Mimi
Love a good collection of essays. These reminded me to start listening to the Backlisted podcast again, and resume my Knausgaard.
Paul wasn't my favorite Beatle back in the day, lol, but this is still an engaging review.
Elegant patterns and the best essays I've read about the craft and experience of knitting.
For the Read Harder Challenge item #20: Read an award-winning book from the year you were born. Not too many to choose from, but found this odd 1957 Edgar Award winner. Odd because it's not really a mystery, more of fun romp. Well, there was a dram of poison, but not in any real threatening sense. Guess mysteries have improved since then.
One of my favorite movies and TV shows way back when, but I didn't realize it was a book, too! Fits Read Harder Challenge #14: Read a book whose movie or TV adaptation you've seen (but haven't read the book).
It's even better than its adaptations. The characters (alive and dead) are relatable and well matched, and maybe I cried a little at the end.
I read this mainly because I have a soft spot for the original One Day at a Time, but I didn't realize that Valerie Bertinelli has a cooking show now. This is definitely a book about food.
For Read Harder Challenge #18, Read a “Best _ Writing of the year” book for a topic and year of your choice. 2020 was grim, and so are most of these essays.
For the Read Harder Challenge, # 19: Read a horror novel by a BIPOC author. This is a middle-school level horror novel, but plenty creepy enough for me.
It's a heavy book–literally. It weighs a ton. The writing is enjoyable and breezy (lots of exclamation points!), but it mostly cites previous biographies.
Enjoyed the characters and that it was set in Hawaii during the pandemic, but it was so short that I was still waiting for the real mystery to appear when it ended.
A fascinating biography, but I think it would have been stronger if the author hadn't interjected her own life story into it quite so often.
I am a fan of Mary Jo and all things MST3k, so I knew I would probably like this book. In fact, I loved it. Most of all, I enjoyed her mother's book reviews, especially when she gave a book a rating of 8.5 out of 10. The finesse of it.
For Read Harder Challenge #1, Read a biography of an author you admire. I admire [b:Wide Sargasso Sea 25622780 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453021061l/25622780.SY75.jpg 142647], but can't say I admire Jean Rhys after reading this biography. She comes across as a cruel, maybe insane, woman who had a traumatic life. This is more of an interpretive biography, with a lot of speculation throughout about what Rhys might have been thinking or feeling. I think I would like to read a more factual account someday, maybe [b:Jean Rhys : Life and Work 2104261 Jean Rhys Life and Work Carole Angier https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486618694l/2104261.SX50.jpg 2109648].
I really liked [b:Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World 64895 Cod A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World Mark Kurlansky https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356452461l/64895.SY75.jpg 62987], [b:Salt: A World History 2715 Salt A World History Mark Kurlansky https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414608893l/2715.SY75.jpg 73206], and [b:Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man 13152473 Birdseye The Adventures of a Curious Man Mark Kurlansky https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333578244l/13152473.SY75.jpg 25524035], but this sort-of biography was disappointing. It also felt hastily put together, with lots of typos and missing punctuation.
I read this right after Martha Wainwright's [b:Stories I Might Regret Telling You: A Memoir 58340692 Stories I Might Regret Telling You A Memoir Martha Wainwright https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632077539l/58340692.SY75.jpg 56464931], and that's more than enough about emotionally distant fathers for now.
A book about not writing a book about (Iyengar) yoga, along with the author's experiences in tai chi, meditation, and his mental illness. And a lot of other things. Left me wanting to read more [a:Knausgaard 18633046 Karl Ove Knausgaard https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png].
Great to return to Vera and her team, and the atmospheric settings in which they solve murders. But this mystery wasn't quite as gripping as others. Still, 4+ for Vera.
For Read Harder Challenge #12, Read an entire poetry collection.
Precise writing, hopeful and moving. I had a poetry class with Professor Hayden in college, but didn't fully appreciate then how accomplished he was.
For Read Harder Challenge #8, Read a classic written by a POC. Karen Armstrong says she reads some of this every night before bed. That's the way to do it—it's surprisingly relaxing. The commentary by Annping Chin is excellent.
For Read Harder Challenge #5, Read an anthology featuring diverse voices. An excellent collection, one that now has tons of post-its marking the pages I want to return to.
For Read Harder Challenge #7, Read a romance where at least one of the protagonists is over 40. What a confusing plot, and everyone seemed to be related by past or present marriages somehow. Still, the main characters were over 40, so it qualifies.
