0375713344
9780375713347
0375713344
3.95
71,563
Mar 1989
Jun 11, 2002
it was amazing
"I was full-grown before I ever set foot in a house without wheels. Of course I had been in stores, offices, fuel stations, barns, and warehouses. But
"I was full-grown before I ever set foot in a house without wheels. Of course I had been in stores, offices, fuel stations, barns, and warehouses. But I had never walked through the door of a place where people slept and ate and bathed and picked their noses, and, as the saying goes, 'lived,' unless that place was three times longer than it was wide and came equipped with road shocks and tires.
When I first stood in such a house I was struck by its terrible solidity. The thing had concrete tentacles sunk into the earth, and sprawling inefficiency. Everything was bigger than it needed to be and there were so many shadowed, dusty corners empty and wasted that I thought I would get lost if I stepped away from the door. That building wasn't going anywhere, despite an itchy sense that it was not entirely comfortable where it was.
That was when I first recognized a need to explain myself. That was the time when I realized that the peculiar look on people's faces when they saw me was not envy or hatred, but could be translated into one simple question: ' What the hell happened to you?' They needed to know so they could prevent it from happening to them.
My answer was simple, too: 'My father and mother designed me this way. They achieved greater originality in some of their other projects.'"
The Binewski family spends their lives traveling around the country with their circus, which revolves around a "geek" show featuring the Binewski children: conjoined twins Iphigenia and Electra, Olympia the albino dwarf, Arturo the Aqua Boy, and the baby Fortunato. Our narrator is Olympia, who as a dwarf isn't interesting enough to be part of the show and works instead as a carnival barker and assistant for her more marketable siblings. Looking back on her childhood as an adult, Olympia takes us through the saga of the Binewski clan, and the rise and fall of their empire.
Does it sound whimsical? It is not (although it's often funny, in a very bizarre way). Make no mistake: this book is weird and gross and uncomfortable and so fucking good. It's one of those novels that you should read, if only because you will never read something else like it again. ...more
When I first stood in such a house I was struck by its terrible solidity. The thing had concrete tentacles sunk into the earth, and sprawling inefficiency. Everything was bigger than it needed to be and there were so many shadowed, dusty corners empty and wasted that I thought I would get lost if I stepped away from the door. That building wasn't going anywhere, despite an itchy sense that it was not entirely comfortable where it was.
That was when I first recognized a need to explain myself. That was the time when I realized that the peculiar look on people's faces when they saw me was not envy or hatred, but could be translated into one simple question: ' What the hell happened to you?' They needed to know so they could prevent it from happening to them.
My answer was simple, too: 'My father and mother designed me this way. They achieved greater originality in some of their other projects.'"
The Binewski family spends their lives traveling around the country with their circus, which revolves around a "geek" show featuring the Binewski children: conjoined twins Iphigenia and Electra, Olympia the albino dwarf, Arturo the Aqua Boy, and the baby Fortunato. Our narrator is Olympia, who as a dwarf isn't interesting enough to be part of the show and works instead as a carnival barker and assistant for her more marketable siblings. Looking back on her childhood as an adult, Olympia takes us through the saga of the Binewski clan, and the rise and fall of their empire.
Does it sound whimsical? It is not (although it's often funny, in a very bizarre way). Make no mistake: this book is weird and gross and uncomfortable and so fucking good. It's one of those novels that you should read, if only because you will never read something else like it again. ...more
Notes are private!
0
1
not set
Jul 2025
Aug 05, 2025
Paperback
1250313198
9781250313195
1250313198
4.19
173,525
Sep 10, 2019
Sep 10, 2019
None
Notes are private!
1
Aug 05, 2025
not set
Aug 05, 2025
Hardcover
0099465620
9780099465621
0099465620
4.09
22,429
1949
Oct 07, 2004
really liked it
I really need to make it more of a priority to read my way through Georgette Heyer's Regency romances - I've only read a handful of them, but so far e
I really need to make it more of a priority to read my way through Georgette Heyer's Regency romances - I've only read a handful of them, but so far every single one has been an absolute delight. Honestly I don't know why anyone bothers with [redacted]'s cheap knockoffs when you can get the real deal.
The story kicks off at the beginning of the London season, when Arabella Tallant is preparing for her debut. She's the middle-class daughter of a clergyman, but thanks to a wealthy godmother who is sponsoring her season, has a significant leg up on the competition. Arabella is looking forward to a fun season of parties and dancing, but unfortunately, before she even makes it to London, she crosses paths with thee bachelor of the season: the arrogant and extremely rich Beaumaris. When she overhears Beaumaris complaining to a friend that Arabella is just another fortune hunter, she decides to get back at him and starts a rumor that she's actually an incredibly wealthy heiress. The lie quickly spirals out of control, and the usual Heyer-esque shenanigans ensue (in this one, our aggressively good-hearted heroine rescues a dog and an orphan chimney sweep).
In addition to being another charming, light-hearted romance, this book really demonstrates that historical fiction is an art that's harder to master than it seems. I can't really put my finger on why exactly, but Heyer's characters always feel accurate to the time period, unlike other historic fiction I've read where the characters all seem like people at Renaissance faire: they're wearing the outfits and talking with an accent, but it's clearly just a costume they put on. Heyer's characters never feel anachronistic, and aside from that, they're a lot of fun. Heyer has such a good ear for dialogue, and one of the only passages I remembered to mark was this conversation between Arabella and her brother's friend, when he has to tell her about his gambling debt:
"She sprang up from her chair, but at this she paused. 'No? But how is this? Why has he left the inn?'
'Couldn't pay his shot,' explained Mr. Scunthorpe apologetically. 'Left his watch. Silly thing to do. Might have come in useful.'
'Oh!' she cried out, horror in her voice. 'Is it as bad as that?'
'Worse!' said Mr. Scunthorpe gloomily. 'Got queered sporting his blunt on the table. Only hadn't enough blunt. Took to signing vowels, and ran aground.'
'Gaming!' Arabella breathed, in a shocked voice.
'Faro,' said Mr. Scunthorpe. 'Mind, no question of any Greeking transaction! No fuzzing, or handling the concavesuit! Not but what makes it worse, because a fellow has to be dashed particular in all matters of play and pay, if he goes to the Nonesuch. All the go, I assure you: Corinthian club - best of good ton! They play devilish huge there - above my touch!'" ...more
The story kicks off at the beginning of the London season, when Arabella Tallant is preparing for her debut. She's the middle-class daughter of a clergyman, but thanks to a wealthy godmother who is sponsoring her season, has a significant leg up on the competition. Arabella is looking forward to a fun season of parties and dancing, but unfortunately, before she even makes it to London, she crosses paths with thee bachelor of the season: the arrogant and extremely rich Beaumaris. When she overhears Beaumaris complaining to a friend that Arabella is just another fortune hunter, she decides to get back at him and starts a rumor that she's actually an incredibly wealthy heiress. The lie quickly spirals out of control, and the usual Heyer-esque shenanigans ensue (in this one, our aggressively good-hearted heroine rescues a dog and an orphan chimney sweep).
In addition to being another charming, light-hearted romance, this book really demonstrates that historical fiction is an art that's harder to master than it seems. I can't really put my finger on why exactly, but Heyer's characters always feel accurate to the time period, unlike other historic fiction I've read where the characters all seem like people at Renaissance faire: they're wearing the outfits and talking with an accent, but it's clearly just a costume they put on. Heyer's characters never feel anachronistic, and aside from that, they're a lot of fun. Heyer has such a good ear for dialogue, and one of the only passages I remembered to mark was this conversation between Arabella and her brother's friend, when he has to tell her about his gambling debt:
"She sprang up from her chair, but at this she paused. 'No? But how is this? Why has he left the inn?'
'Couldn't pay his shot,' explained Mr. Scunthorpe apologetically. 'Left his watch. Silly thing to do. Might have come in useful.'
'Oh!' she cried out, horror in her voice. 'Is it as bad as that?'
'Worse!' said Mr. Scunthorpe gloomily. 'Got queered sporting his blunt on the table. Only hadn't enough blunt. Took to signing vowels, and ran aground.'
'Gaming!' Arabella breathed, in a shocked voice.
'Faro,' said Mr. Scunthorpe. 'Mind, no question of any Greeking transaction! No fuzzing, or handling the concavesuit! Not but what makes it worse, because a fellow has to be dashed particular in all matters of play and pay, if he goes to the Nonesuch. All the go, I assure you: Corinthian club - best of good ton! They play devilish huge there - above my touch!'" ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Jul 2025
Jul 25, 2025
Paperback
0593184610
9780593184615
0593184610
4.23
1,225
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 25, 2025
liked it
"Edwardian newspapers loved a terrifying tale of true crime, and the story of what had been uncovered at 39 Hilldrop Crescent contained all the elemen
"Edwardian newspapers loved a terrifying tale of true crime, and the story of what had been uncovered at 39 Hilldrop Crescent contained all the elements that readers relished. Less than twenty-four hours after Drew and Mitchell had made their discovery, the names of Hawley Harvey Crippen, Belle Elmore and Ethel Le Neve appeared in headlines around the world. Their narrative was both sensational and Gothic. It was not simply the dastardly, spine-tingling act of murder and dismemberment that drew public interest, but its characters and scenarios. There was an air of moral ambiguity surrounding each of the three players - the wife: a glittering American music hall performer; the husband: an untrustworthy Yankee medical man; and the mistress: a typist, a single, vulnerable girl who lived apart from her family at the center of a morally bankrupt capital. That it had all unfolded behind the tree-shaded houses of polite suburbia further heightened the sense of titillation. A middle class that had only recently glimpsed an uncomfortable image itself reflected in the Pooters now found itself staring hard at the Crippens. Were the aspirant middle classes really so far removed from the events of 1888, when Jack the Ripper destroyed the lives and bodies of women living in the slums of Whitechapel? No amount of social climbing, crystal sherry glasses, seaside holidays or gala dinners was enough to spare them from the urban depredations of murder and mayhem. Hilldrop Crescent could be any respectable neighborhood. The Crippens might be your neighbors."
