Court
I really like Wil Wheaton's voice so it was an enjoyable listen.
I loved the little tidbit about Q (John de Lancie) signing in silver so no one else could.
I'm a little annoyed with Wheaton saying that he didn't like Deep Space 9 and Voyager while on stage at the convention when someone asked what his favorite episodes of those two series were. I'm a little irked because he mentions liking the other actors and being part of this community, so to me you can say ‘oh I don't really care for those series/they're not my favorite, but I like x.' Because you should support those who have supported you; Michael Dorn was in DS9, Johnathan Frakes directed three episodes of DS9 and three of Voyager, and LeVar Burton directed eight episodes of Voyager. All three Wheaton had spoken favorably of, he could have used that moment to lift someone he does like rather than putting down something he didn't.
Love Kristen Chenoweth, she's such a sweetheart with talent. This book is a little on the saccharine side, but it's a children's book about love (and adoption). A wobbly four.
Also made me think of the medical drama New Amsterdam (based on a book) in which the main character frequently asks ‘how can I help?'
I recall reviewing this so how was this lost? I had to see this book on GR's list of top 60 books or whatever to notice that my review was lost.
I recall liking the book a lot better before the last third or so. It was a little hard to root for Coriolanus, but I do remember liking his cousin and kooky gran. I liked the “genteel poverty” angle and motivation of keeping up appearances.
I really liked this one. I think it's great at the balance of mundane, daily life and fantasy. And of course I love Carroll's art and style. She's also great at crafting a mood.
The ending: I finished the book, flipped back, and exclaimed. There had to be more...an explanation, something. But we don't always get clarity and, if done right, it can be fun to wonder. Was the ‘neighbor', who gives her name as Beth, Shelia? Did the ghost of Shelia possess the ‘neighbor' woman? Is the ghost confused — we've seen her be wrong before. I think Shelia is alive, and at the end she stabs Abby, perhaps because she is influenced by the ghost. As for the ghost I wonder if she was David's girlfriend, maybe high school or college (dentists go to college right?) and instead of getting married and having a baby David kills her? I don't think the ghost is Crystal's mother, mostly because we are never shown the ghost interacting with Crystal. Crystal says she's seen her mother and that she looks different, Abby (and likely the reader) assumes Crystal is referring to the spooky ghost, but really it's because Shelia has been posing as ‘Beth the neighbor' and has dyed her hair.
Other curiosity Why was the sliding glass door broken? Was David involved in the fraudulent money? Why was there a lock on the attic if it was empty — how does that even stop animals from ‘dripping down'?
I put this on my “merica” shelf as most of the book covers Americans and America, with some sections on The UK & Europe and a few mentions of other places. This is a great place to start or as a refresher; lots of ‘bite size biographies', key concepts, major events, and terms. It covers a lot. This would have been great to have had in high school, although I don't know if my AP US history teacher would have liked it.
It also made me tear up in places. Progress is not linear, nor is it universal.
In an ideal world, I think this would have been a three (mayyyybe four) volume collection, going a little deeper with the background of folks and more historical context. So much is covered, I read this in multiple sittings, sometimes pausing to digest; it's really an ambitious premise.
I was impressed with how she wrote about Margret Sanger.
Found this on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6OxrlmSNRrLrOnICVRsECY
I listened to it because I felt bad that it only had one review and a one star at that. However, the writing isn't that strong; it's a lot of simple declarative sentences. There's some decent slice of life elements, but eh.
Overall this is really great for its target audience of siblings (or other children who have relations to) an autistic kiddo.
I didn't love the second half of this sentence: “Autism can't be cured, and that's why everybody in the family has to learn to share the problem.”
First, yay for saying that autism can't be cured, thank you. Second, the word ‘problem' is, well, problematic; I think ‘challenge' would have been less problematic. The word problem calls to mind the phrase ‘problem child' and the concept that problems (eg math problem) have solutions, but the first half of the sentence states that autism doesn't have a cure so then what's the solution?
How odd that I neglected to mark this one as read. I checked it out via hoopla in late October and probably finished it in November. It was okay, I recall some of it, but I do remember not loving the main character and thinking the survival of her brother and that everyone seemed to be attracted to him was a bit far fetched, but eh, it's fiction.
Like a proper mystery, it had a lot of characters, many of whom were interconnected.
I could see it becoming a mini-series produced by Netflix, haha.
I picked this up because goodreads recommended it and my library had it.
I think that there is some disagreement whether or not to label stuttering as a disability. I have shelved it on my disability shelf because I don't think that disability is a bad word. I did a surface search and one site said that calling stuttering a disability increases the victim mindset. That made me cringe.
I do understand that stuttering may be temporary and/or situational.
Anyway that's not the point of this book.
It's a lovely poetic little story about a kid who had difficulty talking and imagery that helped him feel better. It was about his feelings and experiences.
I picked this up mostly because I saw Katie Porter reading it. Self help is an odd genre, often times part pop psychology, common sense, some type of philosophy, and all too frequently some bastardization of Eastern thought (zen, Taoism, Buddhism, yoga, meditation, etc.) — oh and an unsolicited biography, which usually results in me rolling my eyes, cringing, and sometimes exclaiming ‘who cares'.
So Mark does have some of these elements, but comes off as less pretentious, more knowledgeable, and more respectful. So instead of pop psych he references respected studies and the history of certain aspects of psychological figures, such as (will look them up, Henry? And...)
Yes he does lean on some common sense and I don't think anything he suggests is actually ground breaking but I like the content and the style of his delivery. Yes he cusses a bit but I didn't feel that it was excessive.
