Tender is the flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
The first half was really building something interesting, and I was hooked. But that quickly disappeared in the second half as every predictable thing happened at an incredibly fast pace. 3.5 stars because the concept and writing style was good, and I enjoyed the first half but that second half was ehhhh
~ Moth
You Weren't Meant to be Human by Andrew Joseph White
Instant top 5 book. Dark, creepy, and So Trans. I am still thinking about this book weeks later, it was soooooooo good
~ Moth
Monkey King and the World of Myths: The Battle of the Beasts by Maple Lam
This was cute. Art is in chibi style. The Monkey King was less of a trouble maker than most stories I’ve read. I’ll have to see if I can find the rest of the series.
~ killerweasel
The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry
There’s something very wrong with the old McIntyre place. Missing children, teenagers claiming the house attacked them, and other weird happenings.
~ killerweasel
Lone Wolf and Cub Deluxe Edition Volume One by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima
New edition of a classic book series, now in a much larger size. Ronin and his son are assassins for hire who are out for revenge on those who murdered a wife and mother.
~ killerweasel
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Probably my 4th or so reread of this book, but this time i read it to my kids. Still and always a delight. Come for the mystery, stay for the character portraits and a kid's book that doesn't talk down to its readers.
~ alimasin
Lone Wolf and Cub Deluxe Edition Volume Two by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima
This volume contains backstory about Lone Wolf and Cub, talks about why a rival clan set him up, and has a number of fight scenes with detailed illustrations.
~ killerweasel
Chef's Kiss (2022) written by Jarrett Melendez, illustrated by Danica Brine, colored by Hank Jones, and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
[I have included the creators’s credits, because the book is beautifully produced.]
I bought Chef’s Kiss (“a queer adult graphic novel”) when I learned the author would be at NYCC 2023, but I really went to see the 6 OFMD actors who attended: Rhys, Con, Kristian, Vico, Nathan, Matthew. (I bought an OFMD group photo and couldn’t afford anything else, but I have some journal entries I reread and remember the day fondly.)
I decided to finish reading Chef’s Kiss, then started over from the beginning.
Keeping OFMD in mind as I read…
Part of the storyline is about making your own choices, something Ben, here, and Stede in OFMD have in common. Ben just graduated and isn’t getting hired. He sees a “No Experience Necessary” sign, and is hired to train as a cook. He predictably reacts to meeting blond tattooed Liam a bit like Stede does to Ed. (One of his first thoughts is simply “Hi” which we see in a red heart-shaped thought-balloon.)
{Stede’s marriage was arranged by his father. Years into it he has a ship built and becomes a pirate captain without having more than an idealized view of that life. OFMD 1-03 ends with Ed and Stede meeting.
<<BLACKBEARD: The Gentlemen Pirate, I presume.
STEDE: You've heard of me?
BLACKBEARD: Oh yeah, I've heard of you. I've heard all about you.
(Stede smiles happily, and “Our Prayer” by The Beach Boys plays)>>}
As Liam is training Ben on one of the restaurant’s entrees:
BEN: Aye-Aye! Potatoes walking the plank, Cap’n!
LIAM: Ha! Are we pirates now?
BEN: Heh. I kinda, maybe wanted to be a pirate when I was a kid. Not for looting and plundering. Just that freedom to do whatever out on the open seas.
{In OFMD 1-04, while Stede is unconscious (after being stabbed), he has unsettling dream memories:
<<STEDE: Et voila! What do ya think?
MARY: It's a toy?
STEDE: It's a model of a ship. What would you say to living on something like that? You, me, the kids... at sea.
MARY: Why on Earth would we do that?
STEDE: I don't know. Break the monotony.
MARY: Our life feels monotonous to you?
STEDE: No! No, it doesn't, does it? Um... I just think that… why waste our time here, day after day, doing the same old thing when we could be doing this! We could be on a ship having adventures.
MARY: Do you know I hate the ocean? >>}
~ CindyB5
Murder at the Black Cat Cafe by Seishi Yokomizo
This short book is actually two separate stories - one is a pretty seedy tale about a "faceless corpse" found buried behind a brothel, the other an epistolary story about feuding families, jealousy, and murder. Have now read several books by this author and I always enjoy the details of mid-20th-century/postwar Japanese life, plus he loves to include commentary on the genre of mystery fiction itself.
~ @alimasin.bsky.social
Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio by Jeffrey Kluger
I wish the book had focused more either on being a biography of Jonas Salk or on the science/history of the development of the polio vaccine because as it stands I sort of felt like I didn't really get enough depth on either part, and the narrative ended pretty abruptly with a lot of (imo) important information rushed through in the epilogue. (This probably sounds more negative than I mean it to; the book was interesting and all, I was just hoping for more.)
~ remreader (bluesky)
Apparently Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers
Enjoyed it! Didn't think too much about it afterwards, but definitely an enjoyable and weird read!
~ veeagainsttheday
None of the Above by Travis Alabanza
Really interesting memoir from someone who is publicly nonbinary and non-white living in England.
~ veeagainsttheday
Who's Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler
Judith's commentary on gender as a phantasm to the global right is my theory of why everything is so fucked up in world politics right now. I also love how they acknowledge their own past errors. The elder statesperson of gender theory weighing in on our modern times.
~ veeagainsttheday
False Value - Ben Aaronovitch
So the bad guy is dead and there’s a new bad guy in town and this time it’s everyone’s favourite villain a billionaire tech bro. At first I thought I’d wandered into the wrong book, the billionaire tech bro is also a masons nerd who based his entire company around the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy complete with towels for new members of staff.
Of course in the Rivers of London world it’s never as simple as the tech bro just being corrupted there is as ever magic involved this time involving ghost powered truly sentient AI and 3D printed magic powered murder drones.
More river gods/goddesses, more hints into the wizards of WW2 and an out of London cop being lured into world of magic policing.
~ robotpinemarten
The People's Library, Veronica G. Henry
This is the August pick for my library book club, and I really wanted to like it more than I did. I really liked the concept, and I loved the arcs that the protagonist takes as she goes through the events of the story and is definitely not a perfect person, but something about the execution kind of bored me. I'm not sure why. It's almost 300 pages long but at times felt rushed and at others kind of dragged. I think it was a really interesting examination of AI technology and how it might be used in the near future, and setting it in a Cleveland-that-actually-accomplished-rebirth was a really good choice. I think I'll read something else from the author because I like her ideas, but it's possible her style is just not my thing. It will be a really good book club discussion, though.
~ michellethestan
No comments:
Post a Comment