...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Jul 2025
Jul 19, 2025
Hardcover
0063327600
9780063327603
0063327600
3.56
5,958
unknown
Mar 11, 2025
liked it
There is nothing especially unique about Laurie Woolever's story. Like millions of other people who made a living in the restaurant industry, she was
There is nothing especially unique about Laurie Woolever's story. Like millions of other people who made a living in the restaurant industry, she was someone with addictive tendencies who found herself provided with an endless supply of rich food, alcohol, and drugs; and was surrounded by people who believed in never denying themselves any pleasures, and worried about the consequences later.
Laurie Woolever gets to write a memoir, however, because she happened to spend the worst of her addiction years working for two titans of the food world: Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. Woolever's book also has the added draw of being mired in tragedies: Batali's numerous sexual assault accusations, and Bourdain's suicide.
In many ways, this memoir is very similar to Sweetbitter, in the sense that it chronicles a complicated female narrator as she makes a series of destructive lifestyle choices as she struggles to stay afloat in the cutthroat culinary world (and based on the negative reviews of this book, plenty of readers just cannot stop clutching their pearls over the fact that our drug-addicted, sexually active amoral narrator is a woman). The draw, as I said, is the inside look at Batali and Bourdain, although Woolever spent more time working for Batali, so he's definitely featured more heavily. (Having known Bourdain at the very end of his life, Woolever's account of him is interesting, but is mostly just deeply sad) One of the most fascinating parts of the book was when Woolever is working for Batali and doing things like accompanying him to strip clubs and sitting back while he abuses his other employees, and trying to decide where the line is. Because this is just the crazy, boozy world of professional chefs, baby! Sure, Woolever saw him being inappropriate with his staff, but how do you tell when it's bad bad? And how do you speak up? What if you wait too long? Woolever perfectly encapsulates the interior struggle that comes when you're trying to decide if the abuse you've suffered by a powerful man is...you know, abuse and not just you being uptight? Woolever shows exactly how easily a person can fall into that trap, even when all the evidence is pointing to something being very wrong:
"I was afraid of crossing Mario, and I really didn't think this had anything to do with me. Wouldn't it be hypocritical to call myself a 'victim' now, when I had never truly felt like one, and had benefited from years of access and association? Sure, I'd cried when Mario grabbed my ass, and felt sickened by his behavior, but hadn't I also gotten drunk with him, laughed at his jokes, and made plenty of my own? Who was I to throw stones, when I was currently behaving pretty badly in my own life?"
Aside from her tumultuous professional life, Woolever's personal life was also quietly imploding, and the main crux of this memoir is Woolever detailing her own struggles with addiction and recovery, and how working in the restaurant industry exacerbated those issues. It's a tough read, but Woolever should be commended for baring everything for the reader and allowing them to judge her choices (and hoooooo boy, do readers judge her) as she tells her story without excuses. People picking up this book expecting some kind of morality tale, or to get insider information about certain famous men, have missed the point.
"Am I doing this for the story? I'm seeking out all of these experiences to feel something, to have them, to feel entertained. For maximum distraction. I have been collecting these stories for years. It is not so much the sex as the experience. I am doing it for the story, but who am I telling this story to?
...My desire to do bad things keeps burning through the layers of tissue paper I wrap around the hot coal that is the true nature of me: I am a piece of shit.
But: is unchecked excess always the road to ruin? Is there any story in which someone who indulges with no limits ends up happy, successful, healthy, loved?" ...more
Laurie Woolever gets to write a memoir, however, because she happened to spend the worst of her addiction years working for two titans of the food world: Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. Woolever's book also has the added draw of being mired in tragedies: Batali's numerous sexual assault accusations, and Bourdain's suicide.
In many ways, this memoir is very similar to Sweetbitter, in the sense that it chronicles a complicated female narrator as she makes a series of destructive lifestyle choices as she struggles to stay afloat in the cutthroat culinary world (and based on the negative reviews of this book, plenty of readers just cannot stop clutching their pearls over the fact that our drug-addicted, sexually active amoral narrator is a woman). The draw, as I said, is the inside look at Batali and Bourdain, although Woolever spent more time working for Batali, so he's definitely featured more heavily. (Having known Bourdain at the very end of his life, Woolever's account of him is interesting, but is mostly just deeply sad) One of the most fascinating parts of the book was when Woolever is working for Batali and doing things like accompanying him to strip clubs and sitting back while he abuses his other employees, and trying to decide where the line is. Because this is just the crazy, boozy world of professional chefs, baby! Sure, Woolever saw him being inappropriate with his staff, but how do you tell when it's bad bad? And how do you speak up? What if you wait too long? Woolever perfectly encapsulates the interior struggle that comes when you're trying to decide if the abuse you've suffered by a powerful man is...you know, abuse and not just you being uptight? Woolever shows exactly how easily a person can fall into that trap, even when all the evidence is pointing to something being very wrong:
"I was afraid of crossing Mario, and I really didn't think this had anything to do with me. Wouldn't it be hypocritical to call myself a 'victim' now, when I had never truly felt like one, and had benefited from years of access and association? Sure, I'd cried when Mario grabbed my ass, and felt sickened by his behavior, but hadn't I also gotten drunk with him, laughed at his jokes, and made plenty of my own? Who was I to throw stones, when I was currently behaving pretty badly in my own life?"
Aside from her tumultuous professional life, Woolever's personal life was also quietly imploding, and the main crux of this memoir is Woolever detailing her own struggles with addiction and recovery, and how working in the restaurant industry exacerbated those issues. It's a tough read, but Woolever should be commended for baring everything for the reader and allowing them to judge her choices (and hoooooo boy, do readers judge her) as she tells her story without excuses. People picking up this book expecting some kind of morality tale, or to get insider information about certain famous men, have missed the point.
"Am I doing this for the story? I'm seeking out all of these experiences to feel something, to have them, to feel entertained. For maximum distraction. I have been collecting these stories for years. It is not so much the sex as the experience. I am doing it for the story, but who am I telling this story to?
...My desire to do bad things keeps burning through the layers of tissue paper I wrap around the hot coal that is the true nature of me: I am a piece of shit.
But: is unchecked excess always the road to ruin? Is there any story in which someone who indulges with no limits ends up happy, successful, healthy, loved?" ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Jun 2025
Jul 18, 2025
Hardcover
0525521143
9780525521143
0525521143
3.69
191,150
Mar 24, 2020
Mar 24, 2020
it was amazing
Emily St. John Mandel is one of those authors who's so good it makes you angry.
I loved Station Eleven so much more than I expected to. I loved The Gl Emily St. John Mandel is one of those authors who's so good it makes you angry.
I loved Station Eleven so much more than I expected to. I loved The Glass Hotel even more.
This is one of my favorite types of books, the kind where the author spends their time taking you down different story threads that seem unrelated, only to bring them all together at the end and show you that they were working on a larger tapestry the entire time. Reading this is like looking at an Impressionist painting by staring closely at small sections one at a time, and then at the very end stepping back and seeing the entire canvas at once. ...more
I loved Station Eleven so much more than I expected to. I loved The Gl Emily St. John Mandel is one of those authors who's so good it makes you angry.
I loved Station Eleven so much more than I expected to. I loved The Glass Hotel even more.
This is one of my favorite types of books, the kind where the author spends their time taking you down different story threads that seem unrelated, only to bring them all together at the end and show you that they were working on a larger tapestry the entire time. Reading this is like looking at an Impressionist painting by staring closely at small sections one at a time, and then at the very end stepping back and seeing the entire canvas at once. ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
May 2025
Jun 25, 2025
Hardcover
1524798657
9781524798659
1524798657
4.03
1,239,003
May 27, 2021
Jun 01, 2021
liked it
I'm at the point where I hardly ever buy new books (libraries - use em or lose em!) and the ones I do buy are usually longtime favorites that I know I
I'm at the point where I hardly ever buy new books (libraries - use em or lose em!) and the ones I do buy are usually longtime favorites that I know I'm going to read over and over again. But then again, sometimes you're on vacation and have finished the book you brought with you way faster than you expected to, and you find yourself in a bookstore trying to find something to read on the flight home. Which explains how Malibu Rising ended up in my personal collection.
I enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six (the latter was my favorite of the two, I think) so you can understand why I figured I'd at least have a reasonably good time with Malibu Rising. And that's really what the book is - a reasonably good time that I wish I'd borrowed from the library.
The story takes place in 1983, on the morning of the annual blowout party held at Nina Riva's Malibu mansion. By dawn the next day, the opening pages inform us, the house will have burned to the ground, set on fire by one of the guests. Taylor Jenkins Reid follows what seems to be a very trendy storytelling structure for these kinds of books: hour-by-hour installments walking us through the events of The Day Of The Party, interspersed with flashbacks showing How We Got Here.
Nina and her three siblings - Jay, Hud, and Kit - are the children of famous 50's crooner and deadbeat dad Mick Riva (Jenkins Reid fans will recognize Mick as Evenly Hugo's shortest marriage, and Carrie Soto is also a minor character). He hasn't been in their lives since they were little, but their proximity to his fame has still granted them honorary Nepo Baby status in their world, so the siblings enjoy a small degree of status in the small beach community of Malibu, which explains why their annual party is such a draw. But back to the fire: who will start it, and why?
My advice for enjoying this book is, don't concern yourself with the mystery, because if you're paying attention you'll probably figure it out pretty easily.
It was...fine? Nina is really the only one of her siblings that was fully fleshed out, since she's very clearly the main character, even if it sometimes feels like Jenkins Reid doesn't have a clear idea of who she is and just makes her do whatever the plot requires (why would a character whose defining trait is Responsible Adult also be famous for throwing a wild party every year?). The 1983 setting is wholly unnecessary and also doesn't work, because Jenkins Reid makes absolutely no attempt to immerse us in the time period. I mean I guess there's a ton of cocaine usage at the party and nobody worries about fentanyl, but honestly any of the characters could have whipped out an iPhone at any point in the book and I wouldn't have questioned it.
It's a solid installment in the Jenkins Reid Alternate Universe Hollywood that she seems to be mapping out with her novels (you can spot at least three characters who could easily get their own solo spinoff eventually) but there's really nothing memorable happening here. ...more
I enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six (the latter was my favorite of the two, I think) so you can understand why I figured I'd at least have a reasonably good time with Malibu Rising. And that's really what the book is - a reasonably good time that I wish I'd borrowed from the library.
