April Mini-Reviews

Lookit this! Another post in March. I mean, it's close to the end of March, but still! Another post! Which means I'm making my (very low stakes) goal. Phew. It was touch and go for a while. Honestly, even while I'm writing this, it's still touch and go cos who knows if I'll actually finish it.

As I was writing the last couple mini-review posts, I realized last year my reading was very...eh. Which is very likely why my first read in April was The Graveyard Book, which I won't go into here because I've already written about it. I will just say the more often I read it, the more I love it and I think I need to relisten to it again, even if it gives me ALL THE EMOTIONS. But hey, let's instead talk about books that I haven't already written about here.

Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting by Jennifer Traig
I only remember bits and pieces of this book. There's a LOT in the beginning about kids...not making it. Which is rough to get through, although it to be fair to it, it doesn't linger. I remember enjoying it; there's lots of interesting bits about the history of child rearing. BUT it didn't totally stick with me. To the point where I saw this book included on a list of parenting books and thought "That looks interesting, I should check it out!" only to see that I had already marked it as Read in Goodreads. Make of that what you will. But I think I may give it another read and see if it sticks with me more.
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Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
A bookclub selection! An English murder mystery. Actually, it's two murder mysteries in one, since there's a story within the story that's also a murder mystery. It's hard to talk too much about it because, you know, mystery. Don't want to wander into spoilers territory. I liked the idea of it and I liked the story within the story best but the flow of the book was not my favorite. But it did make me want to read more murder mysteries.
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Strange Weather by Joe Hill
Short story collections can be very hit or miss. I tend to stay away from them, because I often find they contain more misses. Stephen King tends to be an exception and I figured why not give his son a chance. Good news, he did not disappoint. I mean, it helps that I already like Hill's stuff, so I felt confident giving this a try. The stories were really good. There's a story about a guy who can erase memories with a polaroid. A story about a guy who finds himself carried away on a cloud. Or cloud like thing. A story about a sudden deluge, not of rain but of nails and the horror that it brings. And finally a story about a good-guy with a gun...maybe. They were all very good, had moments that were truly tense and scary and had moments that were heartbreaking.
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The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
A sci-fi short story about a world where you can't murder anyone anymore. Most of the time if you try, that person comes back to life. Oh sure, people can still die, but not from murder. So there arises a group called Dispatchers, whose job it is to "kill" someone, someone who is on death's door, so they maybe have another chance at life. But there's a shady underground world to this (of course) and what happens when a fellow dispatcher is murdered? It was an Audible Original, so a quick story. I don't totally remember the resolution but the premise seemed interesting. I gave it a decent rating so I suppose I enjoyed it.
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Can I get another post in before the month ends??? Probably not but you never know!

March (2019) Mini-Reviews

Here's an attempt to catch up on posting and actually, you know, write on this blog. What a concept.

I'm taking advantage of some time to write as COVID-19 has got us social distancing. Which seems counterintuitive (not the social distancing, that makes sense) since you'd think if we're all trapped in the house I'd have less time to write cos the lil monster requires attention. Except now we're BOTH home so entertainment detail can be split.

So why not catch up on some more mini-reviews? See if I can't stay ahead of the game (I cannot). Heads up, as I look at the list of books I read in March of 2019 I gotta tell you...not a lot is coming to me. This may be brief.

