Susan Scribner
On the one hand, this novel is shallow tripe about a privileged, narcissistic white woman that would have worked better as a series of Instagram posts (The food! The beach!). On the other hand, the plot does include a fairly positive take on reproductive freedom, which I fear will be in short supply in the coming years.
Random thoughts about some of the 217 books I read in 2024:Author who never lets me down: [a:K.J. Charles 7123498 K.J. Charles https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418032373p2/7123498.jpg] - 5* for both [b:Death in the Spires 209563735 Death in the Spires K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1709747722l/209563735.SY75.jpg 215764805] and [b:The Duke at Hazard 208918808 The Duke at Hazard (Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune, #2) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1716812575l/208918808.SY75.jpg 215054826]. I have 41 KJC titles on my GR bookshelves (includes novellas and shorts) and every one of them are 4* or 5*. Diminutive grumpy magicians, neurodiverse boardinghouse keepers, nonbinary aerialists, horny henchmen, reclusive waste-men, intellectual radical doms - they all find their HEAs/HFNs, usually with the most inappropriate possible partners.Favorite author recommended by my millennial daughter: [a:Hanif Abdurraqib 14133519 Hanif Abdurraqib https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1567950898p2/14133519.jpg]. In 2024 I read [b:There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension 181346634 There's Always This Year On Basketball and Ascension Hanif Abdurraqib https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1691597828l/181346634.SY75.jpg 89651527] and [b:Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest 41864516 Go Ahead in the Rain Notes to A Tribe Called Quest (American Music Series) Hanif Abdurraqib https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541340690l/41864516.SX50.jpg 65354601]. I know just a little about basketball and nothing at all about ATCQ, but Abdurraqib's books are always about so much more than their titles indicate. Five star book that I loved, bought my own after reading library copy, and will probably never read again: [b:In Memoriam 59948520 In Memoriam Alice Winn https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1670866445l/59948520.SX50.jpg 91373743]. British boarding school mates secretly pining for each other lose their innocence and most of their classmates in World War I. Novel I enjoyed the most and that also made me so glad I'm retired: [b:I Hope This Finds You Well 200987323 I Hope This Finds You Well Natalie Sue https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1729545169l/200987323.SY75.jpg 97838131]. Corporate bullshit, Human Resource nightmares, office politics and a rather inappropriate romance.2024 Goodreads Choice winner that I agree with the most: [b:The Wedding People 198902277 The Wedding People Alison Espach https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1721918653l/198902277.SY75.jpg 183467489]. Romance novel by way of lit-fic. High degree of difficulty, but Alison Espach sticks the landing. Goodreads Choice nominee whose appeal completely eludes me: [a:Freida McFadden 7244758 Freida McFadden https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1701487498p2/7244758.jpg]. 2* for [b:The Housemaid 60556912 The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) Freida McFadden https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646534743l/60556912.SY75.jpg 95443525] (and the second star is mostly due to peer pressure).Favorite romance novel: [b:You Should Be So Lucky 196774347 You Should Be So Lucky Cat Sebastian https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1706544152l/196774347.SY75.jpg 199054639]. Mid-century New York City, baseball, opposites attract, moving past acute grief and just the right number of cameos from the MCs of 2023's fave [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].Novel I am obviously not cool enough to appreciate: [b:The Husbands 193781998 The Husbands Holly Gramazio https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1713373397l/193781998.SY75.jpg 196483457]. Made several “best of” lists but just made me sad. Needs a warning label for prospective romance readers. Magical Realism is my jam: [b:The Book of Love 157981682 The Book of Love Kelly Link https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1695356776l/157981682.SY75.jpg 93202872] and [b:When the World Tips Over 203820262 When the World Tips Over Jandy Nelson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1709850279l/203820262.SY75.jpg 42254506]. YA and formerly-YA authors FTW. Nonfiction book that made me despair of my country's future the most: [b:The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism 112975131 The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Tim Alberta https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1684205034l/112975131.SY75.jpg 135509243]. Read this insider's look at Evangelical Christian politics in May, when there was still some hope. Not sure I could get past the first chapter now. Nonfiction book that made me feel a little better: [b:How to Read a Book 62365896 How to Read a Book Monica Wood https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1668464017l/62365896.SX50.jpg 95204458]. This is assuming that bookstores continue to exist in the coming horrorscape. Favorite memoir: [b:An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s 196585876 An Unfinished Love Story A Personal History of the 1960s Doris Kearns Goodwin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1695416963l/196585876.SY75.jpg 198799915] (sentimental); [b:Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk 78130090 Rebel Girl My Life as a Feminist Punk Kathleen Hanna https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1691044450l/78130090.SY75.jpg 103344774] (non-sentimental)2025 book I am most looking forward to devour in one sitting: [b:Hemlock & Silver 217388302 Hemlock & Silver T. Kingfisher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1733949453l/217388302.SY75.jpg 223888430] by the singular [a:T. Kingfisher 7367300 T. Kingfisher https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1642281799p2/7367300.jpg].