The story takes place in 1983, on the morning of the annual blowout party held at Nina Riva's Malibu mansion. By dawn the next day, the opening pages inform us, the house will have burned to the ground, set on fire by one of the guests. Taylor Jenkins Reid follows what seems to be a very trendy storytelling structure for these kinds of books: hour-by-hour installments walking us through the events of The Day Of The Party, interspersed with flashbacks showing How We Got Here.
Nina and her three siblings - Jay, Hud, and Kit - are the children of famous 50's crooner and deadbeat dad Mick Riva (Jenkins Reid fans will recognize Mick as Evenly Hugo's shortest marriage, and Carrie Soto is also a minor character). He hasn't been in their lives since they were little, but their proximity to his fame has still granted them honorary Nepo Baby status in their world, so the siblings enjoy a small degree of status in the small beach community of Malibu, which explains why their annual party is such a draw. But back to the fire: who will start it, and why?
My advice for enjoying this book is, don't concern yourself with the mystery, because if you're paying attention you'll probably figure it out pretty easily.
It was...fine? Nina is really the only one of her siblings that was fully fleshed out, since she's very clearly the main character, even if it sometimes feels like Jenkins Reid doesn't have a clear idea of who she is and just makes her do whatever the plot requires (why would a character whose defining trait is Responsible Adult also be famous for throwing a wild party every year?). The 1983 setting is wholly unnecessary and also doesn't work, because Jenkins Reid makes absolutely no attempt to immerse us in the time period. I mean I guess there's a ton of cocaine usage at the party and nobody worries about fentanyl, but honestly any of the characters could have whipped out an iPhone at any point in the book and I wouldn't have questioned it.
It's a solid installment in the Jenkins Reid Alternate Universe Hollywood that she seems to be mapping out with her novels (you can spot at least three characters who could easily get their own solo spinoff eventually) but there's really nothing memorable happening here. ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
May 2025
Jun 19, 2025
Hardcover
1668075083
9781668075081
1668075083
4.10
17,302
Mar 18, 2025
Mar 18, 2025
really liked it
"What I am is the Indian who can't die.
I'm the worst dream America ever had."
So I definitely got this book from the library because I had just seen "What I am is the Indian who can't die.
I'm the worst dream America ever had."
So I definitely got this book from the library because I had just seen Sinners* and, like everyone else, was obsessed with that five-minute scene we got of the indigenous vampire hunters and needed MORE.
Full disclosure: this book is not that movie. People who read more than I do have definitely put together lists that do feature more of what we were teased in the movie, so you have other options.
This is a book about a Native American vampire in the Old West, so...do I even need to work harder to convince you to read it?
Stephen Graham Jones has proved with previous novels that he excels at creepy, gory set pieces and terrifying imagery, and he's showing off those skills to full effect here. This book is scary, bloody, and also deeply sad. It's a horror story that takes place during the post-Civil War genocide of the Native Americans, and Graham Jones is pulling no punches in the "can you find the wolves in this picture" kind of way that Scorsese did in Killers of the Flower Moon. This is not an easy read, but it's so rewarding.
*hey have you seen Sinners yet GO SEE SINNERS ...more
I'm the worst dream America ever had."
So I definitely got this book from the library because I had just seen "What I am is the Indian who can't die.
I'm the worst dream America ever had."
So I definitely got this book from the library because I had just seen Sinners* and, like everyone else, was obsessed with that five-minute scene we got of the indigenous vampire hunters and needed MORE.
Full disclosure: this book is not that movie. People who read more than I do have definitely put together lists that do feature more of what we were teased in the movie, so you have other options.
This is a book about a Native American vampire in the Old West, so...do I even need to work harder to convince you to read it?
Stephen Graham Jones has proved with previous novels that he excels at creepy, gory set pieces and terrifying imagery, and he's showing off those skills to full effect here. This book is scary, bloody, and also deeply sad. It's a horror story that takes place during the post-Civil War genocide of the Native Americans, and Graham Jones is pulling no punches in the "can you find the wolves in this picture" kind of way that Scorsese did in Killers of the Flower Moon. This is not an easy read, but it's so rewarding.
*hey have you seen Sinners yet GO SEE SINNERS ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Apr 2025
Jun 19, 2025
Hardcover
0571216234
9780571216239
0571216234
3.41
1,566
Jan 01, 1991
Jan 01, 2002
really liked it
This was gifted to me by a friend, and it's honestly not the kind of book I'd probably pick out for myself - Julie Phillips' Hollywood era was the 70'
This was gifted to me by a friend, and it's honestly not the kind of book I'd probably pick out for myself - Julie Phillips' Hollywood era was the 70's and 80's (and then, post crash-and-burn, the 90's) and while I've seen a handful of the big blockbusters from that time, there's a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here that will hit a lot harder if you've actually seen the movies that are at the center of the varoious dramas. I especially don't recommend going into this if, like me, you've never seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind, because Phillips goes deep into the making of that film, and I had very little context for most of what she talks about.
And of course I had no idea who Julia Phillips was when I started the book, but that's kind of the point: a producer stays in the background, finding the money and basically running the show, but never becoming a household name. Julia Phillips, with the distinction of being the first female producer to win an Oscar, has more than earned this memoir, and it's really interesting to watch her casually name-dropping all the celebrities who were regularly in her orbit back in the day.
Because make no mistake: Julia Phillips was a Big Fucking Deal, and she definitely has some stories to tell. She's also a hot mess of a human, and part of the delight of this memoir is the way she unapologetically chronicles the drugs, the binge drinking, the crazy diets, the bad boyfriends and the backstabbing. This is also a very personal story, so if you're looking for technical information on the making of a movie, you're not really going to find that here. It's more focused on how Phillips handled the huge egos and huger assholes she dealt with on a daily basis, and how her personal life was in an almost constant state of chaos. She's definitely not a great human being, but her voice is clear on every page and she makes no excuses for herself, which is always fun to read about.
"One of the TV crew rushing around in front of me slips on some cable and steps on my foot. Hard. Just keeps going, too. Doesn't even apologize. He's with the team telecasting the event to one hundred million people or so, and he has more important things on his mind...he's only behaving the way everybody in The Business does; all is sacrificed on the altar of the show. Hey, whatever's good for the project...
If you're fucking over your partner for the good of the project, that's different from just plain fucking him over. In fact, if you're fucking him over just for the hell of it, but you can make it seem like it's for the good of the project, you're applauded for 'being professional.' This poor son of a bitch is hurting my toes because they're in his way. He has to step on my feet for the good of the show. He does it to me several times during the course of the festivities; I'm finally forced to grab him by his bow tie and browbeat an apology and a promise from him that he won't do that anymore." ...more
And of course I had no idea who Julia Phillips was when I started the book, but that's kind of the point: a producer stays in the background, finding the money and basically running the show, but never becoming a household name. Julia Phillips, with the distinction of being the first female producer to win an Oscar, has more than earned this memoir, and it's really interesting to watch her casually name-dropping all the celebrities who were regularly in her orbit back in the day.
Because make no mistake: Julia Phillips was a Big Fucking Deal, and she definitely has some stories to tell. She's also a hot mess of a human, and part of the delight of this memoir is the way she unapologetically chronicles the drugs, the binge drinking, the crazy diets, the bad boyfriends and the backstabbing. This is also a very personal story, so if you're looking for technical information on the making of a movie, you're not really going to find that here. It's more focused on how Phillips handled the huge egos and huger assholes she dealt with on a daily basis, and how her personal life was in an almost constant state of chaos. She's definitely not a great human being, but her voice is clear on every page and she makes no excuses for herself, which is always fun to read about.
"One of the TV crew rushing around in front of me slips on some cable and steps on my foot. Hard. Just keeps going, too. Doesn't even apologize. He's with the team telecasting the event to one hundred million people or so, and he has more important things on his mind...he's only behaving the way everybody in The Business does; all is sacrificed on the altar of the show. Hey, whatever's good for the project...
If you're fucking over your partner for the good of the project, that's different from just plain fucking him over. In fact, if you're fucking him over just for the hell of it, but you can make it seem like it's for the good of the project, you're applauded for 'being professional.' This poor son of a bitch is hurting my toes because they're in his way. He has to step on my feet for the good of the show. He does it to me several times during the course of the festivities; I'm finally forced to grab him by his bow tie and browbeat an apology and a promise from him that he won't do that anymore." ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
May 2025
Jun 07, 2025
Paperback
0345419634
9780345419637
0345419634
3.76
91,031
Oct 04, 1992
2005
really liked it
"I didn't answer. Then I said, 'My greatest sin has always been that I have a wonderful time being myself. My guilt is always there; my moral abhorren
"I didn't answer. Then I said, 'My greatest sin has always been that I have a wonderful time being myself. My guilt is always there; my moral abhorrence for myself is always there; but I have a good time. I'm strong; I'm a creature of great will and passion. You see, that's the core of the dilemma for me - how can I enjoy being a vampire so much, how can I enjoy it if it's evil? Ah, it's an old story.'"
Having been warned that the quality of the Interview With the Vampire series decreases as the books go on, I went into The Tale of the Body Thief with pretty low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
Other reviewers seem unhappy with how low stakes this story is compared to previous Lestat adventures; I liked that we took a break from exploring huge questions like the origins of vampires, and got to relax with a one-off adventure that's almost heist-like. It's light only in the sense that we're not delving into super heavy topics; rest assured that Lestat still can't catch a break.
Catching up with Lestat after the events of The Queen of the Damned, we find our (my) favorite vampire lying low in Miami when he notices that he's being followed. Eventually, he is approached by Raglan James (as someone who hasn't read this far in the book series but is watching the AMC show, believe me when I say I almost gasped out loud when the book version of James is introduced), who has a proposition. Raglan James has the ability to inhabit other bodies (the body he uses to approach Lestat is, of course, not his original one) and he proposes a trade: he'll get two days in Lestat's body, so he can experience life as an all-powerful vampire, and Lestat will inhabit the body of a human man in his twenties and get to re-experience life as a human.
