This is not just about death, loss, and grief, although you know there'sgoing to be that, and it is heartbreaking. There is also violence, suffering, This is not just about death, loss, and grief, although you know there'sgoing to be that, and it is heartbreaking. There is also violence, suffering, pain, because the cat who found Carr had also endured a horrible beginning. But there is unconditional love, and companionship, and someone who understands, which is to say: grace.
Carr's memoir is remarkable because he paid such close attention from the beginning to Masha. His thoughts, like his feelings, had time to develop an exquisite complexity and richness. He wrote as if he had all the time in the world. He didn't, of course, none of us do, but he did have just enough. A beautiful memorial to a remarkable cat, who brought out all his finer qualities in a way people mostly didn't. I cannot believe in an afterlife that doesn't reunite them.
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.
This is the allergy season from hell, and I have felt cranky and exhausted since I crawled reluctantly out of bed this morning. At just s25 March 2023
This is the allergy season from hell, and I have felt cranky and exhausted since I crawled reluctantly out of bed this morning. At just slightly past 8 pm I am taking to my bed because I am done. But here is a Rudnick novel I haven't read and it makes up for a lot. No novel, not even a witty novel, can solve all the problems in the world. But it can get me through an unpleasant day with some comfort and rest, and that is a gift for which I am grateful.
***
26 March 2023
Awww. Rudnick provided a happy ending that doesn't feel too Disneyfied: there's prejudice, and horrible people, and grief, but there is so much more humor, and delicious foods, and musicals, and some tough old bats. There is so very much love, of so many kinds, for so many people.
The erstwhile theater-major in me was delighted, and so many lines made me cackle with glee.
"I'd believed in true love which called for a wedding of tasteful yet still Moulin Rouge production number glory"
"She's given me a lifelong interest in books, movies, theater and compassionately judging other people"
"Who I love because he's kind and generous and deeply enjoys using words like 'indeed,' 'wherewithal' and 'everlastingly.'" Indeed.
"I've always loved that, for a doctor with infinite benevolence for children, Abby has the most luridly violent inner life of anyone I've ever met."
There are also quite a few lines I am not quoting, on the subject of vomiting, which slayed one who had hyperemesis gravida. Twice.
Reading, I was inexplicably grudging. There is no obvious reason; there's nothing wrong with the book. And yet, I kept second-guessing historical detaReading, I was inexplicably grudging. There is no obvious reason; there's nothing wrong with the book. And yet, I kept second-guessing historical details, looking them up in order to think "Ah ha! Caught you!" Never did, of course, logically an author wouldn't include period details that were easily googled and found wanting, but I couldn't stop myself. Well, I learned some interesting stuff about what an amazing paper The Springfield Republican has been, which is irrelevant.
Anyway, it's a post-war noir with women in the leads as detective and protégé, and it deals realistically with disability and the failure of police in domestic violence. Maybe noir is too much of a downer for me right now? Whatever, I will keep away from Spotswood in the future only because he doesn't deserve a begrudging review saying the book is just fine, and I shouldn't have carried on. And to compound my sin, the book was overdue to be returned, and I kept it to finish, and no doubt inconvenienced someone waiting for it who would whole-heartedly love it. Blame the imp of perversity.
It delighted me when Father Divine came up, someone I only recently learned of, so plate o' shrimp! Also, Patience and Fortitude got a shout out, and I love them. Many mystery writers of the Golden Age were name checked, again, to my delight. I don't know what's wrong with me for not loving it, maybe the Adderall shortage is wrecking my life more than I realized.
Runyon's a charming writer, in part because he seems to be so sympathetic to the concerns of his characters. And his language is fun and inventive. ThRunyon's a charming writer, in part because he seems to be so sympathetic to the concerns of his characters. And his language is fun and inventive. This is one of the stories mentioned in the intro to A Lot Like Christmas
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.
I thought I knew how it would all play out, and happily I was sooo wrong! No greater joy can be found in a book by a plot fiend such as me. Well, okayI thought I knew how it would all play out, and happily I was sooo wrong! No greater joy can be found in a book by a plot fiend such as me. Well, okay, delicious eats and three devoted friends is quit happy-making. One hates to see people brought together by bigotry, but loves to see people finding their people.
Highly relatable to most admins, English majors, female people, people in publishing, etc. and me, notably neither young nor of Asian descent.
Devoted readers will love this, bookish people, rom-com fans, New York lovers, fans of small towns in general and North Carolina, alDeeply satisfying.
Devoted readers will love this, bookish people, rom-com fans, New York lovers, fans of small towns in general and North Carolina, all the people who watch all the Christmas romance movies, although this is not a Christmas story, probably lots of struggling actors, not excepting those who can do twinkly-eyed not really old ladies, artists filled with contempt for the business, and various others. Those looking for more books like this will enjoying all the names sprinkled through the text and densely packed into the acknowledgements: see, this is why you shouldn't skip the front or back matter.
Guess I'm going to have to read her other books, too.
**spoiler alert** What happens when a clever person reflects on the problems in a very popular series of books? Maybe Novik didn't start this series t**spoiler alert** What happens when a clever person reflects on the problems in a very popular series of books? Maybe Novik didn't start this series thinking how to fix issues with other books set in a world where magic is real and kids go off to special magic boarding school, but it seems like she might have.