Exhaustive and exhausting overview of the US/Mexican border crisis, which has been building since the early 1980s. Good mix of micro/macro, i.e., the policy decisions that led to the shitshow and the individuals whose lives have been irreparably harmed as a consequence. Blitzer offers no easy solutions, which is sadly appropriate, since the coming administration would have ignored his recommendations anyway.
P.S. Fuck Stephen Miller.
CW: disordered eating, suicidal ideationFever dream memoir by British novelist Sarah Moss, with a focus on her lifelong struggle with anorexia. I was immediately hooked by the book's first section, which inserts harsh self-rebuttals of Moss's own memories as they are related. Yes, her parents were neglectful and often cruel, but the inner voice accuses Moss of being an ungrateful liar, a privileged white woman from a solidly middle class family who does not deserve to complain. It's harsh but oh so relatable. As the book goes on, the self-critical voice appears less and less often, and a protective wolf familiar takes its place, encouraging Moss to look back and allow her younger self some grace. The book's darkness is also balanced by Moss's academic but accessible thoughts on [b:Little Women 1934 Little Women Louisa May Alcott https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562690475l/1934.SY75.jpg 3244642], [b:Jane Eyre 10210 Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557343311l/10210.SY75.jpg 2977639], [b:Little House on the Prairie 77767 Little House on the Prairie (Little House, #3) Laura Ingalls Wilder https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559209202l/77767.SX50.jpg 2884161], and other books of her youth (and mine). Having been inside the author's troubled mind, I'm not sure I want to read any of her critically acclaimed novels, but this memoir was somehow a perfect mix of disturbing and hopeful.
Pub. date 2/25/25
I have pretty much given up on contemporary romance these days. Most so-called romcoms rely on overused tropes, unbelievable conflicts and/or forced humor. Fortunately, NPR podcaster Linda Holmes' third novel reminds me that there is still hope for the genre.
Cecily Foster is a skilled podcast producer and editor who has long yearned to trade her behind-the-scenes roles for a chance at the microphone. Her boss Theo dangles a double-edged hosting opportunity - a podcast about dating in which Cecily will also be the subject. The hook is that she will be coached by Eliza Cassidy, a successful influencer who has a no-nonsense strategy for finding a compatible life partner. Cecily is reluctant to waste her debut hosting effort on such a shallow topic, but she makes a deal with Theo: she'll go on 20 dates and discuss the experience on-air. In return, her next gig will be as podcast host on a topic of her choice, and she can bring along her favorite colleague as lead producer.
Right now you are probably thinking, oh no, not 300 pages of bad date hijinks! Fortunately, the entire dating process is a montage of brief anecdotes that are dispensed with in one chapter. The problem is that Cecily has already experienced a meet-cute with a great guy. He's a part-time photographer and waiter who crosses Cecily's path when he is chasing down a runaway Great Dane. (Fortunately Cecily wields a Mary Poppins-like purse that contains a jar of peanut butter, stopping the cow-sized dog in his tracks.) Cecily and Will Cecily banter adorably, and Fate keeps putting them in each other's path. But Cecily is committed to her 20 podcast dates, and laid-back Will is not ambitious enough for Cecily even if she were free to explore a possible relationship.
Back After This is wonderfully grounded, in contrast to the silly romcoms that I've encountered lately. Holmes' sense of humor is primarily cerebral not physical, and the characters, especially Cecily's protective but blunt older sister, feel like real people instead of romcom archetypes. Eliza could easily have come off as a shallow snake-oil saleswoman, but she's never villainized or minimized. Cecily herself is inarguably flawed, deluding herself that she knows what's best for the people she loves and is therefore justified in keeping secrets from them.