To be fair to our boy, Lestat takes every precaution he can think of to ensure that the switch is temporary, but of course it's a trick, and the book follows Lestat - in human form! - trying to track down the guy who stole his body and force him to switch back. He's helped by a friend from the Talamasca (and based on their interactions, I really wonder if the TV version of Daniel is going to take on this character's role...) and also dear, sad Louis makes an appearance when Lestat is still considering James' offer. It goes about as well as you could imagine, and I could honestly read about these two disasters arguing and sniping at each other for the rest of time:
"'Louis, this man can give me a human body. Have you listened to anything I've said?'
'Human body! Lestat, you can't become human by simply taking over a human body! You weren't human when you were alive! You were born a monster, and you know it. How the hell can you delude yourself like this.'
'I'm going to weep if you don't stop.'
'Weep. I'd like to see you weep. I've read a great deal about your weeping in the pages of your books but I've never seen you weep with my own eyes.'
'Ah, that makes you out to be a perfect liar,' I said furiously. 'You described my weeping in your miserable memoir in a scene which we both know did not take place!'"
Perfection. The book also brings back Claudia, and I'm glad to see that she's still haunting the narrative (and Lestat). After the events of The Tale of the Body Thief, where Lestat actually - maybe - is forced to do some introspection and learn things about himself, I'm excited to see where he goes next. ...more
Having been warned that the quality of the Interview With the Vampire series decreases as the books go on, I went into The Tale of the Body Thief with pretty low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
Other reviewers seem unhappy with how low stakes this story is compared to previous Lestat adventures; I liked that we took a break from exploring huge questions like the origins of vampires, and got to relax with a one-off adventure that's almost heist-like. It's light only in the sense that we're not delving into super heavy topics; rest assured that Lestat still can't catch a break.
Catching up with Lestat after the events of The Queen of the Damned, we find our (my) favorite vampire lying low in Miami when he notices that he's being followed. Eventually, he is approached by Raglan James (as someone who hasn't read this far in the book series but is watching the AMC show, believe me when I say I almost gasped out loud when the book version of James is introduced), who has a proposition. Raglan James has the ability to inhabit other bodies (the body he uses to approach Lestat is, of course, not his original one) and he proposes a trade: he'll get two days in Lestat's body, so he can experience life as an all-powerful vampire, and Lestat will inhabit the body of a human man in his twenties and get to re-experience life as a human.
To be fair to our boy, Lestat takes every precaution he can think of to ensure that the switch is temporary, but of course it's a trick, and the book follows Lestat - in human form! - trying to track down the guy who stole his body and force him to switch back. He's helped by a friend from the Talamasca (and based on their interactions, I really wonder if the TV version of Daniel is going to take on this character's role...) and also dear, sad Louis makes an appearance when Lestat is still considering James' offer. It goes about as well as you could imagine, and I could honestly read about these two disasters arguing and sniping at each other for the rest of time:
"'Louis, this man can give me a human body. Have you listened to anything I've said?'
'Human body! Lestat, you can't become human by simply taking over a human body! You weren't human when you were alive! You were born a monster, and you know it. How the hell can you delude yourself like this.'
'I'm going to weep if you don't stop.'
'Weep. I'd like to see you weep. I've read a great deal about your weeping in the pages of your books but I've never seen you weep with my own eyes.'
'Ah, that makes you out to be a perfect liar,' I said furiously. 'You described my weeping in your miserable memoir in a scene which we both know did not take place!'"
Perfection. The book also brings back Claudia, and I'm glad to see that she's still haunting the narrative (and Lestat). After the events of The Tale of the Body Thief, where Lestat actually - maybe - is forced to do some introspection and learn things about himself, I'm excited to see where he goes next. ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Apr 2025
May 06, 2025
Paperback
0062802798
9780062802798
0062802798
3.64
12,440
Apr 20, 2021
Apr 20, 2021
did not like it
It's always an interesting exercise, as a reader, to approach a book with a simple question: who was this written for?
I find this especially useful w It's always an interesting exercise, as a reader, to approach a book with a simple question: who was this written for?
I find this especially useful when evaluating popular fiction that I know I, personally, would not enjoy. (A coworker keeps pressuring me to read that shitty fantasy A Fire Of Stars and Roses and Courts of Thorns or whatever, I can't be bothered to look it up, and I refuse) It can be liberating to acknowledge that no, this thing isn't bad, it's just not my taste and therefore I don't need any other justification besides "I didn't like it."
That being said, I can't imagine what kind of person could possibly find World Travel: An Irreverent Guide to their taste.
The concept of this book is a good one: Anthony Bourdain, along with author Laurie Woolever (his former assistant and frequent professional collaborator) wanted to write "an atlas of the world as seen through his eyes...the places, people, food, sights, markets, hotels, and more that had stuck with him, without aid of notes or videos, throughout nearly twenty years of traveling the world in the service of making television."
Bourdain and Woolever had exactly one meeting in 2018 to brainstorm what this book would look like, and there was never a second meeting because only a few weeks later, Bourdain was dead by suicide.
So, a warning to prospective readers: there is not a single new sentence written by Bourdain in this book. Woolever had the difficult task of trying to make Bourdain's vision for the book a reality, and her solution was to pull quotes from Bourdain's past projects and stick them in the book as needed. Every Bourdain quote that was taken from another source is printed in blue, and there's a whole lot of blue in this book.
Okay, so it's not a new view into Bourdain (even the guest essays, by various chefs and other famous people in Bourdain's orbit, spend most of the time talking about whatever city they've been asked to write about instead of focusing on the voice that is conspicuously absent from this book), so how does it function as a travel guide?
Not well, I'll tell you that. The book is divided into countries, with some larger nations like Canada and China getting divided into sections focusing on a couple of major cities, but otherwise an entire country gets just four or five pages' worth of hotel and restaurant recommendations. Someone involved in the planning process for this book also made the baffling decision to spend significant page space describing the major airports of each featured country - including how to get to the city center (spoiler alert, the answer will be "you can take public transportation or a taxi" every single time), and, for some reason, which airlines stop there (Who was this written for?) This was especially frustrating considering how few pages each country gets, and I wish they'd at least made the airport sections a little briefer so Woolever could feature at least a few more local restaurants. The hotel sections usually tell us where Bourdain liked to stay, and we learn that he preferred luxury accommodations like the Four Seasons. Which, fine - he's a TV star, after all, and god knows the man deserved a nice mattress, but it's not much help for the average traveler who might want to stay somewhere that's locally-owned, or at least more affordable. (Also, why do we need to know this? Do people really think they can saunter up to the concierge at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto, brandish a copy of this book, and demand to stay in the Anthony Bourdain suite?)
Sure, you can find good restaurant recommendations for your next international trip, but there are plenty of sources for that. You're better off skipping this and just watching old episodes of No Reservations - at least there, Anthony Bourdain's distinctive voice and perspective comes straight from the source, and not second hand.
Or better yet, seek out Laurie Woolever's recently-published memoir, Care and Feeding: A Memoir, which I haven't gotten my hands on yet but apparently does feature plenty of Bourdain, and sounds like it does a much better job of delivering what I wanted from this book. ...more
I find this especially useful w It's always an interesting exercise, as a reader, to approach a book with a simple question: who was this written for?
I find this especially useful when evaluating popular fiction that I know I, personally, would not enjoy. (A coworker keeps pressuring me to read that shitty fantasy A Fire Of Stars and Roses and Courts of Thorns or whatever, I can't be bothered to look it up, and I refuse) It can be liberating to acknowledge that no, this thing isn't bad, it's just not my taste and therefore I don't need any other justification besides "I didn't like it."
That being said, I can't imagine what kind of person could possibly find World Travel: An Irreverent Guide to their taste.
The concept of this book is a good one: Anthony Bourdain, along with author Laurie Woolever (his former assistant and frequent professional collaborator) wanted to write "an atlas of the world as seen through his eyes...the places, people, food, sights, markets, hotels, and more that had stuck with him, without aid of notes or videos, throughout nearly twenty years of traveling the world in the service of making television."
Bourdain and Woolever had exactly one meeting in 2018 to brainstorm what this book would look like, and there was never a second meeting because only a few weeks later, Bourdain was dead by suicide.
So, a warning to prospective readers: there is not a single new sentence written by Bourdain in this book. Woolever had the difficult task of trying to make Bourdain's vision for the book a reality, and her solution was to pull quotes from Bourdain's past projects and stick them in the book as needed. Every Bourdain quote that was taken from another source is printed in blue, and there's a whole lot of blue in this book.
Okay, so it's not a new view into Bourdain (even the guest essays, by various chefs and other famous people in Bourdain's orbit, spend most of the time talking about whatever city they've been asked to write about instead of focusing on the voice that is conspicuously absent from this book), so how does it function as a travel guide?
Not well, I'll tell you that. The book is divided into countries, with some larger nations like Canada and China getting divided into sections focusing on a couple of major cities, but otherwise an entire country gets just four or five pages' worth of hotel and restaurant recommendations. Someone involved in the planning process for this book also made the baffling decision to spend significant page space describing the major airports of each featured country - including how to get to the city center (spoiler alert, the answer will be "you can take public transportation or a taxi" every single time), and, for some reason, which airlines stop there (Who was this written for?) This was especially frustrating considering how few pages each country gets, and I wish they'd at least made the airport sections a little briefer so Woolever could feature at least a few more local restaurants. The hotel sections usually tell us where Bourdain liked to stay, and we learn that he preferred luxury accommodations like the Four Seasons. Which, fine - he's a TV star, after all, and god knows the man deserved a nice mattress, but it's not much help for the average traveler who might want to stay somewhere that's locally-owned, or at least more affordable. (Also, why do we need to know this? Do people really think they can saunter up to the concierge at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto, brandish a copy of this book, and demand to stay in the Anthony Bourdain suite?)
Sure, you can find good restaurant recommendations for your next international trip, but there are plenty of sources for that. You're better off skipping this and just watching old episodes of No Reservations - at least there, Anthony Bourdain's distinctive voice and perspective comes straight from the source, and not second hand.
