Susan Scribner
Did not anticipate that the mix between Tur's memorable but volatile childhood and her unremarkable career as a TV journalist would be so uneven. I wanted to better understand her violent, narcissistic father who transitioned into a woman but remained a horrible human being, and less grandstanding about the importance of mainstream media.
I was never a huge fan of Jennifer Crusie's collaborations with Bob Mayer ([b:Agnes and the Hitman 384457 Agnes and the Hitman (The Organization, #0) Jennifer Crusie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388277284l/384457.SY75.jpg 1734360], etc.), but after not hearing from her for more than a decade, I was willing to take whatever I could get. Lavender's Blue features some of the old Crusie magic, with small town Ohio setting, wacky secondary characters, rapid-fire dialogue, and an ugly dog. The FMC reluctantly returns to her hometown after 15 years of deliberately avoiding it. Secrets are revealed, new boundaries are established with her alcoholic mother, and someone is murdered (the last part is typical only of the Crusie/Mayer books, not her solo releases). But sadly, the book didn't make me squee like [b:Bet Me 854757 Bet Me Jennifer Crusie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316129534l/854757.SY75.jpg 1616066], [b:Welcome to Temptation 33727 Welcome to Temptation (Dempseys, #1) Jennifer Crusie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312011677l/33727.SY75.jpg 2563621], or other Crusie gems. There are too many secondary characters, and I was frequently confused about their relationships to the MCs and relevance to the story. The FMC, Liz Danger, becomes uncomfortably dependent on being rescued from danger by the MMC, who happens to be a policeman. When did Crusie's tough, wisecracking heroines become damsels in distress? For God's sake, her name is Liz Danger - let her live up to it! The fact that MMC Vince Cooper (chapters written by Mayer) is a cop who shoots out the tires of a teenager's car because he won't stop talking lands a little differently now than it did during Crusie's heyday of the 1990s and early 2000's. Mayer obviously tries to make his policeman more “woke” - Vince states that he doesn't pull over women or minorities unless they are a safety hazard, and his BFF is a beautiful Black woman with whom he served in combat (Sassy Black Friend cliche alert!). He is a little more emotionally open than some of Mayer's previous heroes, but a cop is a cop, and that's a red flag for me. Obviously YMMV. I will read the rest of the trilogy, because I've missed Crusie's unique voice, but I will feel a bit guilty about doing so.
This book is a perfect follow up to Kluger's delightful, sunny [b:Almost Like Being in Love 239092 Almost Like Being in Love Steve Kluger https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407106524l/239092.SY75.jpg 231609], with a new set of characters using emails, texts, diaries, and other epistolary media to tell their wacky stories. Except the over-the-top shenanigans and too-clever dialogue don't work here BECAUSE THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN. In that sense, Excellent Year is an epic fail. Nothing the MCs say sounds like anything a genuine 21st century teen would even think of uttering, and the famous people they admire include Jacqueline Kennedy, Liza Minelli, Natalie Wood, and Mary Poppins (the last one is the idol of a six-year-old deaf orphan boy - yes, Kluger goes there). The queer MC, Augie, is a walking, singing, dancing, stereotyped flaming twink who makes Kurt Hummel from Glee look like George Clooney. Which is fine, and I suspect he's modeled on Kluger himself, but not only does he fail to act like an actual millennial adolescent, his schtick calls into question his membership in the homo sapiens species.I understand if Kluger didn't want to write the same book twice, but his decision to focus on characters that were at least 40 years his junior should have been shot down when he made his pitch to the publisher. I can't say I didn't enjoy My Excellent Year - it's goofy and fun - but it might be singlehandedly responsible for the immortal phrase “OK Boomer.”
The Remixed Classics series ([b:Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix 59251247 Self-Made Boys A Great Gatsby Remix (Remixed Classics) Anna-Marie McLemore https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655071538l/59251247.SY75.jpg 88888397], [b:Teach the Torches to Burn 61484873 Teach the Torches to Burn Caleb Roehrig https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660239591l/61484873.SY75.jpg 88888448], e.g.) is laudable in its efforts to provide queer teens a chance to see themselves in some of the our most revered white cishet classics, but judged on its literary merits alone, Most Ardently falls short. The dialogue veers awkwardly between 21st century ally-ship and snippets of Austen's original prose. A romance between a gay Darcy and a transmasc Elizabeth/Oliver is an interesting choice, but most of the 19th century gender dynamics wittily dissected by Austen are lost in translation. The characters are inconsistent; Mrs. Bennett hews closely to her Austen behavior for 95% of the book, only to undergo a complete personality transformation at the story's climactic scene. If you want to read a cute historical romance between two boys, this isn't a bad novel, but in its well-intentioned efforts to provide a queer experience, it sacrifices most of the meaningful themes of the original. ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.
