" p. 140)
If you really love birds, you might find Flight Paths worth the effort. (And as always, I encourage you to give yourself permission to skim pasts any parts that make your eyes glaze over.)...more
Heartland is a decent, thoughtful book that is very depressing to read. Sarah Smarsh remembers every sad and terrible thing that ever happened to her Heartland is a decent, thoughtful book that is very depressing to read. Sarah Smarsh remembers every sad and terrible thing that ever happened to her and wants to make sure we know about them too. Her messages on poverty in America and growing up poor are valid, as are her observations about the disconnect between those who understand how farms work and those who don't, but this is not an easy book. I had to take frequent breaks to read something else.
Smarsh frames her memoir around her conversations with the child she didn't have as a teenager, and that really did not work for me. I found the nonexistent child narrative device jarring (especially when listening to the audio). Other readers may find it effective.
I found the timeline very hard to follow, as the author jumps around in time. I also had a hard time keeping all the family members straight, especially the various men her mother/aunts/grandmothers etc. were involved with or married to. A family tree or at least a list of family members would have helped a lot.
Heartland reminded me of The Growing Season by Sarah Frey. I enjoyed reading The Growing Season more. ...more
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