Next time I plan a wedding I'm totally going to have the cocktail hour before the ceremony. Genius.
AlsoHilarious and yet also full of useful advice!
Next time I plan a wedding I'm totally going to have the cocktail hour before the ceremony. Genius.
Also lots of excellent advice about salad, e.g "a great salad will taste like it was crafted by the love child of David Mamet and Nicholas Sparks, with equal parts profanity and lighthouses" or "croutons are like adverbs. They're easy to toss in, but most of them aren't very good. "...more
Just finished this and my heart is beating faster. Sad and tangled in a good way. Why isn't Geoff Ryman famouser?Just finished this and my heart is beating faster. Sad and tangled in a good way. Why isn't Geoff Ryman famouser?...more
For this kind of thing to work, you have to like both of the people. I didn't like either of them. For this kind of thing to work, you have to like both of the people. I didn't like either of them. ...more
Another one of those books that is full of THINGS. In this case, Los Angeles things. Like William Mulholland as a water mage. Or digging out magical fAnother one of those books that is full of THINGS. In this case, Los Angeles things. Like William Mulholland as a water mage. Or digging out magical fossils from the La Brea tar pits. Can't wait for the next one! ...more
All week I would NOT SHUT UP about how awesome this audiobook is! Me: HEY GUYS I'm listening to No Country For Old Men on audio, it's amazing!! Friends:All week I would NOT SHUT UP about how awesome this audiobook is! Me: HEY GUYS I'm listening to No Country For Old Men on audio, it's amazing!! Friends: uh isn't that really depressing Me: ...not really...does that make me a bad person?
The reader, Tom Stechschulte, is a damn genius with like 25 different flavors of Texas accents, plus he manages to do women's voices without sounding like a parody of a drag queen. The way he does Carla Jean's mother is absolutely Oscar-worthy.
I think I would have hated reading the actual book, because I do not enjoy reading accents, and this whole business where every sentence is like, "he unlocked the door with the key and opened it and walked through and closed it behind him and stood in the living room for a minute and thought" --well I think that would have gotten old pretty fast. But as an audiobook it absolutely took over my life to the point that I wished my commute was actually longer. ...more
Fairly entertaining--like an Agatha Christie novel but missing the sharp characterization. The third star is mostly for the main character's name, "AmoFairly entertaining--like an Agatha Christie novel but missing the sharp characterization. The third star is mostly for the main character's name, "Amory Ames," which is perfection. ...more
So...I was a little bit drunk when I started reading this, so I got involved with the story, which is charming, before I noticed the writing, which isSo...I was a little bit drunk when I started reading this, so I got involved with the story, which is charming, before I noticed the writing, which is not the greatest. None of the made-up characters are especially interesting either, but the whole thing is saved by the gloriousness that is Carole Lombard.
Carole Lombard! Why did you have to tragically die in a plane crash instead of being, I don't know, my awesome honorary great-aunt or something? It could totally have happened, my grandparents lived in LA and everything. ...more
SO ENJOYABLE. Contains many things I approve of in books, including:
-People who are assigned a special awesomeness name, e.g. "The Sword" or "The WillSO ENJOYABLE. Contains many things I approve of in books, including:
-People who are assigned a special awesomeness name, e.g. "The Sword" or "The Willow"
-Being naturally good at something, but in your OWN way not the boring normal way
-Details about how to do magic spells
-Training montage!
-Subtle references to fairy tales
-Made-up names that don't sound stupid (except for "Krystyna") [edit: ok, I guess the names are not made up, so my apologies to anyone named Krystyna--it's your parents' fault. :-P]
-Tragic royal ladies
-Swordsmiths
-Female swordsmiths!
-Working together to solve a problem
-Making out after working together to solve a problem!