Holmes adds just enough information about the art of podcasting to keep things interesting without overwhelming readers with every minor detail. The sex scenes convey passion and connection without focusing on the mechanics. The novel's only minor misstep is the stereotyped Evil Ex, although his final comeuppance is admittedly delicious.
I follow the author on social media, but I never felt like Cecily was a thinly disguised version of herself (or at least the self she presents online). Holmes' Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast has a regular feature called “What's making us happy.” Back After This definitely deserves to be on that list.
ARC received from Net Galley and publisher in exchange for review.
I cannot possibly imagine what the usually smart, reliable, snarky AV Club pop culture site was thinking when they included this novel in their November listing of “10 books you should read.” I mistakenly took them up on their suggestion, but was dismayed to find a [a:Colleen Hoover 5430144 Colleen Hoover https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1464032240p2/5430144.jpg]-like, predictable melodrama with a Mary Sue FMC who is Not Like All the Other Girls (studious, outspoken, doesn't know she's beautiful, etc.). Evie is torn between broody, intense, love-bomber Oliver and quirky, supportive friend-zoned Drew. You do the math. I've read rave GR reviews claiming that it's best to go into the book without knowing much about the plot because it has so many twists, but IMO almost all of them were telegraphed in the first flashback chapter. I can't say this isn't a page turner; the short chapters and alternating POVs make the book go down easily, but it's all empty calories. I'm glad that AV Club listed a romantic suspense novel in addition to their usual trendy lit-fic, but there are so many other, better books they could have chosen.
An extremely loose adaptation of [b:Mansfield Park 45032 Mansfield Park Jane Austen https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397063295l/45032.SY75.jpg 224016803], although it actually feels more Dickensian than Austen-ish to me. A majority of the characters are either virtuous victims or venomous villains (sorry not sorry for the alliteration). Starting in 1978 and spanning 20 years, the plot focuses on Funke Oyenuga, who is sent to England from her home in Nigeria at the tender age of 9 when her saintly mother dies. In this strange new land, everyone is horrid to the mixed race girl, except for her lonely cousin Olivia Stone, who becomes Funke's protector. Nikki May is Anglo-Nigerian, and she incisively details the vast cultural differences between her two countries. There are disheartening similarities as well; Funke is subject to overt racism and subtler microaggressions in England, but she is also targeted by some Nigerians for her mixed race, “yellow” status. The first half of the book is bogged down in melodrama, as Funke undergoes humiliation after humiliation, mostly at the hands of her Aunt Margot. Olivia also lets herself be pushed around by her cold, demeaning mother, and she turns to drugs, alcohol, and meaningless sex to cope. The last third of the book shows both women finally taking control of their lives, finding love, triumphing over mean mothers (there's more than one), and living happily ever after. The pace is pretty rushed, and the resolution of a confrontation that has been brewing for more than a decade is squeezed into the final 40 pages. This Motherless Land has strong bones, but uneven pacing and too many flat characters prevent me from giving it a more enthusiastic recommendation.
Part memoir, part irreverent description of fitness crazes over the past 50 years, part philosophical musing about the mind/body relationship, part history of the 19th century transcendentalist movement - all in living color! I'm definitely not a visually oriented person but the detailed, Where's Waldo-like full page illustrations were so eye-catching that I took the time to carefully study them. The book's long time span allows Bechdel to show what she was thinking and feeling when she created [b:Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic 26135825 Fun Home A Family Tragicomic Alison Bechdel https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440097020l/26135825.SY75.jpg 911368] and [b:Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama 11566956 Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama Alison Bechdel https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511409644l/11566956.SX50.jpg 16507555]. With the publication of this book, she has pretty much gone as far as possible documenting her own story, but maybe someday she'll let us get another glimpse into her life as she experiences the thrills and chills of being an older adult.
Two-thirds of a great memoir. I couldn't put the book down during the chapters that cover Cher's dreadful childhood and her inexplicable relationship with Sonny Bono (he lied, cheated, and stole from her for decades, somehow convincing her that she was lucky to have him). The last few chapters suffer from too much name dropping and too many descriptions of her unique Bob Mackie-designed dresses, although she does spill some delicious tea about former lovers Greg Allman, David Geffen, and Gene Simmons. Ends abruptly in 1980 when Francis Ford Coppola encourages her to pursue her acting dreams. Throughout it all, Cher's voice is matter of fact, devoid of self-pity or sentimentality, except when she's talking about her kids.
