Seething
Like most other folks, I did in fact read this because of the movie. I won't spill a lot of ink that hasn't already been spilled, but the art style is SO strong, so committed to the noir vibes- and like most others, I did personally find it a fault about halfway through. Without the context of the movie and some rereading, some of the men in this book blend into each other in these harsh shadows and ambiguous speech bubbles.
Still, this is still charming. I just found it a bit tame, and I too was disappointed by the lack of strength in Lorraine. I won't sit here and act like I was blown away by Perceval's misogyny- I didn't find it particularly interesting, though it made sense. I was surprised to see Lorraine bailed out so often by the men around her- I feel the movie did a better job of actually making her tough as nails. Lasalle being a firmly planted spy and constantly bailing her out of relatively simple situations with other authoritative men skeeved me out.
This was a fun little romp, but to be honest, the fight choreo of the movie is so stylish. Might rewatch the movie again instead of reading the sequel.
I really liked this, and the art style, the color, and the short story collection style was a great way to tell these stories.
Really poignant and thoughtful work here, especially with the author's watercolor art sprinkled throughout.
Really sharp and really informative, though I found some of the meandering historical stories of other book collectors and thieves a little weirdly placed or dry at times. Gilkey is a fascinating person, and I liked Bartlett's personal musings on what was going on! As a Salt Lake City native, I also enjoyed the focus on Ken Sanders, considering he's in my backyard and I love that bookstore! If you're from the area, I really recommend this- especially if you haven't gotten around to reading Sanders' memoir (something I've been putting off for a while).
Lilting, long-winded, both too focused and too broad in its prose. Breathless and hyperventilating introspection that made me feel anxious because it circled ‘round and ‘round the same ideas without really digging in. Not sure I liked it, but not upset I read it.
Maybe I missed something but the strongest parts of this memoir were of McBride's mother's reflections and stories and I found myself wanting to get back to her sections and feeling sort of... just listless at his sections. So interesting that there's so much meditation on McBride's mother's fear of honesty and emotional history when, by the end, it feels McBride is also running away from confronting what/how he feels in a way that makes clear this is a memoir about his mother and his parts are only context to hers, not his reflections. I closed it and thought, wow, can't wait for McBride to get to his mom's age and feel comfortable revisiting this but for real, this time.
I read this because I wanted to get my hands on the first story in this collection: “No Matter Which Way She Turns.”
The problem is that even though that one was super strong, not many hit the heights of the first story. I wouldn't even say this is the strongest story, but I did find that generally stories got weaker as I went along. I liked this! I'd love to own a copy for some of the specific stories, but a few really are just... fine.
I liked this! Honest and vulnerable. I wanted more sociological/data analysis, but that's the academic in me. This is informative and thorough while still being frank and friendly, and not veering too hard into the self-help-y trap of picking a brand(s) of acronyms/metonyms that make the whole thing cheesy. The only exception might be “the PR team”, but this was so unexpected that I looked past it.
Plodding, inconsistent pacing and organization, and some strange informational choices- especially considering Black and Indigenous statistics of folks going missing. Wasn't what I thought it would be. I've been going down a rabbit hole of SAR true crime stuff, which is definitely not usually my speed, and this was much better and easier to parse than Palides' work, but even then, that's not saying much (as Billman himself may agree).
It was alright. I hope everyone who hasn't found their loved ones find peace and joy and closure.
Interesting and great visual design. Really pulls from Japanese mythology in a cool way, though at times I found some of the dialogue a little... lacking.
Thrilling and devastating in equal measure. This is such an interesting and deeply-situated take on the story of the golem, which I loved. I loved how deeply Jewish this novel is, which seems like an obvious thing to say, but I find a lot of Holocaust fiction is sort of divorced from Jewish culture and faith because it is interested in the horrors and violence of the Shoah, and I think Hoffman did a great job of writing a Jewish magical realism novel set during the Holocaust, rather than a Holocaust novel that happens to be magical realist.
Dumb as hell but sort of a fun read, though it got kinda boring right before the twist third section. Like, c'mon, do something interesting with the obsession not just talk us through the motions of stalking.
Fantastic primer on crip theory through the lens of architecture and graphic design history in the United States. As someone with a sosh bachelor's in race and marginalization in the U.S., I'm appalled this was not part of my curriculum. If you care at all about disabled history and activism this is a must-read.
This fucking sucked. I struggled to finish it and I only did because it was so short and I am so behind on my stats for the year.
It was boring, self-indulgent without being interesting, and the “stream of consciousness” is clearly Ramos' only trick for getting across any idea or emotion that isn't bitching at civvies.
And yeah, it's partually on me for picking this up knowing I would have a strong emotional reaction to a vet memoir, but fuck it and fuck this guy. The cognitive dissonance of saying war made you empathetic while telling stories of really having to stop yourself from killing a ten year old or from reaching for a non-existent rifle when you see a hijabi is crazy. He's right in that he's neither a hero nor a victim, he's a criminal. GGs.
This may be a crime to say about a classic but this was kind of doing too much- not in terms of subject matter but thematically and purple prose-wise, it felt repetitive and a little overblown. Still enjoyed my time with it.
Yeah I was surprised that I liked this self-help book so much. I thought it was super self-aware, not preachy, and really grounded in experiences that are like... real. They didn't feel made-up or edited to make a point, nor did they feel empty enough to be like vaguely relatable to whatever point Ostaseski was making. I liked this and found it useful!
Great memoir and reflection on a community's relationship to family and control, though I found the prose a little simple and uninspired in places.
Super informative and super stark, especially in folding in examinations of minute details of the days leading up to the massacre alongside historical deconstruction of the details we know, years after the fact. Incredible.
Genuinely one of the worst books I've ever read that I chose not to DNF. This is dumb as fuck. This is written by someone who has not even spoken to a teenager outside of telling them what to do in a decade. No one acts, speaks, or feels like this. Things happen in days when they would take years. The pacing is terrible, the prose contrived and narcissistic, and the plot absurd. Also, Sparks has clearly never even smoked a cigarette, holy shit.
Homophobic, ableist, and fatphobic to an insane degree.
Absolutely batshit in the best way. Annotated by my lovely girlfriend, and that really let me linger on Morrison's prose. Thick and sweet as molasses, electric and violent as a defibrillator. G-ddamn.
Finally got around to reading a masterpiece by Morrison. What is there to say that hasn't already been said about Beloved?
It's fast, it's brutal. It's emotionally transcendent. Wow.
This gave me intense Crime and Punishment vibes. I loved it. Dense, juicy, crunchy prose around a beautiful and refractive look at Bulgarian (and generally, Eastern European) society and politics while sharply commenting on the General Human Condition. WOW!!