Or better yet, seek out Laurie Woolever's recently-published memoir, Care and Feeding: A Memoir, which I haven't gotten my hands on yet but apparently does feature plenty of Bourdain, and sounds like it does a much better job of delivering what I wanted from this book. ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Mar 2025
Apr 25, 2025
Hardcover
0552153257
9780552153256
0552153257
4.33
91,222
1996
Oct 31, 2005
it was amazing
"Samuel Vimes dreamed about Clues.
He had a jaundiced view of Clues. He instinctively distrusted them. They got in the way.
And he distrusted the kind "Samuel Vimes dreamed about Clues.
He had a jaundiced view of Clues. He instinctively distrusted them. They got in the way.
And he distrusted the kind of person who'd take one look at another man and say in a lordly voice to his companion, 'Ah, my dear sir, I can tell you nothing except that he is left-handed stonemason who has spent some years in the merchant navy and has recently fallen on hard times,' and then unroll a lot of supercilious commentary about calluses and stance and the state of a man's boots, when exactly the same comments could apply to a man who was wearing his old clothes because he'd been doing a spot of home bricklaying for a new barbecue pit, and had been tattooed once when he was drunk and seventeen and in fact got sea-sick on wet pavement. What arrogance! What an insult to the rich and chaotic variety of the human experience!" ...more
He had a jaundiced view of Clues. He instinctively distrusted them. They got in the way.
And he distrusted the kind "Samuel Vimes dreamed about Clues.
He had a jaundiced view of Clues. He instinctively distrusted them. They got in the way.
And he distrusted the kind of person who'd take one look at another man and say in a lordly voice to his companion, 'Ah, my dear sir, I can tell you nothing except that he is left-handed stonemason who has spent some years in the merchant navy and has recently fallen on hard times,' and then unroll a lot of supercilious commentary about calluses and stance and the state of a man's boots, when exactly the same comments could apply to a man who was wearing his old clothes because he'd been doing a spot of home bricklaying for a new barbecue pit, and had been tattooed once when he was drunk and seventeen and in fact got sea-sick on wet pavement. What arrogance! What an insult to the rich and chaotic variety of the human experience!" ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Apr 2025
Apr 08, 2025
Paperback
0912514477
9780912514475
0912514477
3.74
85
Jan 01, 1968
Jan 01, 1968
liked it
It's hard to explain to people who have never seen them in person that the Great Lakes are not just lakes. They are, technically speaking, inland seas
It's hard to explain to people who have never seen them in person that the Great Lakes are not just lakes. They are, technically speaking, inland seas and are only classified as lakes because they have fresh water, and they're bigger than some European countries.
They will also fuck you up, as anyone who has heard The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald can attest, and the bottom of every one of the five Great Lakes is a literal graveyard of shipwrecks. Dwight Boyer's book takes us through just a handful of them (most having sunk between the late 1800's and the 1930's, when it became mandatory for all shipping vessels to have radio equipment on board).
Fair warning for anyone intrigued by the title: no, this is not an anthology of ship-related ghost stories of the Great Lakes area, nor is it a chronicle of eyewitness accounts of supernatural sightings. This is a very straightforward history of famous shipwrecks, giving us the principle characters involved, the circumstances that led to the sinkings, and the aftermath. It gets pretty repetitive pretty quickly, because almost all of the stories can be boiled down to, "The ship left the port during bad weather conditions, it never showed up at the dock when it was supposed to, and we have no idea where it sank." And although Boyer will occasionally mention that residents will report hearing a distress horn years after the sinking, or see strange lights, this is definitely not a book of ghost stories. If anything, this is a fun guide to all the little islands that are scattered around the Great Lakes, most of which have turned into cute tourist towns.
But I have to admit that even though this wasn't what I was expecting, I couldn't help being totally charmed by this book, because the writing is fun and engaging, and you just don't get history books written like this anymore:
From the chapter titled Don't Change Her Name...!:
"In 1924 she appeared to be just what the Dunbar & Sullivan Dredging Company of Detroit was looking for in the way of another craft to tow and service their rather considerable fleet of dipper, hydraulic, and clamshell boats and associated gear. They bought her and immediately changed her name to Sachem, a title signifying the mightiest of Indian chiefs. Someone with a delightful sense of humor, probably an Irishman, is responsible for naming the assorted craft belonging to the Dunbar & Sullivan organization. They have some conventional names, too, but imagine tugs named Sachem, Shaughraun, Shaun Rhue, Spalpeen, Paddy Miles, and Nanny Goat. Fancy such names for dredges, big ones, too, as Omadhoun, Old Hickory, Tipperary Boy, Pocantico, Handy Andy, and a drill boat named Earthquake. Glorious!" ...more
They will also fuck you up, as anyone who has heard The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald can attest, and the bottom of every one of the five Great Lakes is a literal graveyard of shipwrecks. Dwight Boyer's book takes us through just a handful of them (most having sunk between the late 1800's and the 1930's, when it became mandatory for all shipping vessels to have radio equipment on board).
Fair warning for anyone intrigued by the title: no, this is not an anthology of ship-related ghost stories of the Great Lakes area, nor is it a chronicle of eyewitness accounts of supernatural sightings. This is a very straightforward history of famous shipwrecks, giving us the principle characters involved, the circumstances that led to the sinkings, and the aftermath. It gets pretty repetitive pretty quickly, because almost all of the stories can be boiled down to, "The ship left the port during bad weather conditions, it never showed up at the dock when it was supposed to, and we have no idea where it sank." And although Boyer will occasionally mention that residents will report hearing a distress horn years after the sinking, or see strange lights, this is definitely not a book of ghost stories. If anything, this is a fun guide to all the little islands that are scattered around the Great Lakes, most of which have turned into cute tourist towns.
But I have to admit that even though this wasn't what I was expecting, I couldn't help being totally charmed by this book, because the writing is fun and engaging, and you just don't get history books written like this anymore:
From the chapter titled Don't Change Her Name...!:
"In 1924 she appeared to be just what the Dunbar & Sullivan Dredging Company of Detroit was looking for in the way of another craft to tow and service their rather considerable fleet of dipper, hydraulic, and clamshell boats and associated gear. They bought her and immediately changed her name to Sachem, a title signifying the mightiest of Indian chiefs. Someone with a delightful sense of humor, probably an Irishman, is responsible for naming the assorted craft belonging to the Dunbar & Sullivan organization. They have some conventional names, too, but imagine tugs named Sachem, Shaughraun, Shaun Rhue, Spalpeen, Paddy Miles, and Nanny Goat. Fancy such names for dredges, big ones, too, as Omadhoun, Old Hickory, Tipperary Boy, Pocantico, Handy Andy, and a drill boat named Earthquake. Glorious!" ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Mar 2025
Apr 08, 2025
Paperback
0143036610
9780143036616
0143036610
3.94
47,542
Apr 04, 2005
Mar 28, 2006
really liked it
When Ruth Reichl relocated from Los Angeles to become The New York Times' new restaurant critic, she realized very quickly that the New York dining sc
When Ruth Reichl relocated from Los Angeles to become The New York Times' new restaurant critic, she realized very quickly that the New York dining scene was a completely different animal. Every high-end restaurant in the city had trained their staff to recognize Reichl at first sight, to ensure that she was guaranteed to have the best service and give a good review, and this meant that Reichl had to get creative.
It was more than just throwing on a wig and some fake glasses. Reichl worked with an acting coach to create fully-formed characters who would function as her disguises when she went out to eat. Each of these personas came with full backstories and unique personalities, and Reichl found that not only did her disguise affect how she was treated by restaurant staff, it also affected her own experience, because she was dining out in character.
The main draw of this memoir is, of course, the infamous "dual review" that Riechl wrote of Le Cirque, describing her experiences as Ruth Riechl, famous restaurant critic, and an anonymous nobody:
"Dinner as the Unknown Diner
'Do you have a reservation?'
This is said so challengingly I instantly feel as if I am an intruder who has wandered into the wrong restaurant. But I nod meekly and give my guest's name. And I am sent to wait in the bar.
And there we sit for half an hour, two women drinking glasses of expensive water. Finally we are led to a table in the smoking section, where we had specifically requested not to be seated. Asked if there is, perhaps, another table, the captain merely gestures at the occupied tables and produces a little shrug.
There is no need to ask for a wine list; there it is, perched right next to me on the banquette where the waitress shoves the menus. Every few minutes another waiter comes to fling his used menus in my direction.
...
Dinner as a Most Favored Patron
'The King of Spain is waiting in the bar, but your table is ready,' says Mr. Maccioni, sweeping us majestically past the waiting masses."
The book also has a handful of recipes, and I can't speak for all of them, but I will tell you that when I finished reading this, I had make the Last-Minute Chocolate Cake recipe pretty much immediately, and it was incredible. Definitely save that one. ...more
It was more than just throwing on a wig and some fake glasses. Reichl worked with an acting coach to create fully-formed characters who would function as her disguises when she went out to eat. Each of these personas came with full backstories and unique personalities, and Reichl found that not only did her disguise affect how she was treated by restaurant staff, it also affected her own experience, because she was dining out in character.
The main draw of this memoir is, of course, the infamous "dual review" that Riechl wrote of Le Cirque, describing her experiences as Ruth Riechl, famous restaurant critic, and an anonymous nobody:
"Dinner as the Unknown Diner
'Do you have a reservation?'
This is said so challengingly I instantly feel as if I am an intruder who has wandered into the wrong restaurant. But I nod meekly and give my guest's name. And I am sent to wait in the bar.
And there we sit for half an hour, two women drinking glasses of expensive water. Finally we are led to a table in the smoking section, where we had specifically requested not to be seated. Asked if there is, perhaps, another table, the captain merely gestures at the occupied tables and produces a little shrug.
There is no need to ask for a wine list; there it is, perched right next to me on the banquette where the waitress shoves the menus. Every few minutes another waiter comes to fling his used menus in my direction.
...
Dinner as a Most Favored Patron
'The King of Spain is waiting in the bar, but your table is ready,' says Mr. Maccioni, sweeping us majestically past the waiting masses."