Epistolary novels are my catnip, so I was surprised and disappointed that this one left me feeling meh. I didn't buy the Instalove between V and J, the sex scenes were too long and explicit for my taste, and the pacing of the first half was agonizingly slow. I had similar reactions to Davin's sci-fi trilogy, [b:Edge of Nowhere 40657166 Edge of Nowhere (Nowhere, #1) Felicia Davin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530122151l/40657166.SY75.jpg 63189990] and [b:Out of Nowhere 48708199 Out of Nowhere (Nowhere, #2) Felicia Davin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572924996l/48708199.SY75.jpg 74060137] (I never even started the third installment), so I must sadly admit that her writing style doesn't vibe with my reading preferences.
In this “speculative memoir,” Jami Nakamura Lin uses Japanese, Okinawan, and Taiwanese folklore to illuminate significant life events - her long struggle with bipolar disorder, her miscarriage and then subsequent birth of a daughter, and the loss of her beloved father from cancer at age 57. As folklore changes over time depending on the storyteller and the audience, so does the way Nakamura Lin processes her memories. The presence of demons, gods, and ghosts allows for brief glimpses of her ancestors and the complex dynamics between her three cultures. Each chapter is enriched by modern illustrations of the folktales, created by Jami's sister Cori. The Night Parade can be read fairly quickly, but you will want to linger over the prose, maybe even returning to the previous page to savor its power.
In the presence of a story, if the story is a good one, time collapses. Though throughout the telling, I have worried: what is there to say, there is nothing new t0 say, death and grief are the oldest stories under the sun. But my horror is not of death, where the living and the ones they mourn are irrevocably dispatched to different timelines. It is of the death of memory.
This is less of a history and more of an analysis of comedy as an art form in the past 25+ years. Fox, a Vulture (“Devouring Culture”) writer, examines the evolution of comedy news such as The Daily Show; the impact of social media on how comedy is presented and distributed; the delicate issues of timing and political correctness; the complex relationship between performer and audience; and even the question of whether or not comedy has to be funny. Interesting, enlightening and thought-provoking, marred only by Fox's ill-advised attempts to be funny himself (he's not).
3.5 stars. I confess that I never read Jane Austen's [b:Emma 6969 Emma Jane Austen https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373627931l/6969.SY75.jpg 3360164], but I have seen the movie Clueless approximately 387 times, so my basis for comparison of this queer YA adaptation is a bunch of rich, entitled California 90's teens. (“As If!”) Actually, there's not much difference in settings between the movie and Emmett, except the book is a lot more queer, and the titular character's mom has died more recently. Handsome, rich, popular nice guy Emmett has declared that he will not date until age 25, because his brain won't be fully developed until then. That doesn't mean he can't have sex, of course. When his current f*ck buddy, Harrison, tells Emmett he wants a boyfriend, Emmett has the brilliant idea of finding the perfect partner for him. If you've seen the movie (or read the book), you know that things go a bit haywire from here. Rosen has a lot of fun with his adaptation. The Elton equivalent is a perfect himbo who's all about social media followers, Tai/Harriet (RIP Brittany Murphy) is sweet but nerdy, and Murray & Dionne's male/transfeminine counterparts (who aren't really in Austin's novel) are annoyingly affectionate. The book effectively explores how Emmett's unresolved grief over his mother's death has resulted in his insistence on making everyone around him happy (even if his meddling is disastrous) while avoiding the pain that he would likely experience if he had a boyfriend. It's also a celebration of queer relationships, and the freedom of not having to conform to heteronormative standards. Unfortunately, Emmett's relationship with the guy he won't admit to liking (Josh/George Knightley) is antagonistic for so long that the mutual confession of feelings in the last ten pages of the book doesn't feel genuine. (Maybe if Emmett's crush looked more like Paul Rudd...). Tl,dr: Emmett is a well-written, clever adaptation of a classic, got me in the feelz for everything but the romance plot, would definitely read more by Lev A.C. Rosen.