How to Be Good by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby. I like the guy. I mean I think. I like High Fidelity anyway (both book and movie, thankyouverymuch). And he wrote an album with Ben Folds that includes a song about Levi Johnston (Sarah Palin's almost son-in-law?) that's catchy. I was at the Strand and saw a copy of How to Be Good and figured I'd give it a try. Basically this guy who is sort of a jackass has a spiritual awakening where he decides he has to turn his life around and be a good person. And while it's hard to fault someone for doing this, it is driving his wife and kids nuts. It's a strange book and I don't really remember much in the way of a resolution but that could just be my bad memory. I remember it being mostly just...eh. Not terrible but not great.
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Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
I listened to this as an audiobook and I think that was a mistake. Because I generally lurve Fforde's stuff. But I have noted, to myself and even out loud to others, that I can't imagine how stuff like the Thursday Next series would work in any format other than a book. There's so much that plays with language and footnotes and typography that you need to see it. And yet I thought "Oh, here's a new book from him, I should definitely listen to this as an audiobook. Even though in general I find I have more trouble paying attention to fiction audiobooks than nonfiction ones, I'm sure it will be fine this time." Like most of Fforde's stuff, the plot is hard to describe. Basically it's a dystopian where in the winter everyone has to hibernate and there are these strange dreams killing people and there are weird creatures roaming about. And there is Charlie a winter consul, who is dealing with the bureaucracy that comes with this (because there is hilarity and satire within dystopias). I remember it being weird, as his stuff often is, but I had trouble getting my bearings in the story and I don't know if that was intentional (i.e., he's trying to make you doubt your own sanity) or if I just missed out on stuff cos I was listening instead of reading. I should probably give this a try but as a book-book and then come back with new thoughts.
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Sakina's Restaurant by Aasif Mandvi
This was a short story, one of the Audible Originals that's free each month with a subscription. It's sort of a one man show about a man coming to America from India and working at a restaurant and the strangeness of the new life and what he loves about his new home and what he misses and what the family he works for is like. It was funny at times but overall I can't remember much of it. Apparently it was originally an actual one-man play so perhaps it works a bit better that way.
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A Mind of Her Own by Paula McLain
Another free Audible Original. This one a fictional account of the life of a young Marie Curie (nee Sklodowska). She's far from home, studying in Paris and meets a certain Pierre Curie. I thought it'd be interesting to hear a bit about this woman of whom I know only a bit here and there. Mostly the radioactive stuff. And there's a bit about her but I can't say I retained much. Even at the time of listening, judging by the rating I gave it, I wasn't too into it then. It focuses more on the love story with Pierre and less about her work. Which could be fine but wasn't my thing.
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So when I look at my mini-reviews for Feb 2019 and now these things were...not great, reading wise. Which explains why, following these reads, I listened to The Graveyard Book which is def one of my fav books (to listen to, to read-read) because I needed something that was going to be great. Spoilers, it WAS great, even if it gives me ALL OF THE EMOTIONS. But now is not a time to review that book. Now is the time to see what nonsense is going on while I keep myself hidden away.

February Mini-Reviews

February was a busy month for reading. I'm trying to think of why that might have been. I started a new job so you'd think if anything I would have read less. But I guess as I was getting used to having a driving commute again (something I haven't had in many years) and listening to books in the car I got through more than I would have otherwise thought. I read 7 books and most of them were new which means, lots of mini-reviews. So let's get to it.

Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address by Stephen Birmingham
I can't remember at what point I decided I loved The Dakota, the apartment building in NYC, but love it I do. It's a beautiful building in a great location (even if originally it was so far uptown you may as well "be in the Dakotas") and it is my dream place to live even though it will never ever ever happen. It's featured in the novel Time and Again. Rosemary's Baby was filmed there. John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived there. So I picked up a copy of this book about the history of the building when it was on sale and dove in. The first half of the book about getting built and the scandal of building this place so far from all the fancy-pants people was very interesting. The second half of the book was basically gossip about the residents which was somewhat entertaining except I didn't know who anyone was and turns out I don't care about NY socialites. Of course the interesting thing is this book was written BEFORE John Lennon was killed so there's a lot of present-tense references to him which was jarring because I did not check the publication date before diving in. It also means there is a fair amount of casual racism. I would love to read an updated version and see if they got all of the attic apartments figured out, since in the '70s, it wasn't clear how many apartments there actually were, which you'd think would be an easy thing to figure out but nothing is clear when it comes to the Dakota.
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Noir by Christopher Moore
I love Christopher Moore. Lamb is still one of my most favoritest books. This was the first of his books I did as an audiobook and I was a little worried how I would like his stuff on audio. Especially because I hadn't listened to much fiction since I find it harder to pay attention to. And I think it may have hurt my enjoyment here because the book was fine but not as good as I would have hoped. It's a noir style novel featuring a mysterious dame who walks into a bar where our hero, bartender Sammy, works. There's also maybe aliens or a strange cult. Something strange is going on. I can't remember a lot of this book. I remember the style ("a size-eight dame in a size-six dress and every mug in the joint was rooting for the two sizes to make a break for it as they watched her wiggle in the door and shimmy onto a barstool with her back to the door.") which I liked. But the story itself I was basically "meh" on. Entertaining enough, but not one I'll probably re-read anytime soon.
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Earpedia: Animals by Sue Perkins
This was one of the Audible Originals that's only sort of a book but could also just be a podcast. Regardless, I count it as a book cos it came from Audible and that's how that works. So this is a "book" about a bunch of animals. Each episode/chapter is about a different animals (Bees! Koalas! African Lung Fish!) and if you like watching nature documentaries but think they could use some humor, this could be for you. It was for me. Plus, as lovely as Sandi and Noel are, I very much miss Sue and Mel as Great British Bake Off hosts, so this was a nice opportunity to hear her humor again.
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Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science by Bill Bryson
Another Audible Original, this one by Bill Bryson and others discussing scientific discoveries. It's a bit like A Short History of Nearly Everything-lite. Some interesting pieces except I only remember bits and pieces of this, despite loooooving Bryson. So take from that what you will
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Killer by Nature by Jan Smith
And ANOTHER Audible Original. Except this one is more like a radio play, full cast and sound effects and whatnot. Psychological thriller about a child-murderer and a copycat killer. I remember liking it and being engaged and I wanted the opportunities to pick it up again. But now, honestly, I can't really remember it. Which, that's not great, especially not for a thriller. I can't even remember if there is a twist. I think so? Thrillers usually have twists, right? I gave it four stars on Goodreads after reading it so I guess I liked.
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Full list of Feb books read
Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address by Stephen Birmingham
Noir by Christoper Moore
Texts from Jane Eyre by Daniel Ortberg
Earpedia: Animals by Sue Perkins
Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science by Bill Bryson
Relish by Lucy Knisley
Killer by Nature by Jan Smith

January Mini-Reviews

So 2019 is almost over. And here I am, just getting started on my 2019 mini-reviews. But hey, I'm in the same calendar year, so that is pretty exciting, even if this is only a brief interlude before once again, I'm a year behind on reviews. Le sigh.

Also, I should really make an icon for these mini-reviews. I'm sure I'll get around to that right as I'm all caught up and done doing mini-reviews.

I can tell how much of a blur this year as been by the fact that I'm looking at the stuff I read in January and thinking about how I barely remember them. A lot was going on; I was just going back to work after being on maternity for 6 mos (and not an initially planned 6 mos leave). Figuring out daycare and work (when there were LOTS of changes there) took up a lot of brainpower.

Basically what I'm saying is, for the next few mini-reviews (this post and future ones) there's going to be a lot of guessing what the book was about and if I enjoyed it. I suppose it's not great for the ones I don't remember.

Let's get started, shall we?

Diary of a Hounslow Girl by Abreen Razia 

So this one I vaguely remember. It was an Audible Original (aka, with an Audible subscription every month you get 2 free downloads of an Audible Original that varies every month. Typically they are things I've never ever heard of but free is fun) so I can't say I was familiar with anything about it. Even the description says "You’ve heard of an Essex Girl or even a Chelsea Girl but what is a ‘Hounslow Girl’?" and I said "Nope, I haven't heard of anything of these because I, a dumb American, do not pay attention to things outside my country, apparently." But all of that was part of the appeal of picking this one up. It's about a bunch of stuff that is unfamiliar to me. In this case it's about a Pakistani teen in London. It's done as a play. Or I suppose a one-woman show, since there's really only Razia playing the part of Muslim teen Shaheeda, torn between wanting to be a modern teen in London and her family's traditional expectations. But the details I remember are vague, so I remember it being pretty good but clearly didn't leave too much of an impression.
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Lullaby by Jonathan Mayberry

