At the Isabella Stewart Gardner. The was a rabbit outside the Living Room window, enjoying some grass. In the book, there were several pictures based At the Isabella Stewart Gardner. The was a rabbit outside the Living Room window, enjoying some grass. In the book, there were several pictures based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass, including one of the rabbit hole, which particularly delighted me.
Oh, dear. Through the dark years when Putin's puppet held sway I used to head off a day of doomscrolling by reading tweets from Rudnick and looking atOh, dear. Through the dark years when Putin's puppet held sway I used to head off a day of doomscrolling by reading tweets from Rudnick and looking at hourly photos of wolves, pandas, bats and the like, plus bodega cats, dog rating, spark notes, muppets. Reading this play recaptured those good moments and also, the long blonde hair beloved of Trump womenfolk that featured in many a tweetpic. By comparison the 1949 yearbook of my mother's whites-only high school was a rainbow of individuality and idiosyncracy, in which girls had the option to wear long or short hair with their cardigans and pearls. Ah, the good old days when all the women on the news looked the same on the outside, but could decide for themselves whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term.
Ghost stories are about real estate, and this is a fabulous apartment, formerly home to John Barrymore who shows up bigger than life and twice as unnaGhost stories are about real estate, and this is a fabulous apartment, formerly home to John Barrymore who shows up bigger than life and twice as unnatural. Here's why Rudnick is so great: he's putting up the pull of TV series money against the prestige of Shakespeare in the Park and at no time does he assume that one is innately superior. Rather than go with the cliché about the personal connection between audience and stage actor, he gives us two strangers connecting through a commercial jingle. He evokes Noel Coward and The Greatest American Hero, albeit in separate acts. It's funny but kid. And there are swords. I love a sword fight.
What the blurb doesn't tell you: excellent graphic design! For those of us who've never studied art history, the form here provides fu12 January, 2023
What the blurb doesn't tell you: excellent graphic design! For those of us who've never studied art history, the form here provides function, in addition to the map of galleries, color also provides a way of orienting, among others.
***
12 April, 2023
I've been taking my time on this since it's my crash course in Art History. My taste doesn't run to fine art so much, but in part that may be because I never had an overview to slip examples into. So for Christmas my son the artist gave me a book that is a beautiful work of graphic design as well as an overview of art styles, movements, techniques. Besides reading it straight thru I've also been using it as a reference. When an artist or work comes up it is easy to google a specific work. Many a rabbit hole has sucked me in. But now I have context.
And as an aside, it was just as well I hadn't had a class back in the day: it was worth some ignorance to get a big picture covering a broad array, which the art history courses of my youth notoriously failed to do.
A great book, beautifully conceived, well executed, and not too precious. Highly recommended for the curious well above the intended audience in years.
Should something similar be attempted to cover architecture, I will pre-order with delight and speed.
A very personal copy now, with little post it flags all over....more
The joy of reading YA is that stories about young adults, written for young adults, often veer off in unexpected directions. This is a s6 January 2023
The joy of reading YA is that stories about young adults, written for young adults, often veer off in unexpected directions. This is a story about five teens and a dog living in yet another small town hollowed out by catastrophe and no future. Two have just graduated, but this summer will be spent with time carved out from between their jobs at Walmart and the YMCA shooting video of themselves ghost hunting. And then one night something amazing falls from the sky...
You can shoot your own trailer from that. There's danger and excitement and mystery in the best Scooby-Doo tradition, although these kids can't afford a van. There is ever increasing creepiness and un-put-downable suspense. And then there's more.
The beginning, the grim reality of their lives, drags on the reader as much as on Franny. But Henry knows how to raise the stakes. So worth it.
Jemisin is brilliant at calling out bullshit and being so damn entertaining with the social commentary, or, IWay to subvert the Lovecraftian paradigm!
Jemisin is brilliant at calling out bullshit and being so damn entertaining with the social commentary, or, I suppose, so socially conscious with the entertainment. Twenty four hours after finishing and I'm still doing a little happy dance in my seat. I walk away from this book with all the glee of leaving a blockbuster movie without any of the "oh, wait, that feels really dodgy when you stop to think about it" regrets after.
Because Hendrix knows exactly what can actually terrify me, I only read his books in the morning, when I won't be alone or in the dark05 February 2023
Because Hendrix knows exactly what can actually terrify me, I only read his books in the morning, when I won't be alone or in the dark for hours yet. Sitting here, petting the cat, watching the Spouse sleep through the open door, I look up from the page, the freeze/fight/flight adrenaline stronger than 2 cups of coffee and my ADHD meds with a decongestant chaser.
"falling as fast as she could, landing...so hard it knocked the soul right out of her body...and a millisecond later her head hit the wooden floor with a jarring, hollow knock she could smell."
That sounds so Southern, and the synesthesia works well.
***
06 February 2023
Finished this morning. So satisfying. The contempt for people from outside the South buying up houses is spot on, as is the excitement to be looking at a profit in that inflated, hot sellers market. See The House Next Door for a 1978 Atlanta take.