Better than [b:A Restless Truth 59807966 A Restless Truth (The Last Binding, #2) Freya Marske https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642534531l/59807966.SY75.jpg 94199553], not as astonishing as [b:A Marvellous Light 53217284 A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1) Freya Marske https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1634067514l/53217284.SY75.jpg 80535939]. A Power Unbound focuses on Jack Alston aka Lord Hawthorn, and Alan Ross, whose antagonistic relationship that began in Truth evolves into a somewhat kinky enemies-to-lovers romance. But for my money, the reason to finish out this trilogy is the strong presence of Edwin and Robin from Light. Edwin, especially, has a crucial role to play in the Big Six's* quest to stop the bad guys from amassing unlimited magic and power. It's rewarding to see Edwin come into his own as a skilled magician, but Marske really puts him through hell, and his beloved non-magical Robin can only be of limited assistance. Jack and Alan's insults and fights seem petty in comparison. Marske triumphantly burst onto the scene with The Last Binding trilogy, so her follow-up will be eagerly anticipated. I wonder where she goes from here. *Maud and Violet are back too. Violet is fine but Maud IMHO is more annoying than endearing.
Starling House cast a reading spell on me that I haven't experienced since [b:The Raven Boys 17675462 The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) Maggie Stiefvater https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573508485l/17675462.SY75.jpg 18970934] and its sequels more than five years ago. I couldn't speak, eat, or sleep until I finished it. With a few days' distance, I can see objectively that the book has some flaws. The racism subplot is underdeveloped, and the romance between tough as nails, ornery Opal and foreboding, reclusive Arthur needed more interactions to be convincing. But none of that mattered as I was immersed in this unique mix of Southern gothic, fantasy, mystery, horror, and love story (with a bonus “hellcat” that deserves its moniker). Consider yourself warned: Starling House will grab its claws into you with its first sentence and not relinquish its hold until you turn the last page.
Essays about and adjacent to the author's decision to stop drinking after she finally recognized that drinking a bottle of wine every night was not a healthy reaction to stress. Interesting that she refers to her employer only as a “large tech company” in this book; five years later she would publish [b:Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career 65215677 Exit Interview The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career Kristi Coulter https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678754329l/65215677.SY75.jpg 100097283] as an insider's look at her years at Amazon. There is some overlap between the two books, but not enough to detract from appreciating either one. I'm not sure I would have read Nothing Good if I hadn't already devoured Exit Interview but I'm glad to get more insight into Coulter's views on feminism, corporate culture, obsessions that can fill the space left by alcohol, and, apparently, the world's best husband.
Henry Winkler is a mensch who deserves the late-career success (and awards) he's experienced after finally breaking free from his image as The Fonz. He has a sense of humor and perspective about his life (sure, he couldn't get a decent job for decades, but his earnings from Happy Days were nice to have). I wish he were a little less patronizing towards children with disabilities - he labels them as “special” (cringe) and uses them as an example of how lucky he is in comparison when he fundraises for them. But his openness about his dyslexia and the emotional wounds he endured from parents who constantly criticized him for being a lazy no-goodnik render this book more interesting than the average Baby Boomer memoir.
Before Rotten Tomatoes, Tik Tok, and YouTube, movie reviews primarily appeared in newspapers and magazines. Gene Siskel and Robert Ebert, rival movie critics at Chicago newspapers, shook up the industry in the 1970s-1990s by hosting a TV show in which they usually vigorously disagreed about the merits of each movie they reviewed. Audiences tuned in to Sneak Previews to see the hosts squabble about blockbusters, art films, foreign films, and even B-movies. Somewhere along the line, they added the now ubiquitous Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down to each review. Sadly, Siskel died in 1999. Ebert soldiered on with a new partner, but the magic was gone, and by the time of his death in 2013 online movie clips and reviews were readily available, rendering the Sneak Previews format obsolete.
Opposable Thumbs is a breezy, enjoyable look back at Siskel & Ebert's heyday. There's no dirt or revelations of long-held secrets, and the author repeats himself occasionally as he tries to stretch the material over 200+ pages. I appreciated it for the nostalgia factor. YMMV if you get all of your reviews from Tik Tok or Instagram and can't imagine why the opinions of two white men mattered so much.
4 stars for Ely's personal arc, 3 stars for the romance.
Elisheva Cohen was raised as an Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn, but her teen substance abuse issues led to a tragedy and subsequent banishment from her family and community. After eight years in Los Angeles, four of which have been sober, she is back in New York for an art school summer photography course, taught by the celebrated Wyatt Cole.
When Ely has a one-night stand with a handsome transmasculine guy she meets at a club, it's no surprise that he ends up being the one and only Wyatt Cole. The “I can't sleep with my professor/student” plot is predictable. Wyatt, whose family kicked him out when he was dishonorably discharged from the Marines for being queer, is also in recovery. Unfortunately, his voice never distinguishes itself from Ely's in the chapters that he narrates, and the love story is meh.
But the real heart of the novel is Ely's tentative steps back towards her religion, after realizing that there are many ways to be Jewish, and her fragile but realistic efforts to reestablish contact with her family. The suspense regarding whether Ely's favorite sister would forgive her was more engaging than the amount of groveling Wyatt would do to win her back. The true happy ending for me was Ely finding a queer-friendly community that welcomes her every Friday evening for Shabbos dinner.