Hey, another Audible Original. I really don't remember this one. Like at all. I vaguely remember listening to it and thinking "I know I just listened to this, but I already forgot what's happening." Something about a haunted house. A young couple with a new baby decide to leave the big city for a big quiet house in the Catskills and something weird going after the baby. I think. Maybe. Honestly, this seems like something I would enjoy and would really be paying attention to, and even skimming through some other reviews, nothing is coming to mind. It's super short (like 30 min) so maybe I'll try to listen to it again and see if it sticks this time. Or like...probably not.
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So. Those were some good reviews. Really doing my part here.

All books read in January
The Diary of a Hounslow Girl by Abreen Razia
The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan
Lullaby by Jonathan Mayberry
World War Z by Max Brooks

December 2018 Mini-Reviews

You guys, this is it. I'm done with 2018 mini-reviews. Now all of the books I need to review have been read within the calendar year! I mean, sure, 2019 is close to over so this cycle is about to start itself over again, but that is very much not the point right now. I don't know why you're such a downer. I'm feeling good about this, don't rain on my parade.*

Alright, let's see what I read in December 2018.

Becoming by Michelle Obama
Things politically are...not great, to put it in the most understated of terms. Reading/listening (audiobook. Which she narrated!) to this was conflicting because there was a lot of "She's so great. Remember when there were competent people in charge?" But this is about Michelle and the focus isn't really on politics (though they obviously come up). She talks about growing up in South Side, Chicago. She talks about her time at Princeton and what it was like to be female and black in this environment. She talks about being a lawyer and meeting Barack and their troubles starting a family and the strain politics can put on a marriage and times she was proud and not-so-proud of her country.
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Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets by John Woolf and Nick Baker, narrated by Stephen Fry
An Audible Original all about the Victorians and some of the more taboo pieces of every day life, including religion, sexuality, drugs. Ya know, all the fun stuff. I can't say I know a huge amount of Victorian history but this was a fun audiobook, and Fry is a great narrator. It's a bit melodramatic, but that makes it all that much more entertaining.
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Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Food in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens by Andrew Beahrs, narrated (in part anyway) by Nick Offerman
I include the narrator here since that was part of the draw for this, another Audible Original. (The other draw is the free nature of these originals.) Anyway, this is a biography of Mark Twain, based around food. More specifically around certain dishes that were important to Twain at different points in his life, based on a list of meals Twain talked about missing during his year in Europe. I did zone out from time to time but overall it was an entertaining story/series of interviews about Mark Twain. And makes me think I should prob read more Twain...
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New Family Values by Andrew Solomon
Another Audible Original. Apparently I was saving them up for the end of the year. This one is a series of interviews about families, particularly about the changing nature of families from the traditional nuclear family with a mom, dad and 2.5 kids to gay families and adoptive families and child-free families and multi-parent families. I remember enjoying the book but honestly, I don't remember a huge amount about it. So good but bland, I suppose?
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*Looking at my last mini-review post, I dunno why I have cast you, the reader, in such an antagonistic role here. But I have. Go with it.

Changing Reading Habits

If it hasn't been clear by my significant decrease in posting, habits have changed over this way. Time to read and write have been reduced and my method of reading has had to change as well. I have fully embraced both audiobooks and the library, which really, is about time.

But it's not just the format that's changed, but also the genres. Or more specifically, one genre. Books that deal with parenting. Fiction. Non-fiction. Memoir. Advice. I mean, this shouldn't be too surprising given the whole reason for habits changing.

It's this fancy fella here

I didn't read much in the way of pregnancy books. And I didn't really start picking up parenting books until the last couple months. I suppose it happened when the parenting stuff started to seem more active/interesting because newborns are cute but man, can they be dull. Toddlers are far more active. Far more. The monster goes to a weekly gym class to try to burn off some energy and give him somewhere padded to run.