The book also has a handful of recipes, and I can't speak for all of them, but I will tell you that when I finished reading this, I had make the Last-Minute Chocolate Cake recipe pretty much immediately, and it was incredible. Definitely save that one. ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Mar 2025
Mar 23, 2025
Paperback
0575058080
9780575058088
0575058080
4.13
67,836
1995
1995
really liked it
By now, I've learned that Terry Pratchett writes an installment of the Witches series when he feels like doing his own spoof of a classic story. Wyrd
By now, I've learned that Terry Pratchett writes an installment of the Witches series when he feels like doing his own spoof of a classic story. Wyrd Sisters was Macbeth, Witches Abroad was Cinderella, Lords and Ladies was A Midsummer Night's Dream, and now it's time to hear what Sir Terry thinks of The Phantom of the Opera. He, uh, has notes.
Now that Magrat Garlick is off being a queen (literally, but I guess figuratively as well), Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax find themselves in a coven with only two witches, and anyone can tell you that that's not really a coven at all. But luckily, they have a potential candidate in Agnes Nitt, the local village girl who's shown signs of witch potential. Unluckily, Agnes has moved to the big city of Ankh-Morpork to chase her dream of becoming an opera star. And of course, the opera house has a ghost.
I'll be honest that the only reason this didn't totally blow me away (and why I strongly considered bumping the rating down to three stars) is because it felt like the book was building to something much bigger than what the ending delivered. I wanted more of a bang, but overall this book was so much fun. Terry Pratchett has some opinions about opera as an art form, and you know what you're getting into right at the dedication:
"My thanks to the people who showed me that opera was stranger than I could imagine. I can best repay their kindness by not mentioning their names here."
Plus, this is our introduction to Agnes Nitt, and I can't wait for the next book when she's hopefully an official third member of the coven, because you can't not love her:
"She'd woken up one morning with the horrible realization that she'd been saddled with a lovely personality. It was as simple as that. Oh, and very good hair.
It wasn't so much the personality, it was the 'but' that people always added when they talked about it. But she's got such a lovely personality, they said. It was the lack of choice that rankled. N one had asked her, before she was born, whether she wanted a lovely personality or whether she'd prefer, say a miserable personality but a body that could take size nine in dresses. Instead, people would take pains to tell her that beauty was only skin-deep, as if a man ever fell for an attractive pair of kidneys.
She could feel a future trying to land on her.
She'd caught herself saying 'poot!' and 'dang!' when she wanted to swear, and using pink writing paper.
She'd got a reputation for being calm and capable in a crisis.
Next thing she knew she'd be making shortbread and apple pies as good as her mother's, and then there'd be no hope for her." ...more
Now that Magrat Garlick is off being a queen (literally, but I guess figuratively as well), Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax find themselves in a coven with only two witches, and anyone can tell you that that's not really a coven at all. But luckily, they have a potential candidate in Agnes Nitt, the local village girl who's shown signs of witch potential. Unluckily, Agnes has moved to the big city of Ankh-Morpork to chase her dream of becoming an opera star. And of course, the opera house has a ghost.
I'll be honest that the only reason this didn't totally blow me away (and why I strongly considered bumping the rating down to three stars) is because it felt like the book was building to something much bigger than what the ending delivered. I wanted more of a bang, but overall this book was so much fun. Terry Pratchett has some opinions about opera as an art form, and you know what you're getting into right at the dedication:
"My thanks to the people who showed me that opera was stranger than I could imagine. I can best repay their kindness by not mentioning their names here."
Plus, this is our introduction to Agnes Nitt, and I can't wait for the next book when she's hopefully an official third member of the coven, because you can't not love her:
"She'd woken up one morning with the horrible realization that she'd been saddled with a lovely personality. It was as simple as that. Oh, and very good hair.
It wasn't so much the personality, it was the 'but' that people always added when they talked about it. But she's got such a lovely personality, they said. It was the lack of choice that rankled. N one had asked her, before she was born, whether she wanted a lovely personality or whether she'd prefer, say a miserable personality but a body that could take size nine in dresses. Instead, people would take pains to tell her that beauty was only skin-deep, as if a man ever fell for an attractive pair of kidneys.
She could feel a future trying to land on her.
She'd caught herself saying 'poot!' and 'dang!' when she wanted to swear, and using pink writing paper.
She'd got a reputation for being calm and capable in a crisis.
Next thing she knew she'd be making shortbread and apple pies as good as her mother's, and then there'd be no hope for her." ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Mar 2025
Mar 23, 2025
Hardcover
B00DJYMJ7Q
3.94
389,114
Jul 03, 2001
Oct 13, 2009
it was ok
So here's the thing about the romance trope of "guy annoys girl on purpose because he thinks she's cute when she's angry":
First, I hate it. I haaaaate So here's the thing about the romance trope of "guy annoys girl on purpose because he thinks she's cute when she's angry":
First, I hate it. I haaaaate it. It's condescending as shit and is rooted in the idea that other people's emotions aren't real, so that makes it totally fine to upset someone on purpose because you think it's funny. Also it's always the guy doing it to the girl and is never the other way around, and you know that Julia "let's just do a beat-for-beat retelling of Cinderella and call it a day" Quinn certainly won't do anything inventive with the trope.
But it's also an extremely tricky thing to pull off, because it requires the man to act like a total dick and the woman to be consistently beaten down by his "flirty" teasing and insults. The author has to work very hard to make the final act turnaround work.
And that's the thing that kills An Offer From a Gentleman dead in the water: this dynamic of "guy is mean to girl because he can't admit he likes her" does not work in a Regency setting. At least if you have a bickering couple in modern day, you're comforted by the fact that if the girl really doesn't like the guy, she can tell him to fuck off, and walk away. Sophie Beckett, the heroine of this extremely frustrating and unromantic horror story, can do neither. Add that to the fact that Benedict's favorite way to needle Sophie is to remind her that she has no power and he can do whatever he wants, and the result is a love story where I was actively rooting for the heroine to murder the hero in his sleep.
I mean, Jesus. At least with Anthony and Kate, their constant bickering worked because even if Kate wasn't as rich as Anthony, they were more or less social equals and had a level playing field. The Benedict/Sophie dynamic is just sad, because you're just reading about this woman getting constantly belittled and insulted, and the only way out is to marry the guy. Sure, Benedict doesn't rape her, and his narration is constantly insisting that "well, if she rejects me and means it of course I'll stop" but then literally a sentence later he's like, "She'll sleep with me eventually, I just have to wear her down."
Not great, Julia!
(I do love how Benedict is so delusional he just takes it for granted that becoming his mistress is the best thing that could possibly happen to Sophie. Provide references or shut the fuck up, bro. Also it's worth pointing out that in this era, being a rich guy's mistress was one step up from indentured servitude anyway, and GOD how I wish Sophie had pointed this out to him.)
(view spoiler)[Also, I do not believe for one second that the other Bridgertons (and society at large) would be so chill about this pairing. Violet Bridgerton, a woman whose defining character trait is wanting her children to have good (ie, profitable) marriages, does not mind that her son is marrying a bastard servant girl because, well, as long as he's happy! We'll just invent some relatives for her and hope nobody looks into it!
Excuse me? There are FIVE MORE kids who'll eventually need to get married, you're telling me that Violet isn't even a little bit worried about how this will affect their chances? For Christ' sake, the entire series is framed around a GOSSIP COLUMNIST whose WHOLE THING is uncovering characters' dirty secrets, are you seriously telling me that Lady Whistledown never finds out Sophie's real backstory?
(No, of course not, because Lady Whisteldown is [redacted], so she can't ever do anything mean to the perfect Bridgertons)
And remember, at this point in the series Anthony is recently married and doesn't have kids, which means if he gets run over by a carriage the entire family fortune goes to Benedict. Is Julia Quinn seriously going to tell us that Anthony (Anthony!) is cool with the second son marrying a servant?! There's even an epilogue where Sophie is thinking about her kids and their future marriage prospects, and she's like, well, it'll be fine because by then everyone will have forgotten the rumors. Sure, Jan. (hide spoiler)]
An Offer From a Gentleman proves that Julia Quinn is the laziest kind of historical fiction writer, one who picks and chooses which rules from the era she wants to follow when it suits her story. She clearly chose the Regency era because she liked the idea of writing romances where unmarried couples could barely touch each other in public, but as soon as she runs into ugly realities of the time period, like the total lack of human rights for servants or the unbreakable rules of social hierarchies, she half-asses an explanation for why her characters can ignore them because to acknowledge the reality of how much the Regency era sucked for 95% of the population isn't sexy.
Georgette Heyer is embarrassed for you. ...more
First, I hate it. I haaaaate So here's the thing about the romance trope of "guy annoys girl on purpose because he thinks she's cute when she's angry":
First, I hate it. I haaaaate it. It's condescending as shit and is rooted in the idea that other people's emotions aren't real, so that makes it totally fine to upset someone on purpose because you think it's funny. Also it's always the guy doing it to the girl and is never the other way around, and you know that Julia "let's just do a beat-for-beat retelling of Cinderella and call it a day" Quinn certainly won't do anything inventive with the trope.
But it's also an extremely tricky thing to pull off, because it requires the man to act like a total dick and the woman to be consistently beaten down by his "flirty" teasing and insults. The author has to work very hard to make the final act turnaround work.
And that's the thing that kills An Offer From a Gentleman dead in the water: this dynamic of "guy is mean to girl because he can't admit he likes her" does not work in a Regency setting. At least if you have a bickering couple in modern day, you're comforted by the fact that if the girl really doesn't like the guy, she can tell him to fuck off, and walk away. Sophie Beckett, the heroine of this extremely frustrating and unromantic horror story, can do neither. Add that to the fact that Benedict's favorite way to needle Sophie is to remind her that she has no power and he can do whatever he wants, and the result is a love story where I was actively rooting for the heroine to murder the hero in his sleep.
I mean, Jesus. At least with Anthony and Kate, their constant bickering worked because even if Kate wasn't as rich as Anthony, they were more or less social equals and had a level playing field. The Benedict/Sophie dynamic is just sad, because you're just reading about this woman getting constantly belittled and insulted, and the only way out is to marry the guy. Sure, Benedict doesn't rape her, and his narration is constantly insisting that "well, if she rejects me and means it of course I'll stop" but then literally a sentence later he's like, "She'll sleep with me eventually, I just have to wear her down."