We're still decades away from “do you belieeeeve in life after love?” so the second part of this diva's memoir should be equally compelling.
If you're hoping that this middle book of The Lost Bride Trilogy ramps up the paranormal suspense angle, you will probably be disappointed. However, if your catnip is any or all of the following, this is your lucky day:
competence porninterior design
gardeningcooking
graphic art and creative artboatmaking
event planningbespoke dog houses
wine, wine, wineperfunctory sex scenes between MC and her LI
*occasional reminders that there is an evil ghost haunting the house in which the MC and her BFF live
Honestly, it's rather mind-numbing, but also comforting to read about good, professionally capable people being decent to each other and planning a big party so that all the shiny, happy people can meet each other. The paranormal plot is barely advanced in the course of 400+ pages, but Sonya plants some flowers and Cleo gets a cat.
N.B. A genealogist from the Eureka Public Library has posted a helpful Poole family tree that includes each of the seven lost brides. Thank you C. O'Neill, whoever you are!
Morbidly interesting history of the white male definition of “sexy” as evidenced by the many iterations of Victoria's Secret starting with its origin as a lingerie mail-order catalog in 1977. Selling Sexy focuses on Les Wexner, the billionaire businessman who bought VS for a song, adding it to his empire of shopping mall staples such as The Limited, Bath & Body Works, and Abercrombie & Fitch. The authors profile the few women who had positions of power during Victoria Secret's reign, but it's obvious that Wexner really called the shots. In 2018, near the end of his long tenure as CEO, he dismissed customers over 35 as “old and fat” and therefore not worthy of VS attention. Sherman and Fernandez, experienced fashion and business reporters, mostly maintain a journalistic distance, but they gleefully end the book with Kim Kardashian's Skims shapewear more or less putting the nail in Victoria Secret's coffin.
Argh. I love Sharon Shinn, and I hate to give her a less than stellar review, but I have to be honest: her latest release is disappointing. The most glaring problem is the lackluster worldbuilding. Alibi is set in some unspecified future where teleportation is a regular, organized method of transportation. Unfortunately, Shinn doesn't explore how teleportation has changed the world other than the fact that our heroine Taylor can teach a class in Houston, visit her friend in Atlanta, and get back to her Chicago home all in the same day. I don't need an infodump on the invention and implementation of teleportation, but a few details might have been interesting. Does too much teleportation have a negative impact on your health? Does it ever break down and leave people stranded in limbo? Can someone with nefarious intent teleport right into a classified site? I was also less than impressed by the one-note bad guy, Duncan Phillips and the hardened ex-soldier love interest, Bram Cortez. Shinn's fantasy novels, especially the Elemental Blessings and Twelve Houses series, have a fairy tale, long ago quality that lends itself well to the existence of a Big Bad and a virtuous warrior knight. But in a futuristic setting (that reads as contemporary + better technology), I expect a more complex villain than a completely heartless monster who refuses any medical treatment for his fatally ill teenaged son because he wants him to die. Bram Cortez, the taciturn alpha who lets his guard down only around Taylor, is also straight out of central casting. One thing Shinn has always done well is portray the joy of friends and found family, whether it's an assortment of magic-users and warriors on a quest ([b:Mystic and Rider 97967 Mystic and Rider (Twelve Houses, #1) Sharon Shinn https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388338711l/97967.SY75.jpg 94425], etc.) or members of a unique royal family ([b:Troubled Waters 7908762 Troubled Waters (Elemental Blessings, #1) Sharon Shinn https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1270247367l/7908762.SY75.jpg 11180191], etc.). Taylor, her brother Jason, and their respective BFFs are a delightful gang of distinct individuals, as are the staff of the Phillips household that Taylor meets in her role as English tutor to Quentin. The book is billed as a futuristic mystery, but the identity of the victim is identified in the prologue, and after a lengthy flashback, the murder doesn't even take place until the 80% mark. I know that some background is necessary to establish any potential suspects and motives, but cramming all of the action into the last 50 pages lessens its impact. I am on record criticizing mainstream publishing for dropping Sharon Shinn several years ago. I still think they were idiots to do so, but I can't help wondering if a good editor could have addressed some of Alibi's problems and zhushed up the writing a bit. I wish I could recommend it wholeheartedly but the best I can do is to encourage you to check out the Samaria books from the late 1990s, as well as the other series I mentioned above. At her peak, Shinn's work is captivating.
