Bronwyn
This was really fun. Again, not quite what Discworld becomes, but really fun. I loved the additions of Cohen and Bethan, and of course early Wizards. The climax is so exciting. I'm really glad I'm rereading these.
Apparently I've never logged this one?!
This is a fun book about shapes and shadows and being happy with who you are.
There's not a lot new here if you're familiar with Jim Jones and Jonestown. It's really well done and detailed though, so still very interesting!
(Sort of) for my birthday, so thought I'd read it finally. :) <3
This was a really interesting book. It's perfect if you like Agatha Christie and/or are interested in true crime/murder. I've been reading Agatha Christie or watching adaptations for about as long as I can remember, so plus one from me. I've been interested in forensics and poison and murder and detective stories since elementary or middle school when I took a forensics summer class and we learned about how different things worked and got to write a short story using this information, so plus two for that.
I admit I didn't always understand all of the science Harkup discussed, how the different poisons operated on the body, etc. But the effects were really interesting to learn about, and the real life cases involving each poison were really fascinating too. Harkup also gives a bit of each story, many of which I am familiar, but you really don't have to be.
This was a really interesting book and a pretty quick read!
Made it about 1/3 of the way through, but just not my style. I had issues keeping track of who was who and what was going on. I would like to find a different bio of Lucrezia to try in the future, but at the same time I think it's just the time and place that I'm having issues with...
This is cute. I like that it's based in the book rather than the movie.
Read for the first time in a year:
January 25, 2021
Apparently I don't own this after all. I can picture it though... Weird. Will have to track it down eventually...
I'd forgotten how good this is. I enjoy the earlier parts better than the latter, but the whole thing is just great.
I would like to apologize to this book. I first read it in 2013 and didn't get it. I was just starting to read the sort of book that this is like (but also sends up), and didn't appreciate what Stevenson does.
This was delightful. The people are all so funny and the plot is so entertaining. Miss Buncle is such a fun character and I can't wait to continue her story.
Cute book about being happy with yourself. Some of the language isn't great though...
Read for the first time in the year:
January 24, 2021
I won this book through Goodreads in exchange for a review.
This book was fine. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't really like it either. The book is broken up into long parts, each named after one of Vita's works or a work she inspired. Some of the part titles worked better than others for me. Mostly I think they were picked because they sounded good for that segment, not because that segment really had anything to do with that work.
The book starts with a court case involving Vita's mother, which happened when Vita was around 20. After that we go back to the beginning of Vita's life and from there it's mostly a linear biography. The beginning of the book felt weird to me, like the author was trying to write like one of the early 20th-c. authors he would mention later on. It was all a bit confusing for the first segment or so. After that the book got much more readable. At this point though, the author got too hung up in Vita's relationships. I understand that relationships make up a large part of someone's life, but it seemed like the relationships took up the majority of the focus of the book. Vita's works were mentioned really only when they were influenced by the relationships. Surely there was more to her life than all these affairs?
I got bogged down with reading this again towards the end (the middle was definitely the most readable to me), though I couldn't tell you why at this point. I'm just glad to have finished it. In the future I would like to read a more standard biography of Vita, as I feel like I still don't know much about her at all.
I was debating going between 3 and 4 stars for this but ultimately erred low.
While the synopsis does say that it is “the story of the momentous years leading up to that event”, I feel like that doesn't adequately portray just how much of the book isn't about the assassination. There is the opening chapter and the last 40 or so pages, and that's it. The rest is about anarchism, McKinley's and Czolgosz's paths, the Spanish-American war... It's just so much about other things that I feel it should have had a different title or something.
The synopsis also says “The two men seemed to live in eerily parallel Americas”, which I don't even really know what that's supposed to mean. Other than that they both lived in Ohio for periods (McKinley moreso than Czolgosz), I didn't find much parallel about their lives, let alone anything eerily parallel. The only thing I could see is “how these two men, each pursuing what he considered the right and honorable path”, but even that doesn't feel right for what I actually read.
Ultimately this book was fine. I learned more than I ever wanted to about the Spanish-American war, but the information about anarchism was interesting (though mostly focused on Albert Palmer and Emma Goldman). I'd really only recommend it if those are your interests. If you're going into it expecting more about the actual assassination, I'd look for a different book.
It's only three stars because, while I really enjoyed the majority of the book, the format and constant interruptions to the text took away some of the enjoyment. I also didn't technically read the entire thing since I just skimmed the bios and locations at the end. I want a book like this about the women but without the asides. It did make me finally purchase Five Sisters though.
Really excellent book. I read The President and the Assassin earlier this year, about the McKinley assassination, and this book is what I wish that one had been. Millard really makes you feel for James Garfield being thrust into the presidency, but then coming to terms with his position. She really gets into who Charles Guiteau was, also; he seems insane, but not over the top crazy. Dr. Doctor Bliss (seriously, I love that his first name was Doctor) was quite the character who, unfortunately, caused the whole situation to be worse than it should've been. Alexander Graham Bell felt that he'd failed but it was because of Bliss. There's just so much to love about this book. I really recommend it and the accompanying PBS program, Murder of a President, to anyone at all interested in the presidents, assassinations, the 19th century, etc.
eta: This interview with Millard popped up on my facebook last night. Good timing. :)
http://www.signature-reads.com/2016/02/candice-millard-on-james-garfield-and-pbss-murder-of-a-president/
Listened to the audible recording.
More like 3.5 stars, but erring towards 3. The whole way through I wasn't sure what to make of it. I liked Corrina, Meroe, and Prof. Monk, but not much else. Maybe over the rest of the books you'd get to know them more? I never warmed to Daniel. And Kylie and Goss just didn't seem real. Even the mysteries were a little flat. It wasn't bad, it was good fluff, but that's about it.
Eh. This was fine. Probably more like 3.5, but I'm not feeling generous right now...
I'm starting the American Girls podcast, so I'm rereading my AG books before I listen to the episodes.
I really enjoyed this one. The gains and losses, the friends made and people lost - whether permanently or temporarily. Again, Mother was wonderful.
This was an enjoyable enough book. Clearly Louise Brooks is the hook (I don't know that I would have read it without her mention, though I did read it for a book club, so who knows), but it's about Cora Carlisle, Louise's chaperone to New York in 1922. I wish, though, that Louise Brooks wasn't the hook. Cora's not a real person and so she's taken the place of Louise's real chaperone, Alice Mills. The book felt like Moriarty wanted to tell Cora's story but needed a reason for things to happen, so sort of shoehorned Louise in. It's not a bad book, I just don't understand why so many authors use a real person for their book and then fictionalize so much of it. Also, Moriarty really packed a lot in; I often felt like she should have just written a non-fiction book about the topics addressed because it could've been really interesting and wouldn't have felt so forced. I'm still glad I read it. It's definitely not a bad book, just not what I was expecting.