Not great, Julia!
(I do love how Benedict is so delusional he just takes it for granted that becoming his mistress is the best thing that could possibly happen to Sophie. Provide references or shut the fuck up, bro. Also it's worth pointing out that in this era, being a rich guy's mistress was one step up from indentured servitude anyway, and GOD how I wish Sophie had pointed this out to him.)
(view spoiler)[Also, I do not believe for one second that the other Bridgertons (and society at large) would be so chill about this pairing. Violet Bridgerton, a woman whose defining character trait is wanting her children to have good (ie, profitable) marriages, does not mind that her son is marrying a bastard servant girl because, well, as long as he's happy! We'll just invent some relatives for her and hope nobody looks into it!
Excuse me? There are FIVE MORE kids who'll eventually need to get married, you're telling me that Violet isn't even a little bit worried about how this will affect their chances? For Christ' sake, the entire series is framed around a GOSSIP COLUMNIST whose WHOLE THING is uncovering characters' dirty secrets, are you seriously telling me that Lady Whistledown never finds out Sophie's real backstory?
(No, of course not, because Lady Whisteldown is [redacted], so she can't ever do anything mean to the perfect Bridgertons)
And remember, at this point in the series Anthony is recently married and doesn't have kids, which means if he gets run over by a carriage the entire family fortune goes to Benedict. Is Julia Quinn seriously going to tell us that Anthony (Anthony!) is cool with the second son marrying a servant?! There's even an epilogue where Sophie is thinking about her kids and their future marriage prospects, and she's like, well, it'll be fine because by then everyone will have forgotten the rumors. Sure, Jan. (hide spoiler)]
An Offer From a Gentleman proves that Julia Quinn is the laziest kind of historical fiction writer, one who picks and chooses which rules from the era she wants to follow when it suits her story. She clearly chose the Regency era because she liked the idea of writing romances where unmarried couples could barely touch each other in public, but as soon as she runs into ugly realities of the time period, like the total lack of human rights for servants or the unbreakable rules of social hierarchies, she half-asses an explanation for why her characters can ignore them because to acknowledge the reality of how much the Regency era sucked for 95% of the population isn't sexy.
Georgette Heyer is embarrassed for you. ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Mar 2025
Mar 16, 2025
Paperback
0316258873
9780316258876
0316258873
4.04
135,336
unknown
Jun 11, 2024
liked it
Oh, Elin. I wish I knew how to quit you.
There's definitely a bittersweet feeling going into Swan Song, aka Elin Hilderbrand's last, no fooling, serio Oh, Elin. I wish I knew how to quit you.
There's definitely a bittersweet feeling going into Swan Song, aka Elin Hilderbrand's last, no fooling, seriously guys she's really done, Nantucket novel. There's a sense of relief, because now I can move on and hopefully find a new comfort series that doesn't frustrate me quite as much. But there's also a feeling of genuine loss, because as much as I harp on these novels and even though they could be better in so many ways, I'm going to miss these books. Is Hilderbrand going for the low-hanging fruit by writing novels set on the wealthy, idyllic island of Nantucket and saturating her stories with beach houses, decadent meals, and nice white people who are complicated only in the sense that they love adultery? Sure. But the fact is that these books are a goddamn balm for the soul, true beach reads in every sense of the word, and I'm really going to miss spending time in Hilderbrand's world, where it's golden hour all the time.
Swan Song centers on Ed Kapenash, Nantucket chief of police and arguably the beating heart at the center of this series. The book begins at Ed's retirement party, when he receives an emergency call: a summer home on the island has been destroyed by a fire and the owners, who were hosting a party on their yacht at the time, report that one of their employees is missing from the boat. We then go into Hilderbrand's favorite storytelling device, the good ol' flashback chapters interspersed with minute-to-minute updates on the night of the disaster.
Ed's adult daughter Kacey is on the island after fleeing a messy relationship back in California, and on the ferry over, she meets new arrival Coco, who has come to Nantucket to work as a personal concierge for a wealthy couple. The Richardsons are also new to the island and immediately cause a stir by hosting wild parties in their 22-million-dollar beach house, and the flashback chapters take us back to when Coco met the couple, and lead us to the fateful night when she disappears from the yacht.
Like classic Hilderbrand, it's an inconsistent novel, full of half-baked characters and a "mystery" that will offer no twists or interesting diversions from tradition. Hilderbrand will once again demonstrate that what she needs most to improve as an author is a one-year social media diet (do the kids really use the phrase "sneaky link"? Seriously?) but at the same time, she needs someone in her life with better music taste because even though she has her finger on the pulse in terms of slang and pop culture, the music references in this book are curiously outdated - Coco is set up as this cool, alternative girl who is not the typical Nantucket person, but we learn that one of her favorite bands is The Killers, and at another point she jams out to a Twenty-One Pilots song that's at least ten years old.
This book also features another Hilderbrand standby: the romantic affair featuring two people who don't even seem to like each other all that much, never mind have such crackling chemistry that they would risk it all for the chance to be together. I think we're supposed to understand why Kacey is so torn about the ex-girlfriend she's fleeing (pause for kudos to Hilderbrand, who manages to feature lesbians and a nonbinary character in this one), but the problem is that we as the readers only ever see the girlfriend being shitty and manipulative, so I wasn't rooting for her and Kacey for even a second. Coco also has a fling with a coworker, and of course the Richardsons have a weird rule about their staff not being allowed to date each other. This rule is only in place to give the romance a little spice, but I also didn't care about whether or not Coco was fucking this guy because he...kind of sucks?
There's a moment where we get a glimpse of the other story this book could have told, where we see Hilderbrand applying what you could almost call a critical lens to the perfect beautiful beach community she's spent over a dozen books idolizing. When Coco first arrives on the island, her employers haven't gotten to their house yet and have told Coco that she'll need to figure out her own accommodations for the first couple of nights. No problem, Coco thinks, she can just find a cheap hotel or at the very least, camp somewhere. And then once she arrives, Coco finds out that there is no such thing as bargain accommodations on Nantucket Island. There are no motels, the one hostel is no longer in business, and the average cost of a hotel room in the summer is over a thousand dollars a night. Coco's thought upon realizing this - Where do the poor people stay? - is such a beautiful little lightning bolt of introspection from the author, but it's similarly gone as soon as it appears, and any additional attempts to shed light on the huge disparity between the rich residents of Nantucket and the people who work for them are half-hearted at best, because Hilderbrand doesn't want to kill the vibes.
(We're also reminded in this book that one of the supporting characters was running a prostitution ring a few years ago, but he went to prison for it and now he's out so everything's cool! Don't be so negative, he's a good guy who made a mistake! And certainly nothing like that has ever happened since then!)
I just wanted more from this. If this is really Hilderbrand's final bow, I wanted it to feel more like a culmination, a last farewell from all the characters we've met in previous books. Certain former protagonists do make brief appearances, and there are references to events from earlier stories (no word, however, on whether or not The Hotel Nantucket has become a magnet for paranormal investigators) but that happens in every other Hilderbrand novel. Similarly, I wanted the climax of this story, when we learn exactly what happened on the yacht the night of the fire, to feel like Hilderbrand had spent the entire book carefully setting up a dozen intricate little pieces that would all come together beautifully.
I'm not going to spoil it, but I'll just say that it fell flat for me.
If you've read any other Hilderbrand novel and liked it, you'll probably at least enjoy your time with this one. What Hilderbrand does, she does very well, but by now I've learned not to expect anything more from her. ...more
There's definitely a bittersweet feeling going into Swan Song, aka Elin Hilderbrand's last, no fooling, serio Oh, Elin. I wish I knew how to quit you.
There's definitely a bittersweet feeling going into Swan Song, aka Elin Hilderbrand's last, no fooling, seriously guys she's really done, Nantucket novel. There's a sense of relief, because now I can move on and hopefully find a new comfort series that doesn't frustrate me quite as much. But there's also a feeling of genuine loss, because as much as I harp on these novels and even though they could be better in so many ways, I'm going to miss these books. Is Hilderbrand going for the low-hanging fruit by writing novels set on the wealthy, idyllic island of Nantucket and saturating her stories with beach houses, decadent meals, and nice white people who are complicated only in the sense that they love adultery? Sure. But the fact is that these books are a goddamn balm for the soul, true beach reads in every sense of the word, and I'm really going to miss spending time in Hilderbrand's world, where it's golden hour all the time.
Swan Song centers on Ed Kapenash, Nantucket chief of police and arguably the beating heart at the center of this series. The book begins at Ed's retirement party, when he receives an emergency call: a summer home on the island has been destroyed by a fire and the owners, who were hosting a party on their yacht at the time, report that one of their employees is missing from the boat. We then go into Hilderbrand's favorite storytelling device, the good ol' flashback chapters interspersed with minute-to-minute updates on the night of the disaster.
Ed's adult daughter Kacey is on the island after fleeing a messy relationship back in California, and on the ferry over, she meets new arrival Coco, who has come to Nantucket to work as a personal concierge for a wealthy couple. The Richardsons are also new to the island and immediately cause a stir by hosting wild parties in their 22-million-dollar beach house, and the flashback chapters take us back to when Coco met the couple, and lead us to the fateful night when she disappears from the yacht.
Like classic Hilderbrand, it's an inconsistent novel, full of half-baked characters and a "mystery" that will offer no twists or interesting diversions from tradition. Hilderbrand will once again demonstrate that what she needs most to improve as an author is a one-year social media diet (do the kids really use the phrase "sneaky link"? Seriously?) but at the same time, she needs someone in her life with better music taste because even though she has her finger on the pulse in terms of slang and pop culture, the music references in this book are curiously outdated - Coco is set up as this cool, alternative girl who is not the typical Nantucket person, but we learn that one of her favorite bands is The Killers, and at another point she jams out to a Twenty-One Pilots song that's at least ten years old.
