I needed to experience this book while moving because I unfortunately didn't have an hour or two to read it in one sitting before the book club about I needed to experience this book while moving because I unfortunately didn't have an hour or two to read it in one sitting before the book club about it. I read the last half-ish while on a walk which helped, somehow. Read this if you like experimental, mystical, existential, stream of consciousness things. ...more
I voted for this book in my SF book club's poll because I was curious about Colma. After reading the book I am still curious about Colma. The plot didI voted for this book in my SF book club's poll because I was curious about Colma. After reading the book I am still curious about Colma. The plot didn't take advantage of the setting as much as I hoped. The mystery might as well have been anywhere else, so if you like ghost and cop stories and don't care at all about where they're set, you might like this. If you really want Colma stuff, join me in October for one of the Shaping SF walking tours of the cemetery. Maybe I'll finally go this year, thanks to Dorst....more
What a wild ride. Read this if Wikipedia rabbit holes bring you joy and you want to bop along for jaunts across history. The physicality is great, theWhat a wild ride. Read this if Wikipedia rabbit holes bring you joy and you want to bop along for jaunts across history. The physicality is great, the grotesqueness is great, the essay, "On names and the troubled history of politics and how things are named" is the reason why this book will stay on the shelf. La Malinche scenes are exquisite.
Read this if: you're in the mood to suspend disbelief, relax about what you don't know and won't remember and YOLO.
This book is so bad it's so good. I am a Big Fan of the Fast & Furious franchise and if you like those films too you will love this book. It just keepThis book is so bad it's so good. I am a Big Fan of the Fast & Furious franchise and if you like those films too you will love this book. It just keeps escalating! Also lots of fun to read Google doc comments as a storytelling tactic. ...more
So much fun. So many references. I was skeptical that Beauty & The Beast could be made contemporary, but I should not have doubted Jasmine Guillory! ASo much fun. So many references. I was skeptical that Beauty & The Beast could be made contemporary, but I should not have doubted Jasmine Guillory! A+....more
Read this if: - The place that you now call home is not the place where you grew up. - Novels about family dynamics are your jam. - You enjoy getting Read this if: - The place that you now call home is not the place where you grew up. - Novels about family dynamics are your jam. - You enjoy getting to know many characters at once.
You might also like: - Milk Blood Heat, Dantiel Moniz (more literature about the suburbs) - The Five Wounds, Kirsten Valdez Quade (if you wanted Enrique to be the narrator) - 100 Boyfriends, Brontez Purnell (there’s one gorgeous short story in here about returning home from the city)
There were parts of this that I really liked. I’d recommend it to anybody who does not call the place where they grew up home, to anybody who values investing in urbanism and community.
At the same time, I saw in the protagonist some of the self-righteousness I fear and loathe in myself. I caught myself being him, one night while brushing my teeth and trying to sort out what made me bristle at him so much, I thought, “I bet he doesn’t even use a compostable toothbrush.” That’s the exact kind of thing he would think about somebody else, that he does think. The scenes when he goes out of his way to walk, then bike, when he calculates the number of plastic bottles in all the grab-and-go joints in all the town, are things I do all the time.
He even does what I most fear that I do. He critiques these distinctly American systems, but then fails to grant his family, victims of that same system, enough grace. It’s a quality that makes the book so human, as uncomfortable as it is to notice.
Aside from all of those Feelings, from a craft perspective I wanted this book to either be short stories or a more epic novel, with hundreds of pages devoted to each character, especially his husband and his mom. That reveal in the end was too sudden. I would love to chat with the editor.
One last funny thing. I described this book to a friend at a bar, “It’s about why the suburbs are bad.” The bartender overheard and quipped, “You need a whole book for that?” When most frustrated with this book I felt that, but at its best it made me feel less alone, which is all I ever want from a novel. ...more
There's a great line in this book about sharing art and knowledge as sharing power. It reminded me of a dear friend who took me record shopping for myThere's a great line in this book about sharing art and knowledge as sharing power. It reminded me of a dear friend who took me record shopping for my birthday. I shared that line with him and I appreciate this book for that. ...more
I picked this up in the local authors section of Capitol Books in Sacramento, when I was in town to run the California International Marathon. It remiI picked this up in the local authors section of Capitol Books in Sacramento, when I was in town to run the California International Marathon. It reminded me of what I know, that places that I travel to run are so much more, full of so many local political battles and people hurting and interesting histories.
Read this if you like a cozy murder mystery with a little California gold rush history, and you're curious and open to a story that centers neighbors experiencing homelessness....more
This book is as if "The Standard of Living", one of my favorite Dorothy Parker stories, expanded to fill a novel and to carry the angst of the 2010s aThis book is as if "The Standard of Living", one of my favorite Dorothy Parker stories, expanded to fill a novel and to carry the angst of the 2010s along with grief and class and race scenes. It glitters. I really liked it, and I cherish the book club discussion we had about how it feels to read party scenes post-COVID.
Read this if: you like that Dorothy Parker story or "The Dud Avocado" or "Lady Bird"; you like self-discovery stories; you want a story about female friendship where the men hardly matter; you wonder if your 20s could've been more glamorous (mine could've been). ...more
Read this if: you prefer complicated, problematic protagonists, you crave excellent short stories, you enjoy fiction written during terrifying times iRead this if: you prefer complicated, problematic protagonists, you crave excellent short stories, you enjoy fiction written during terrifying times in history, you like being reminded that just before and during those horrifying times almost a century ago, people felt things that you might've felt today (like dealing with a fuccboi).
Obsessed. I now look for Chang in every bookstore....more
This book will always have a special place in my heart, because I read it traveling to and from a thing I did to my body in response to things happeniThis book will always have a special place in my heart, because I read it traveling to and from a thing I did to my body in response to things happening in the US. Maybe that's why I didn't like the book as much as I expected to. It was interesting and useful to read somebody else agonize over US politics when they weren't currently experiencing them in their own body, on this soil, like I was.
Read this if: you're in to art that responds to moments in time like 2016, you don't need plots, you like interior novels where you watch a character evolve through their thoughts, you like a book that gives off energy and emotion in cadence and editing and rhythm, you're an intellectual or you're okay with things going over your head. Some of this felt like a party that I wasn't invited to, and I was okay with that. The way the words sound is enough for me....more
I kept repeating the titles in this series and laughing about them and regretted not buying this mystery series when I was passing through Capitol BooI kept repeating the titles in this series and laughing about them and regretted not buying this mystery series when I was passing through Capitol Books in Sacramento, so Michael gifted them to me.
Read this if you love a cozy comfort mystery, or if things in your life feel unpredictable and a predictable ending sounds like just what you need (it was for me). It's worth a warning that something bad happens to a poodle, and the poodle survives!...more
During my lifetime a vandal destroyed queer books at the San Francisco Public Library. The Hormel Center turned those destroyed books into works of arDuring my lifetime a vandal destroyed queer books at the San Francisco Public Library. The Hormel Center turned those destroyed books into works of art. I loved learning that history, and about the care librarians put into creating and curating the center. Read this if you want to learn more about San Francisco's queer history and how that history is being shared. ...more
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