I haven't necessarily picked up a lot of advice books but more just wanting to read about other parents and the weirdness that is having kids. Kids are weird and parenting is simultaneously the most boring, common thing you can do and so unique and all-consuming. So what are those parenting books I've read? Well, I'm glad you asked, because otherwise this post would be very short.

Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting by Jennifer Traig

Parenting norms have changed so much over the years (people used to tie babies to boards and just sort of...prop them up in the corner and leave them there) and cultural histories are great so this was fun. I mean, also disturbing at times. As history often is.

Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool by Emily Oster

If there is one type of parenting book I love, it's data-driven parenting and I am being sincere here. The only pregnancy book I really read was hers (Expecting Better) and as soon as I finished it I immediately looked for anything else she had written. Alas, at that time, there was nothing else and I had to deal with those first months with NO science behind why parents do the things we do. Parenting advice that is more "here's the information, make your own choices using that" is the best kind of advice.

Someone Could Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First Century Parenting by Drew Magary 

Parenting is weird and the thought of a 3 year old yelling something that sounds very much like "What's up, fuckface!" is hilarious. And other parts of the book are very touching or very emotional (NICU time, for instance). Listening to this as an audiobook was a great choice for all of the different emotions.

Confessions of a Domestic Failure by Bunmi Laditan

The library is great because I can pick up a book I may have otherwise passed over, because what do I have to lose? I'm not spending any money on this. And thus when I saw Jenny Lawson say this book was funny, I figured give it a shot. It was funny and cringy and did a good job highlighting how wonderful but also isolating parenting can be.

The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Parenting by Bunmi Laditan

I didn't necessarily intend to read two books by Laditan, let alone back to back, but such is the way things go. The premise of this book started to wear thin near the end (a toddler answers advice column about parenting toddlers from his point of view) but for the most part it was funny.

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

I've watched a lot of Jim Gaffigan's standup. I like watching something to fall asleep to that I already know well (so I won't stay up watching it) that both Tom and I can agree on. Which means watching the same few standup specials on Netflix (Gaffigan, Mulaney, Oswalt, Wong are the main ones) an embarrassing amount. Like Netflix, please never tell me how many times I've watched these (or Planet Earth or Blue Planet or Great British Bake Off, which are other night time go tos). Listening to an audiobook of him talk about being a parent to 5 kids in a tiny NYC apartment was right up my alley. Even if a fair amount of the material here made its way into his standup. Or vice versa. Since I clearly don't have a problem with hearing the same jokes 1000 times, this was fine by me.

I didn't start out intending to write some (extra) mini-reviews, but there you go. A round up of recent parenting books. And I'm sure there will be more in my future.

November 2018 Mini-Reviews

I was doing well with these mini-reviews at one point. But I'm back to being almost a year behind. ALMOST but not quite. Also I got an actual, for reals review written, so get off my back, imaginary nagging reader.

Anyway, let's see what I can remember about these books I read back in November 2018.

I'm A Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson

As mentioned my last mini-review post (which was back in JULY so you're forgiven for not remembering this), I got an audiobook collection that included a few books by Bryson, including this one, Neither Here Nor There and Notes From A Small Island. I've read all of these books before. Multiple times. So it's surprising I'd never written about this one or Small Island previously. Surprising/disappointing, as it means I can't just link those old reviews. Sigh. Anyway, I'm A Stranger Here Myself also titled Notes From A Big Country (which is what my book copy is called) is a collection of columns Bryson wrote after moving back to the US from England and all the differences he found, the things he missed, the things he doesn't care for (there's much of that - read this if you enjoy a hilarious curmudgeon). It's a great book if you want to drop in and out of it, since the columns are stand alone. And I also recommend the audiobook, even though it was an abridgment, because listening to Bryson read this was great.