What makes it so great is how banal it is: the family at the funeral, the stupid, embarrassing fights, the ugliest house in the neighborhood, the stuff left over when the kids move out and on, the detritus parents hang on to, nostalgic for a childhood the kids can't leave fast enough.
I would probably have rated this higher, had I not read so many of her more recent books first. The details I was anticipating in the resolution were I would probably have rated this higher, had I not read so many of her more recent books first. The details I was anticipating in the resolution were mostly not the ones Burrowes chose, and I do love a fictional surprise.
I do enjoy the Windham family's interactions with one another, although they can be a bit much. Still, it's nice to see the old folks enjoying their marriages. Not enough loving parents and grands in literature at large.
I don't consider most coloring books readable, but this one has a fair amount of text explaining what the various microscopic images are, and what theI don't consider most coloring books readable, but this one has a fair amount of text explaining what the various microscopic images are, and what the parts do. Thus I discovered that my son knows considerably more biology than I.
Beyond the STEM info, it is also my very favorite coloring book: while representational, the organelles and cells don't suggest any particular palettes, and they have a fine mix of tiny and spacious areas to color. A perfect coloring book would have gray rather than black outlines, but these are so fine as to be acceptable.
There was a possibility that I would post a picture, but that whim passed.
Another satisfying ending. Burrowes sense of justice is highly advanced as well as entertaining. Restorative and empowering. The art world aspect makeAnother satisfying ending. Burrowes sense of justice is highly advanced as well as entertaining. Restorative and empowering. The art world aspect makes me think of How to Steal a Million.
From the absurd number of tags/shelves I've marked it should be clear that this book manages to. Hit a whole slew of interests. I love these books. I From the absurd number of tags/shelves I've marked it should be clear that this book manages to. Hit a whole slew of interests. I love these books. I love that Cashore is out there having adventures and turning them into stories so that I don't have to go to sea and suffer all that. Because as much as sailing appeals to me, the seasickness would be unbearable.
Now off to start over again with Graceling for the New Year.
I loved The Hating Game more than99 Percent Mine, and realized why h. Twenty. The set-up in many 21st-century contemporary romance novels tends towardI loved The Hating Game more than99 Percent Mine, and realized why h. Twenty. The set-up in many 21st-century contemporary romance novels tends toward a woman with an interesting career that she's really good at, with good friends, a close and loving family, fun hobbies: she is a woman with a full, rich, satisfying life. (#notallcontemporaryheroines) The only thing missing is true love, which she is unlikely to be seeking. Lucy in Hating, and Ruthie in 2nd First aren't all that. They're undervalued and underpaid at work, family is emotionally or figuratively distant, and they have no friends. There are good things but there's also a lot of dissatisfaction. And the lack of friends is their biggest struggle, far more important to them than the lack of romance. They're swell gals with retro thrifted clothes, but they're lonely. So even though one of the joys for me in contemporary romance is the interaction with the friends and parents, it is also true that I have no longer have older close relatives and no best friend to hang out with IRL. So if anyone would like to suggest similar books, please do. Apparently I am an underserved audience.
More interesting to me as history than as art: the posed and costumed portraits weren't my cuppa. But I loved the history of photography, and Cameron'More interesting to me as history than as art: the posed and costumed portraits weren't my cuppa. But I loved the history of photography, and Cameron's biography. And I really, really loved the section at the end giving detail on the models.
I did particularly like one titled "Pomona" one of the few with the model looking straight-ahead into the camera. There's a kind of defiant lack of prettiness that Kahlo used in many of her self-portraits.
Worthwhile, but not especially entertaining. This is what comes of reading author's notes at the end of historical fiction.
Picked up because Hodgkinson's art reminds me of Lauren Childs. That's cause or effect of being art director on Charlie and Lola.
I am kind of sad thatPicked up because Hodgkinson's art reminds me of Lauren Childs. That's cause or effect of being art director on Charlie and Lola.
I am kind of sad that the protagonist never found the perfect reading chair, because that's also my quest. Excellent ending regardless. Loved the expanding cast of critters wanting to hear a book.
My metaphorical plate is overfull at the moment, such that my reading has been almost entirely rereads that require a little less attentio18 June 2023
My metaphorical plate is overfull at the moment, such that my reading has been almost entirely rereads that require a little less attention. Happily there are lots of good books to provide entertainment and diversion without strain. This series features a group of women scholars and suffragettes at it is everything one loves. Dunmore's series is historically accurate and specific interweaving her characters lives into relevant events and news of the day. The romances, in turn, center the conflict of progressive women in repressive times, which is sadly relatable for damn near every woman ever. Contemporary fiction hasn't dealt as much with institutional sexism, although recent efforts to dismantle women's rights in Republican US states and in other nations might change that. I guess I need more books in which sexy feminists discuss ways to advance social change, as in a dialogue at the opening of Chapter 29.
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