Breezy, entertaining look at 100+ years of movies that bombed. They weren't all awful movies; many were victims of bad timing, studio interference, or auteurs given too much freedom. I was most interested in the chapters about movies before my time, such as William Friedkin's Sorcerer, which was released in the midst of the 1977 Star Wars frenzy and sank like a stone, and 1935's Sylvia Scarlett, which almost destroyed Katherine Hepburn's career. I don't need another takedown of Cats; I can find snark about “the butthole cut” anywhere on the internet.
I am at best a casual Taylor Swift fan, so I was hoping that Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield could help me understand her unprecedented, global superstardom. I get that she's a smart, talented songwriter and a brilliant businesswoman, but how does she inspire such fan frenzy that her Eras tour has earned almost $2 billion? Sheffield doesn't fully explain the Swift phenomena, but his brief, poppy chapters offer a more or less chronological history of her music, with asides for most notable songs and quirks. The focus is firmly on Swift's artistry, not her boyfriends or other gossip. I'm fascinated by middle-aged, white, cishet Sheffield's unabashed confession that the lyrics of “Archer” from 2019's Lover (“They see right through me/I see right through me!”) helped him process the grief of his mother's death.
Maybe we have a “vision-impaired person describing an elephant” phenomenon. Sheffield's connection to Swift is unique to him, and only by piecing together the impressions she has made on each one of her countless fans will we ever get to the core of her popularity. Perhaps she's just the right person at the right time, although the fact that “the right time” has now spanned more than 15 years is mindboggling. I suspect that Heartbreak Is the National Anthem will be too detailed for people who are only vaguely familiar with her work, and too basic for die-hard Swifties, but it was compelling enough to make me wonder what I'm missing by not having a Taylor Swift Spotify playlist.
As I was reading Edward Underhill's first adult novel, I started noticing that the plot was moving rather slowly for a romance. Eventually I realized that The In-Between Bookstore is a not actually a romance. It uses small-town, second-chance romance tropes, but they're primarily employed in the service of the MC's personal journey. Darby Madden left his small Illinois hometown for New York City as soon as he graduated from high school. Eighteen years later, New York is home. It's where he came out as trans and found a friendship group of other queers. But he's newly unemployed and at loose ends, so when his Mom tells him she is moving from their childhood home to a condo, he drives 13 hours to Oak Falls so he can help her. He'll stay long enough to make sure she's settled, while he brainstorms a new place to live and new job opportunities back in the Big Apple. He almost immediately runs into Michael Weaver, his childhood BFF who inexplicably ghosted Darby right before their senior year. It's not surprising that Michael still lives in Oak Falls and teaches high school. But Darby is shocked to learn that Michael holds him responsible for for the demise of their friendship. Darby's favorite place in Oak Falls was always In Between Books, where he worked and hung out with Michael. But it's more than nostalgia when he steps inside the shop and realizes that the familiar-looking salesclerk is himself - the 17 year old version of himself back in 2009 - when Darby was deep in the closet and Michael was still his bestie. Darby wonders if he's been given an opportunity to rewrite history. If he can get enough information out of “Young Darby” to figure out where it went wrong with Michael, perhaps he can change the future and preserve their friendship. I'll try to avoid spoilers but I will say that almost none of the assumptions I made about the plot were accurate. Yes, Michael turns out to be gay and yes, Darby realizes that even a small Midwestern town can have a close-knit queer community. But if you're feeling Sweet Home Alabama crossed with 13 Going on 30 vibes, you need to stop watching so many rom-coms. The choices Darby makes about his future feel very true to the character. Looking back at my 2023 review of Underhill's debut YA novel, [b:Always the Almost 60784592 Always the Almost Edward Underhill https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1652393694l/60784592.SY75.jpg 92834586], I noted that the trans MC was fully developed, but the Love Interest was bland. So maybe Edward Underhill's heart really lies in exploring trans journeys, which may or may not include the romance novel version of HEA. ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for review.
R.E.M. changed my life. I was a college junior when I bought their first album, Murmur, and had my mind blown by its opener “Radio Free Europe.” Of course, as a nonconformist, I lost interest once they signed to a major label and became popular. But I'll never forget sitting alone in a preppy New England college dorm room, convinced that Michael Stipe and his bandmates were reaching out to me all the way from their weird kudzu-draped world of Athens, Georgia.