-Realistic sex that is sexy
Also, something that you don't come across very often in fantasy novels--actual consideration of the use of violence and its effect on people, both the users and the victims....more
This is another one of those books that on the surface is exactly what I dont like--bored housewife, unhappy marriage, no space aliens--but from the vThis is another one of those books that on the surface is exactly what I dont like--bored housewife, unhappy marriage, no space aliens--but from the very first line ("Anna was a good wife, mostly") it grabbed onto me HARD and I couldn't look away until I found out everything there was to know about that "mostly". It has the juicy psychological drama of a Jojo Moyes or Jodi Picoult novel, but something about Essbaum's portrayal of Anna--a sort of unflinching neutrality--elevates it out of pure potboiler territory.
I can't say I loved this book, but there were a lot of things about the way it was written that I thought were interesting:
First, I think it's kind of distasteful when an author lets their judgement of their own characters show through, as if they have some kind of point to prove and don't trust the reader enough to get there on their own. This book doesn't do that--it lets you see what Anna thinks of herself and of others, but you don't feel the opinion of the author hovering in the background. (This is a bit difficult to articulate but I noticed this tendency recently in both The Cookbook Collector and Americanah.)
Second, she took a complicated structure with several sets of flashbacks and made it completely clear what was happening when, and the ending was exactly right.
I also thought it really captured the expat experience; the way your life can feel so disconnected and unreal even after years of living in a foreign country. In a way, the longer you stay the more foreign it seems.
On the other hand, what I didn't think worked well was this clever idea the author had about trying to use German grammar as a metaphor for people's behavior or psychology--every time it came up I wanted to tell her "stop trying to make 'fetch' happen", you know?
Anyway...apparently I had a lot of feelings about this book. You should read it and let me know what you think! ...more
Where the first one was kind of spiky and difficult this one was actually adorable and cozy. ...in that ancient-AI-fights-for-social-justice sort of wWhere the first one was kind of spiky and difficult this one was actually adorable and cozy. ...in that ancient-AI-fights-for-social-justice sort of way. Also, fancy dinnerware plays an important role, which was enjoyable for some reason....more
Oh god, I hated every minute of this book but my friend insisted I read it all the way through. Don't get me wrong, it's actually a very good book, buOh god, I hated every minute of this book but my friend insisted I read it all the way through. Don't get me wrong, it's actually a very good book, but so opposite to my reading tastes. Each chapter was more horrific and depressing than the one before, and I hope I get some credit in the next life for all the time I spent suffering.
I avoided reading this book for months because I thought it would be heavy lifting, but it turned out to be surprisingly fun, like a super-nerdy thrilI avoided reading this book for months because I thought it would be heavy lifting, but it turned out to be surprisingly fun, like a super-nerdy thriller for music geeks. If nothing else, it got me to sit down for an hour and listen to 20th century chamber music WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING ELSE, which is a damn miracle.
Oh and one more thing, I wrote a whole review of Station Eleven about how the publisher's description ("An audacious, darkly glittering novel about art, fame, and ambition set in the eerie days of civilization's collapse") didn't fit it at all, and the whole time I was reading Orfeo I kept thinking how much better it would have applied!...more
Alton Brown said this was his favorite book, which made me curious because he is an interesting guy. I can definitely see why he likes it; he and the Alton Brown said this was his favorite book, which made me curious because he is an interesting guy. I can definitely see why he likes it; he and the Minotaur have an oddly similar worldview. It wasn't really my kind of book, but it also isn't like anything I've read before, so all in all I'm glad I read it....more
This falls exactly in between two of my strongest reading preferences: apocalypse, yay! and short stories, boo! and therefore it was a definite three-sThis falls exactly in between two of my strongest reading preferences: apocalypse, yay! and short stories, boo! and therefore it was a definite three-star book for me. So...there you go....more
I don't know what happened. Ash was so lush and beautiful, but this one felt so empty and paint-by-numbers. I guess having half the love triangle be sI don't know what happened. Ash was so lush and beautiful, but this one felt so empty and paint-by-numbers. I guess having half the love triangle be same-sex was sort of interesting? Except not really because none of the characters felt real. At all....more
Loading...