It's an interesting world, with quite the dark side, one which incorporates thoughtful consideration of power, and class, and injustice, and prejudice, and friendship, and making deliberate choices. This is for readers whose taste runs more to The Hunger Games and less to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Lots of quandaries, ambiguities, complexities, nuance, and a heroine who pisses everyone off. It's also a series aimed at an older audience, so there's rather more typical teen behavior and less marriage at eighteen.
Very sweet. Props to Murphy for never making the obvious choice, for representation of so many kinds, for plugging into the zeitgeist so perfectly, buVery sweet. Props to Murphy for never making the obvious choice, for representation of so many kinds, for plugging into the zeitgeist so perfectly, but especially for dealing head on with the trauma of getting the parents out of the way. The book is a delight, enough to overcome my distaste for Disney's global colonization of all the things
Very nearly wordless, filled with sight gags and references to comics and graphic novels and books, and New York city and movies and old sitcoms and sVery nearly wordless, filled with sight gags and references to comics and graphic novels and books, and New York city and movies and old sitcoms and scientists and artists and I wish there were a list of all the references I'm sure I missed. I love that it was based on a short film by Bliss' son.
I was bothered by one detail that I felt was less than ideal, but presumably none of the people who looked at the book during any stage of production were bothered: having Woody Allen (and Donald Trump) watching a second grade girl pole dancing was disturbing. It wasn't, as Betsy points out, at all a sexy thing, but...well, given the events of the past two years in particular, sexual assault isn't the top association in my head with Trump, there's all the insurrection and lying and trying to subvert an election. But now that I am reminded I'm not going to be able to stop thinking of his association with Epstein and now I need brain bleach.
>Charming. I like that Bliss made key adult characters male, because you don't see as much parenting and teaching being represented with men in picture books. Okay, in the context of the dance scene, the lack of women in Grace's life is kind of disturbing to me. Because it kind of seems like there must not have been any women working on this. I mean, first time through I didn't mention how disturbing it is that Grace's bedroom window has no bars and is only three and a half feet above the street. And now I'm thinking there's no way other adult women aren't having the same feeling of disquiet. Or how weird it is that none of the pictures on the walls in her house or her room specifically refer to famous women. Compare this to Olivia and her room, and her loud and skillful ways: Grace literally has no voice in this book.
Up until now I have enjoyed Bliss' work enormously, and I expect that I will again. But maybe not when he's giving us a female character who never speaks in her own story, let alone to another female character.
Edited to remove the spoiler tags and go ahead and include the bit about the window, that I had just sort of talked myself out of in the first draft. But after reading Betsy's review, I am less inclined to see it as an isolated disquiet.
A warm and cuddly holiday treat with enough depth and humor to make the HEA feel earned. Also, it's delightful to see the literary magic of The SisterA warm and cuddly holiday treat with enough depth and humor to make the HEA feel earned. Also, it's delightful to see the literary magic of The Sisters Eight series in a mature tale. All the hygge I so needed.
Library copy GoodReads giveaway copy
Some personal backstory: I have been internet friends with Lauren Baratz-Logsted since 2000 at Readerville, and a fan since she published The Thin Pink Line in 2003. She is responsible for one of the greatest memories of my parenthood. When she, and Jackie, and Greg were working on the first Sisters Eight book, she shared the manuscript for me to read to my kids for feedback. So every night I would read a a new chapter and the next day I would email her with their reactions. Some of their thoughts made it into the final published version. Nothing in a lifetime of reading is as amazing as reading a newly published book to your kids when they hear their idea.
Love the concept, the parallels, the endmatter. The color-coding is fine in theory, but the NY blue robs the city of plantlife. Also, it's really weirLove the concept, the parallels, the endmatter. The color-coding is fine in theory, but the NY blue robs the city of plantlife. Also, it's really weird seeing the kids so heavily gender marked, especially all the little girls in super-short dresses circa early 1960s illustrations.
It's just lovely. McQuiston gives August a strong yearning for family, for acceptance, for inclusion, and puts her to work in a Brooklyn pancake dinerIt's just lovely. McQuiston gives August a strong yearning for family, for acceptance, for inclusion, and puts her to work in a Brooklyn pancake diner. A newcomer to the city with all her worldly goods packed in four small boxes, August gets sucked in to the lives of her roommates, her neighbors, her coworkers, and the hot punk on the train. It's a young woman finding a family, falling in love with the city, the Pride movement, activism, and learning to love smelling like pancakes and late nights at diners. And the queens! They are collectively the best ever. It's probably a lot like the dream of everyone moving to the big city, only much stranger. So heartwarming and wholesome and sweet and funny, even when it is most bittersweet. If there is anything less than perfect about this book, I don't want to know about it.
Lippman is brilliant and scary. How can any reader not love all the variations on writers and modern fiction? I am always on about novels in which no Lippman is brilliant and scary. How can any reader not love all the variations on writers and modern fiction? I am always on about novels in which no one ever reads, or in which someone is a reader but isn't shown reading, or talking about books. This is just marvelously book-rich.
And Gerry Anderson feels at once archetypal and plausibly real. Not that I imagine he is based on a real person, but we've all encountered goys who resemble him in various ways. He is such a mediocre sort of guy, and also so defensive, and horrible, and clueless.
Highly recommended to just about everyone for the sheer readerly fandom, but also because Lippman is so great at creating expectations and fulfilling them in unexpected ways. Just the thing if one is looking for a riff on classic crime novel themes, writer themes, horror themes, or a combination thereof for Halloween.
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