Nora Roberts' latest trilogy is a good old fashioned ghost story. Whenever the spirits living in FMC Sonya's new home make their presence known - some benevolently, some maliciously - the novel sparkles. But the other subplots are dullsville. Okay, Sonya does catch her fiancé screwing one of her bridesmaids only weeks before the wedding, but she recovers quickly and the rest of her life is perfect. She has a loyal BFF, a supportive mom, and surprise! an uncle she never knew dies and bequeaths her a huge mansion in coastal Maine. Everyone she meets in her new hometown is friendly and welcoming, including the MMC, who represents the third generation of attorneys who worked with her uncle. Their romance proceeds gently and uneventfully; of course the guy is handsome, supportive, brave and thoughtful. Way too much time is spent describing Sonya's graphic design work, BFF Cleo's artwork, her new home's architecture and its interior design. As an example, here's the scintillating conversation the first time the MMC's buddy tours the house. Cherrywood, pristine. The wood's a little thirsty. This and the mermaid [statue] need a good buff with paste wax. Don't be using any supermarket spray shit on these pieces. Any of them. You can do the lemon oil, orange oil between, but once, maybe twice a year, you buff with a good paste wax.Compare that to Roberts' [b:Year One 34311452 Year One (Chronicles of The One, #1) Nora Roberts https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488360073l/34311452.SY75.jpg 55367060], where a mysterious plague starts killing off millions of people in the first chapter...I know, not all books need to have the same tempo, but I shouldn't want to skim multiple paragraphs to get to the good stuff. The final chapters and abrupt cliffhanger ending do ramp up the paranormal eeriness. Maybe the slow start was necessary to set the scene for action-packed books 2 and 3. Hopefully, Roberts can sprinkle her magic storytelling dust and rescue this series from its sluggish beginning. Uncorrected Digital Galley received from Net Galley in exchange for honest review.
I don't want to give this book 5 stars, because it portrays the absolute worst of 21st century capitalism, enough to trigger me even though I left the workforce 10 months ago. Yet I can't not give it 5 stars. Exit Interview is brilliantly written, devastatingly incisive, and surprisingly humorous. Kristi Coulter spent 12 years working at Amazon in a variety of corporate positions. An overachiever since childhood, she viewed the offer of Senior Manager, Books & Media Merchandising an ideal way to grow professionally and escape the tedium of her current job. She had heard rumors that Amazon was a stressful workplace, but figured she was tough enough to handle anything.By her second day, Kristi finds herself “drinking from the fire hose,” with her direct reports complaining that they are stretched too thin and her bosses telling her to “find efficiencies” to meet their targets. Her colleagues reassure her they expect great things of her so often that she's ashamed to ask for help (“It feels like being Jesus, if everyone had a task list for Jesus written in acronyms he didn't understand”). Every workday includes at least six hours of meetings, and that's not counting the pre-meetings to strategize for the real meetings. Nobody knows what anyone else is doing, reorganizations happen frequently without warning, and the goals of one team are in direct conflict with another. Meanwhile, orders come down from CEO Jeff Bezos that are completely unrealistic and subject to change at his whim. Through short, punchy chapters including a brutally honest (but fictional) job description, increasingly cynical aphorisms of professional advice, and illustrations of Amazon's “leadership principles” in their Orwellian reality (“Accomplish more with less” means laptops repaired with duct tape), Coulter helps the reader understand why she stayed for so long despite the toxic environment, how Amazon's touted “meritocracy” was just another word for sexism, and the series of events that motivated the girl who cried in kindergarten because she got one Not Satisfactory mark on a phonics worksheet to finally resign. I haven't read a corporate takedown this powerful since Joshua Ferris' novel [b:Then We Came to the End 97782 Then We Came to the End Joshua Ferris https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442800496l/97782.SY75.jpg 2926759]. Our culture of prioritizing productivity above all, worshipping the wealthy, and demanding instant gratification has brought us to this place where Jeff Bezos can heap misery upon thousands in the name of “making customers happy.” You can blame Kristi Coulter for being an “Amhole,” but almost all of us are complicit.
Quick read with the depth of a People magazine article. The media has already spilled the beans on the gossipy parts (Justin Timberlake, Kevin Federline, Colin Farrell (!?)) but I don't think I know anything more about Britney Spears, the real person, than I did before I started reading. Would have appreciated learning more about the writing and recording of her hit songs, but the paucity of that detail leads me to believe that she had a limited role in both processes.