So, unsurprisingly, I devoured this book and had a grand old nostalgic time listening to my favorite R.E.M. songs as I read. The members of the band declined to be interviewed for the project, although they helped Carlin connect with dozens of friends, fellow musicians and professional associates. The result is a respectful, at times worshipful, account of the band's fortuitous formation, gradual ascent, and amicable dissolution. Michael, Peter, Mike, and Bill come across as nice, hardworking guys who just loved to make music together. The fact that they went from playing in college town bars to headlining world tours wasn't quite accidental, but fame was never their raison d'etre.
Carlin's attempts to link R.E.M.'s inscrutable lyrics to the deepest recesses of vocalist Michael Stipe's mind are at best educated guesses in the absence of Stipe's own confirmation or denial. Though Carlin presents very little new information about the band, at least there are no shocking revelations that would have tarnished my memories. He briefly addresses the “did R.E.M. sell out” question, only to conclude that selling millions of albums and maintaining artistic control was just the band using capitalism to “project their weird vision in such a powerful way that they couldn't be ignored.”YMMV if you're looking for deep insights or fresh perspectives, but I enjoyed this straightforward, comprehensive history of the band that meant so much to me. R.E.M. notably turned down a $3 million offer from Microsoft to license “It's the End Of the World As We Know It” to advertise the launch of Windows 95. The Rolling Stones were happy to sell out, supplying MS with “Start Me Up” at the bargain price of approximately $8 million.
Falls apart after a promising beginning. The central romance (M/F) has little genuine chemistry and the MMC's character development is all over the place. The final act includes a pretty big deus ex machina and one of my pet peeves - evil, bloodthirsty villains who kill with impunity but for some reason let the MCs live (so they can brag about their nefarious plans). And yet Fang Fiction held my attention for an entire day, which is no small feat less than a week post-US election. I was amused by the premise that a blockbuster paranormal trilogy with a rabid fan base turns out to be real. As a long-time epistolary novel enthusiast, I had to bump up my rating at least half a star for the inclusion of podcast transcripts, voicemail recordings, texts and memes. And though I wasn't invested in a HEA for Tess and the vampire who loved her, the sweet, funny secondary romance (F/F) was a suitable consolation prize.
I don't know that I would be interested in another book by this author, but Fang Fiction was the distraction I needed this week.
CW: The FMC is a sexual assault survivor, and the plot shows her healing from the trauma and eventually ensuring that her rapist is punished. However, taking a woman who has been made to feel helpless by a man and plopping her down in the middle of a world of powerful, vicious vampires who want to hurt and/or kill her could be triggering for some readers. It doesn't help that the book's tone swings wildly between snarky humor and intense emotion.
On the plus side, reading a mystery set in British academia distracted me from current events in the US. On the negative side, everything else. Granted, I'm the farthest thing from an expert on the genre, but knowing what crime I am supposed to solve seems like a minimum requirement, and I remained in the dark for more than half of the story. Getting most of the answers in an info dump of previously unseen correspondence between the critical parties felt a tad too convenient. YMMV if you are a better sleuth than I am; it's very possible that the clues were there all along, but I was too oblivious to notice them. I had sworn off Janice Hallett after [b:The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels 61157639 The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels Janice Hallett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1663000500l/61157639.SY75.jpg 95686980], but epistolary novels have been my catnip ever since [b:Up the Down Staircase 160320 Up the Down Staircase Bel Kaufman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348028242l/160320.SY75.jpg 154741], back in what is now kindly known as the “mid-century” era. This time I mean it!
