Court

Thought this was excellent for showing kids that it'd be great if you like the same thing but it's also good if you like similar things eg roller skating is not the same as skateboarding but it's similar, can be done in the same place, and it's good to share and try new things. My learner enjoyed it, plus we thought the comic layout was cool.

A very enjoyable listen. Rovelli's words are great, love how he spoke of Einstein and other notable figures. Of course mentioned Proust, will have to sample him sometime.
Cumberbatch's narration was excellent and at times reminded me of Neil Gaiman.

Not sure how much of this will stick, but it was a pleasure to listen to. Added some quotes to help retain some more of it.

I really liked when he talked about Buddhism and its views on suffering.

Perhaps closer to 4.5 but probably because I was listening to it and had a difficult time telling when the perspective switched.
I loved the setting, fairytale/folklore elements, strong female characters, Jewish representation, and I want more fantasy books like this.

The story in the beginning about the fish dream was excellent.

The art is fantastic throughout.

I didn't love the inclusion or parallels to the animal families, it seems like a way to get my learners distracted making animal sounds rather than talking about who lives in their house or cares for them.

The art and story oscillated for me. But ultimately art doesn't have to be pretty and I really like McKean's style so I chose the three over two stars.

I think the intent is fantastic, but the execution felt lacking. I was hoping for more than just “this is special”. It's not completely clear that the kids tried her food.
It's weird that she says her mom picks her up in the “evening”, the girl is in first grade; is there an after school daycare? This is a missed opportunity to include additional snacks as there would also be a morning snack and if staying at an afterschool program there would then be another snack time in the afternoon.

Love the fighting frogs and all the puns throughout.

I skimmed the songs

I liked diving into the horse race board game and Elder Kettle's iceberg lettuce.

Thought the segment of them being gum runners was excellent. I laughed, thinking about how it made me think of ‘gun runners' and how the game is characterized as a ‘run and gun'.

While the art was not always pretty it was always interesting and I enjoyed Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman's words. Sometimes it seemed like they were engaged but in banter. Also the repeated requests for the inclusion of a fish was amusing.

https://waldyrious.neocities.org/ted_chiang/liking-what-you-see-a-documentary

Brilliant premise and fantastic execution

Well, in the first paragraph I learn that “calli” as a prefix means beauty.

Ooh, when the neurologist comes up I'm reminded of the FFA (fusiform face area) region of the brain that is specialized for recognizing faces.

“Being pretty is fundamentally a passive quality; even when you work at it, you're working at being passive.”

“Every study on this issue turns up the same results: looks help people get ahead. We can't help but think of good-looking people as more competent, more honest, more deserving than others. None of it's true, but their looks still give us that impression.” This bias can be a halo effect.

I don't recall learning about Fregoli syndrome, very interesting.

I'll come back and and add a note for most of the stories, but for the most part I enjoyed this.
I even liked the long introduction and the comments at the end.

Probably a 4 star read, but I was swooning over the chapter break pages that had quotes and lines from the song.

I also loved the small section where they talk about Mal's face.

Brilliant, reminds me of Gorey while still remaining its own

Love the mention of Hideo Kajima/Konami.

I knew hana could mean flower, cool to now know that hanami is flower watching, usually the cherry blossoms

I struggled with this one, I think I'll give it a re-read.

I hope this was cathartic for Bex to create but it was quite the mixed bag for me.

Love the small town sheriff

I had already read the last story of The Living and the Dead, which I thought was fantastic.

The other stories were also great; well constructed and I loved the silent movie era motif.

It says it's a fictionalization, although I don't know which aspects are fictional.

I enjoyed this, even though I was saddened that he left his wife and young son for so long.

Intriguing. It appears that I have read this about three years ago. I guess I liked it better then as I gave it 5 stars.

Love the language aspect. Trip to Japan was cool. I felt connected as I live in CA. It's a good balance of their* experience as a hostess and the other aspects of this period of their life.

*Mari at the time this was created didn't use they/them pronouns, but now they do, so I've gone back and corrected it. I also had this on my lbgt+ shelf as it's my understanding that Mari is queer and this autobiographical. However, Mari doesn't discuss queer topics in volume. So, I took it off that shelf.

I really enjoyed Hill's forward and loved his characters. I thought the art was good.

I was saddened by the death of the officer on the highway, but then remembered that's the way of apocalyptic events.

I really liked this one, it made me feel and root for the characters. Templeton was fantastic.

I liked Toni more than I thought I would.

I re-listened to this, maybe first heard it as early as 2020.

I do like the end of this one.
I also like* the characterization of humanity, or at least that aspect of it. Okay, like with an asterisks. I'd say the view of humanity presented here is a bit grey, something along the lines of: Humanity is messed up, we're human, imperfect beings capable of awful things but also want to change and improve things given the chance.

3.5
I drifted in and out for this one. Parts were pretty (such as the description of sea glass) but it didn't feel cohesive, likely just due to my foggy, allergy head. Maybe I'll give this one another listen. I liked the perspective of the fisherman.

I rather liked the beginning, however I disliked the end in that it was a robot crucifixion. It doesn't work for me. I studied Renaissance art and I love the Pieta, I just cannot imagine anyone mourning the Sin Eater, even if he forgives the others.


Will add some quotes as I did enjoy some of the author's attitudes expressed about religion and human nature.