Where Should We Begin? The Arc of Love by Esther Perel

I had an Audible subscription and in addition to getting credits for audiobooks, you also get 2 free books every month out of their collection of some Audible originals. Sometimes these are great, sometimes they're disappointing, sometimes they're just sort of fine. This falls into that third group. This wasn't so much like a book. It was more like a podcast. Really, it's a series of recordings from various therapy sessions she's conducted, centering around love. Romantic love between spouses. Love between parents and children. But mostly it's the couples talking about their problems, love, adultery. As I skim through reviews from others and some notes I have, I remember that while listening I liked her advice. But this far removed, I basically don't remember most of it. It didn't stick with me and past me gave this 3 stars on Goodreads. So yeah, it was fine. And free which is important.

Full list of books read in November 2018
I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
Tales from Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
Where Should We Begin? The Arc of Love by Esther Perel
Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

October 2018 Mini-Reviews

It's been awhile, I know, but how about time for some MINI REVIEWS! They're like real reviews, only not as good but take less effort from me so right now, I am a FAN. I will try to get some for real, full reviews done at some point. I swear. But the goblin can walk now (/has been able to walk for a couple months now, which is why it's been so long since my last mini-review post) and has found a whole new world of trouble to get into. So that is fun/exhausting

Anyway, let's look at stuff I read almost a year ago.

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

You guys know I love me some Mary Roach. Love her humor and enthusiasm for learning about odd things. She already tackled dead stuff in Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers which focused on the more physical aspects of death. This time around she's going for the more metaphysical. Now there's only so much science on the actual afterlife, which is a bit of a let down for her typical offering. The science that focused more on the historic science where people tried to weigh the soul. I don't feel like I learned as much as with some of her other stuff and the narrator (I listened to this as an audiobook) did some accents that I could have done without, but overall I was still entertained.

OK so I'm back. I realize you had no idea I was gone but I was. Because said goblin interrupted this post and then things were busy. But he's napping now. I don't know how long I have but I'll try to get through this.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

What a great name if you're going to be a mystery/thriller author, right? I tried to look up if it was a pen name or not but then stopped when I went to her website where she lists herself as "one of the world's most popular and acclaimed storytellers" and settle down, Karin. I am all for being happy and confident in our accomplishments (and she has them) but one of the world's most popular storytellers? I think we're talking a long list then. Anyway, I'm getting distracted from reviewing this book.
It was fine. It's a thriller and those are fun. The main character Claire is rich and pretty and bully for her. One day her husband Paul is murdered and Claire is picking up the pieces of this sudden loss. She doesn't have many people to turn to since she and her mother don't have the most open relationship, I don't remember much about her grandmother other than her being hilariously awful, she doesn't speak to her one sister anymore and her other sister went missing years before. Not only is she dealing with this, but there's news of a new missing girl that sounds eerily like the disappearance of her sister so long ago. Saying too much more starts getting spoilery, but let's say there are secrets and answers to questions maybe you wish you hadn't asked. There's a lot going on and it's a bit tropey, there were some surprises and some stuff that you could see coming, and a lot of violence.
Also, if you're curious, Karin rated her own book on Goodreads and gave it 5 stars. Which again, be proud of your work, but that seems odd and I've also never seen another author rate their own book on Goodreads, though perhaps I'm just missing it.

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

I love me some Bryson and this was part of an audiobook collection that included Neither Here Nor There and I'm a Stranger Here Myself/Notes from a Big Country and getting all three for one audible credit was pretty exciting. Anyway. this was a re-read for me, though first time listening and Bryson reads his own stuff, so that's fun. It talks about his travels around Britain, his second home. He had been living in England for almost twenty years when his family decided to head to the US for some time, and so, as a goodbye to this island he loved so much, he travels around writing about it, in his charmingly curmudgeonly way. He talks about ridiculous British place names and round abouts and things being demolished that shouldn't and things being preserved that should and how a boy from middle-America came to live in England in the first place. Even though this audiobook version was an abridgment (sigh) it was still excellent and really, I'd recommend both reading it and listening to it because it's great and you'll probably want to read it multiple times, so give yourself some options.

Good thing I got through those mini-reviews for October because the beast awakens and desperately wants to hit all of the keys on the keyboard. I blame and any all typos on him.