I'm feeling a bit raw two days after the US election, but I'll try not to let that color my review of this book. Which might be difficult because This Will Be Fun is a mess, and leading candidate for my Most Disappointing Read of 2024. When I learned that “E.B. Asher” is in fact three authors*, I was immediately reminded of movie productions that bring in “script doctors” in a futile attempt to keep them from bombing at the box office. The book is billed as a cross between [b:The Princess Bride 21787 The Princess Bride William Goldman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327903636l/21787.SY75.jpg 992628] and [b:People We Meet on Vacation 54985743 People We Meet on Vacation Emily Henry https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618913179l/54985743.SX50.jpg 67832306], but I found it to be more similar to Mel Brooks' 1993 slapstick comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Only not as funny. The setting is a generic Ye Olde Fantasy Worlde, with princesses and castles and heroic quests. But there are numerous winking anachronisms, such as magical versions of Uber and Starbucks, autographed Hero Cards, and TV shows (excuse me, “shadow plays”) with overly enthusiastic fandoms. Which, okay, I get that we're not supposed to take the world building too seriously, but the attempted satire of contemporary culture lacks any subtlety. Then we have our characters. Beatrice, Elowen, and Clare (he's a guy) are the surviving three of The Four heroes who saved the kingdom from evil ten years ago. There's certainly a lot of material that could be mined from taking an unsentimental view of what happens when the Happily Ever After is in the rearview mirror. Just ask Stephen Sondheim. But instead of insightful commentary on fantasy vs. reality, we get three lusting lunkheads whose failure to communicate with each other is exceeded only by their ability to ruminate endlessly about their own failings. So we have recently divorced, fiery Beatrice (can see the past when she touches someone else's hands) who hates/lusts for preening rogue Clare, who hates/lusts for her in return (they have a fan-generated couple name, of course: “Claretrice”). And grumpy Elowen (absorbs other people's emotions when she touches them) who hates/lusts for former paid assassin Vandra. For a group of heroes whose bravery and cunning is celebrated with a national holiday, Beatrice, Clare and Elowen are complete morons. They spend most of their time feeling sorry for themselves, lusting after their Ones Who Got Away, and sniping at each other. This allows them to be caught by the Bad Guys several times, only to be rescued either by Vandra or pure dumb luck. Their brilliant plan to save the kingdom again is laughingly simple, which is appropriate because the Bad Guys are straight out of Central Casting for the Evil Villain Who Monologues. There are several abrupt “confess your feelings because you realize your beloved could get dead” moments, and a WTF twist that negates the supposed lessons learned by our horny but clueless trio.The books escapes (barely) a one-heart rating, because I actually liked the only non-POV character, Vandra, who is refreshingly straightforward about her feelings towards Elowen. She deserves a better story. And while I wanted to smack Clare for his constant moaning about hating/wanting/not deserving Beatrice, his willingness to put his name and likeness on numerous products to make a buck is admittedly funny. He's an adorable himbo when he is not angsting about true love.Unfortunately, election hangover is not enough to explain why This Will Be Fun didn't work for me as a comedy, fantasy, or romance. In a magical alternate universe where DT had lost, I'd still feel meh about it. *husband-and-wife [a:Emily Wibberley 10788120 Emily Wibberley https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1519955999p2/10788120.jpg] and [a:Austin Siegemund-Broka 16370247 Austin Siegemund-Broka https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1498928389p2/16370247.jpg], and [a:Bridget Morrissey 8203633 Bridget Morrissey https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1696643920p2/8203633.jpg]
A little light reading to distract me on the eve of US Election Day 2024 (JK). There's a lot of background provided, including technical details that I skimmed through, but it's all critical in understanding the tragedy of the Challenger explosion. The seven doomed crew members are portrayed in heartbreaking depth. By the time Higginbotham finally gets to the fateful January 1986 day, I couldn't help wishing that a magical time machine would appear and somehow change the image that is forever seared in my brain of the two wonky-looking vapor trails and the disembodied voice saying, “obviously a major malfunction.”
I knew that there was some problem with the O-rings that was recognized by the engineers but discounted by NASA and Company higher-ups. Until I read this book, I didn't realize that the combination of budget cuts, pressure to increase the shuttle program's frequency, diffusion of responsibility and good old hubris rendered the tragedy entirely preventable. After the scorching Rogers Commission report, everyone vowed to do better next time. Which was fine until the 2003 Columbia disaster, the deadly Boeing 737 jet crashes of 2018/19 and narrowly avoided 2024 catastrophes, etc., etc.
3.5 stars. Very cute and very British contemporary M/M romance between the posh scion of a respectable newspaper family and the scrappy, chip-on-his-shoulder tabloid writer with lofty ambitions. There's a lot of banter, more vomiting than I would have liked, mutual heart-eyes, and a frustrating but somewhat understandable failure to communicate. Loses half a star for inexplicably underplaying some shady behavior by the father of one of the MCs and the death of a secondary character. Maybe it's a “keep calm and carry on” British thing, or maybe the author didn't want to inject too much angst into what is otherwise a lighthearted read.