3.25 stars. Alexis Hall's latest romcom is funny, clever, and sprightly. But the “fake amnesia” plot has Emmentaler Swiss cheese-sized holes in it, and the chemistry between the two MCs is unconvincing. Gollum the cat is a welcome addition, but shame on Hall for writing a Christmas tree-trimming scene that contains tinsel, which is a dangerous choking hazard for felines.
Extremely enjoyable oral history from Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker about the groundbreaking, joke-a-minute Airplane!, including interviews with the stars, bit players, production crew, and current comedians who were influenced by its unique brand of humor. The book also looks back at ZAZ's youth and college days in Wisconsin, where their dream of writing and directing a hit comedy movie flourished despite their lack of knowledge, money, or connections. Their unlikely journey (anyone remember Kentucky Fried Movie?) eventually led to the point where ZAZ were cold calling Robert Stack, Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges and other Hollywood drama veterans and begging them to star in their bizarre movie, playing it completely straight while chaos reigned around them. Among the many fun facts I learned from the book: the Paramount studio heads wanted Barry Manilow (!) to play leading man Ted Striker instead of Robert Hays; Shelly Long of Cheers fame auditioned for Elaine's part; and most of the dueling PA announcers' lines were lifted verbatim from Arthur Hailey's blockbuster suspense novel [b:Airport 124918 Airport Arthur Hailey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309288724l/124918.SY75.jpg 120317]. It should be noted that the non-ZAZ interviews were conducted by Will Harris, a former writer for the A.V. Club, whose “Random Roles” columns were highlights of the pop culture site. Sadly, AVC is now a shell of what it used to be because Capitalism, but I relish seeing writers from its heyday securing plum jobs like this one.
Tovah Feldshuh isn't exactly a household name, but her numerous appearances as fiery defense attorney Danielle Melnick in Law & Order, and her unforgettable turn as Rebecca Bunch's overbearing, critical mother on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend made me a fan. Unfortunately, Feldshuh's memoir is not so memorable. Much of the focus is on her complex relationship with her own mother, Lily, who embodied the upper middle class Jewish housewife of the 1950s. I would have preferred fewer descriptions of Lily's stereotypical critical, emotionally withholding behavior and more about Feldshuh's interesting and diverse career - she starred in Hello Dolly! on Broadway and had a major character arc on The Walking Dead! Also a lot of the book flaunts her rich, white privilege, and she makes a tone-deaf Anne Frank remark that shocked me with its tastelessness. Sometimes it's better not to know too much about the famous people you admire.
After reading the slice of heaven that is [b:We Could Be So Good 62365905 We Could Be So Good Cat Sebastian https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1674685755l/62365905.SX50.jpg 95573575], this novella was...fine. Felt more like a vignette than a fully realized story. I know Sebastian likes to emphasize vibes and characters over plot, but this was too slight for any of those factors to make an impact on me.
I'm always down for a good time loop romance, but author Holly James' decision to designate the MMC as the character stuck in the loop instead of the FMC gives the love story an unfortunately creepy vibe. Jack has been reliving the same day for months, each time meeting Gemma, who doesn't remember him because it's a new day to her. But when they meet and flirt at a party, Jack kisses Gemma. The next/same morning, Gemma has a deja vu feeling about the handsome guy she bumps into. Without much ado, James tells Gemma the whole time loop dilemma, including his belief that in order for them both to move on, Gemma must fall in love with him. Today.
Given a different plot, James might be the perfect man, but this one requires him to behave like a stalker, following Gemma around even when she tries to avoid him. They do share some nice moments together, but not enough to compensate for the genuinely icky premise. And then throw in an Evil Ex Girlfriend and the whole thing collapses. Sure, Jack's been living the same day for months, but in real time he broke up with the Ex just days ago. And I always question the judgement of someone who is attracted to an obviously toxic person, even if Jack pleads the unconvincing “I knew the relationship was wrong from the beginning” shtick.
Gemma and her BFF Lila are charming together, and Gemma's complicated family dynamics are handled sensitively. But that's overshadowed by a romance that isn't romantic. YMMV if you don't get triggered by persistence that is uncomfortably close to obsessive stalking.
Props to the authors for crafting a winter holiday romance novel that features Christmas, Hanukkah, and the end of Ramadan, which all coincided in the first year of the 21st century. The friendship between the two very different FMCs is more engaging than either of their romance arcs, which are straight out of a Hallmark holiday movie. Completely coincidentally, such a movie is being filmed in the snow globe - I mean small town - they are all stranded in, where every single inhabitant is cheerful, generous and a champion of diversity. Treacly holiday romances aren't really my jam, but at least this one was truly inclusive.