This book also features another Hilderbrand standby: the romantic affair featuring two people who don't even seem to like each other all that much, never mind have such crackling chemistry that they would risk it all for the chance to be together. I think we're supposed to understand why Kacey is so torn about the ex-girlfriend she's fleeing (pause for kudos to Hilderbrand, who manages to feature lesbians and a nonbinary character in this one), but the problem is that we as the readers only ever see the girlfriend being shitty and manipulative, so I wasn't rooting for her and Kacey for even a second. Coco also has a fling with a coworker, and of course the Richardsons have a weird rule about their staff not being allowed to date each other. This rule is only in place to give the romance a little spice, but I also didn't care about whether or not Coco was fucking this guy because he...kind of sucks?
There's a moment where we get a glimpse of the other story this book could have told, where we see Hilderbrand applying what you could almost call a critical lens to the perfect beautiful beach community she's spent over a dozen books idolizing. When Coco first arrives on the island, her employers haven't gotten to their house yet and have told Coco that she'll need to figure out her own accommodations for the first couple of nights. No problem, Coco thinks, she can just find a cheap hotel or at the very least, camp somewhere. And then once she arrives, Coco finds out that there is no such thing as bargain accommodations on Nantucket Island. There are no motels, the one hostel is no longer in business, and the average cost of a hotel room in the summer is over a thousand dollars a night. Coco's thought upon realizing this - Where do the poor people stay? - is such a beautiful little lightning bolt of introspection from the author, but it's similarly gone as soon as it appears, and any additional attempts to shed light on the huge disparity between the rich residents of Nantucket and the people who work for them are half-hearted at best, because Hilderbrand doesn't want to kill the vibes.
(We're also reminded in this book that one of the supporting characters was running a prostitution ring a few years ago, but he went to prison for it and now he's out so everything's cool! Don't be so negative, he's a good guy who made a mistake! And certainly nothing like that has ever happened since then!)
I just wanted more from this. If this is really Hilderbrand's final bow, I wanted it to feel more like a culmination, a last farewell from all the characters we've met in previous books. Certain former protagonists do make brief appearances, and there are references to events from earlier stories (no word, however, on whether or not The Hotel Nantucket has become a magnet for paranormal investigators) but that happens in every other Hilderbrand novel. Similarly, I wanted the climax of this story, when we learn exactly what happened on the yacht the night of the fire, to feel like Hilderbrand had spent the entire book carefully setting up a dozen intricate little pieces that would all come together beautifully.
I'm not going to spoil it, but I'll just say that it fell flat for me.
If you've read any other Hilderbrand novel and liked it, you'll probably at least enjoy your time with this one. What Hilderbrand does, she does very well, but by now I've learned not to expect anything more from her. ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Feb 2025
Mar 11, 2025
Hardcover
0307763056
9780307763051
B007UH4D3G
4.12
1,035,807
Nov 07, 1990
May 14, 2012
really liked it
I mean, is it any surprise that this ended up getting shelved as "the movie is better"? Much like Jaws, even though the book is the source material, i
I mean, is it any surprise that this ended up getting shelved as "the movie is better"? Much like Jaws, even though the book is the source material, it's competing against one of the best blockbusters ever made. There's no way Michael Crichton could have made his book include a John Williams soundtrack, so it was an unfair contest right from the beginning.
(Seriously. Take three minutes out of your day to feel something)
Pretty much every adaptation choice the movie made was the correct one - specifically the characterization of the kids. Book Lex is six years old and one of the most singularly obnoxious characters ever committed to paper - pre-disaster, she's obsessed with baseball and approaches every adult she meets by asking if they want to "play a little pickle"; post-dino disaster, she seems unaware of how much danger they're in, constantly talking and whining and demanding she get a turn with the night vision goggles as she and her brother are being actively hunted by raptors.
Also, obviously it was the correct choice to make Movie Lex the computer person, and have Tim just be obsessed with dinosaurs. Book Tim gets to be good at computers and dinosaur knowledge, and you can make the argument that he's actually the protagonist of the book.
(I'm happy to report that Dr. Ellie Satler barely changed for the movie - the book version of her is still kicking ass and saving dinosaurs from poisonous plants, all while running around in sensible shorts that even the eleven year old boy can appreciate. Ellie's the best.)
Still, this is a solid adventure story, and it moves along at a fast clip except for when Crichton feels the need to include full diagrams of whatever a character is seeing on a computer screen in the story, which never fails to bring the pace to a grinding halt.
Also, there's a weird...almost anti-science vibe to the story? Malcom's infamous rant from the movie about how Hammond "took what others did before you and took the next step" is straight from the book, and it's no less irritating and wrong here. Looking at what people before you have done and taking the next step is how science works. He seems to be suggesting that if you want to be an astronomer, for example, you should start by designing and building your own telescope because otherwise it's cheating.
and it's incredibly frustrating to read Crichton's rants about how science used to be noble but now it's all about money, and he seems to be suggesting that humankind has advanced far enough and we should just stop? Particularly annoying is that when a character is making the argument about how scientists used to be good and noble and only care about discovery, like two sentences later they bring up Watson and Crick as examples of this.
This was the point when my head exploded, because it's now common knowledge that Watson and Crick's famous discovery of DNA structure was straight-up stolen from Rosalind Franklin's research. I get that this wasn't widely known back when Crichton wrote the book, but it just proves that his entire thesis is wrong and science has, in fact, always had its fair share of capitalists and fame seeker, and arguing against progress because it scares you is not a good position to take.
The dinosaurs are pretty fucking cool, though. ...more
(Seriously. Take three minutes out of your day to feel something)
Pretty much every adaptation choice the movie made was the correct one - specifically the characterization of the kids. Book Lex is six years old and one of the most singularly obnoxious characters ever committed to paper - pre-disaster, she's obsessed with baseball and approaches every adult she meets by asking if they want to "play a little pickle"; post-dino disaster, she seems unaware of how much danger they're in, constantly talking and whining and demanding she get a turn with the night vision goggles as she and her brother are being actively hunted by raptors.
Also, obviously it was the correct choice to make Movie Lex the computer person, and have Tim just be obsessed with dinosaurs. Book Tim gets to be good at computers and dinosaur knowledge, and you can make the argument that he's actually the protagonist of the book.
(I'm happy to report that Dr. Ellie Satler barely changed for the movie - the book version of her is still kicking ass and saving dinosaurs from poisonous plants, all while running around in sensible shorts that even the eleven year old boy can appreciate. Ellie's the best.)
Still, this is a solid adventure story, and it moves along at a fast clip except for when Crichton feels the need to include full diagrams of whatever a character is seeing on a computer screen in the story, which never fails to bring the pace to a grinding halt.
Also, there's a weird...almost anti-science vibe to the story? Malcom's infamous rant from the movie about how Hammond "took what others did before you and took the next step" is straight from the book, and it's no less irritating and wrong here. Looking at what people before you have done and taking the next step is how science works. He seems to be suggesting that if you want to be an astronomer, for example, you should start by designing and building your own telescope because otherwise it's cheating.
and it's incredibly frustrating to read Crichton's rants about how science used to be noble but now it's all about money, and he seems to be suggesting that humankind has advanced far enough and we should just stop? Particularly annoying is that when a character is making the argument about how scientists used to be good and noble and only care about discovery, like two sentences later they bring up Watson and Crick as examples of this.
This was the point when my head exploded, because it's now common knowledge that Watson and Crick's famous discovery of DNA structure was straight-up stolen from Rosalind Franklin's research. I get that this wasn't widely known back when Crichton wrote the book, but it just proves that his entire thesis is wrong and science has, in fact, always had its fair share of capitalists and fame seeker, and arguing against progress because it scares you is not a good position to take.
The dinosaurs are pretty fucking cool, though. ...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Feb 2025
Mar 08, 2025
Kindle Edition
1250862744
9781250862747
1250862744
3.69
40,903
Aug 06, 2024
Aug 06, 2024
liked it
Five years ago, Kit and Theo booked a dream European vacation, but had an explosive fight on the flight there and broke up in Heathrow airport. Now, w
Five years ago, Kit and Theo booked a dream European vacation, but had an explosive fight on the flight there and broke up in Heathrow airport. Now, with the trip voucher about the expire, Theo decides to not let it go to waste and decides to go on the tour alone. Unfortunately, Kit has had the exact same idea and now the two exes are trapped together on a fabulous food tour of France, Spain, and Italy. Will they stay bitter exes, or reconcile?
I mean. Do you really have to guess?
This book came recommended to me by a friend who's a huge Casey McQuiston fan, and even though their books aren't totally my jam, I see the appeal. McQuiston has written a decadent bonbon of a novel, where literally everything is beautiful and nothing hurts, and if you're in the mood for an escapist fantasy that's equal parts delicious food descriptions and steamy sex scenes, McQuiston's got you covered.
But I have to admit, after a while reading this book started to feel kind of like that scene in Hook where the Lost Boys are just eating giant bowls of frosting for dinner. After the fourth or fifth time these two met another European local who just could not be more delighted to meet a couple of Americans, I realized that this book does not take place in the real world, but rather a queer utopia where everyone is beautiful, pansexual, and 100% DTF at all times. This book definitely takes place in the same universe where the president of the United States is a female Democrat from Texas whose son is dating the Prince of Wales, so at least McQuiston is consistent with their settings.
And I'm not saying that I wanted to see our protagonists get hate-crimed on their sexy European tour or anything like that, Jesus, but there's got to be a middle ground between that and what's going on in this book. Could we, just once, meet a character who doesn't want to fuck Kit and Theo for whatever reason? Any character who isn't Kit or Theo has one purpose in this book, and that's to play a part in their grand romance. We get introduced to some other people on the tour, and McQuiston attempts to give them subplots and personalities, but they felt less like fully realized people and more like actors in a play - you get the sense that when they're not interacting directly with Kit or Theo, they're sitting quietly offstage, waiting for their next cue.
Also, McQuiston is, as the kids say, too online, and their writing is absolutely infested with Tumblr-speak. Kit throws out "a secret third thing" in his own inner monologue, and he and Theo have a conversation about Keanu Reeves that I swear is taken word-for-word from an actual Tumblr post. It's grating and exhausting, and the way most of the dialogue seemed cribbed from something McQuiston saw online makes it seem like the characters don't have any original thoughts of their own.
I will also admit that, thanks to a decade in the service industry, I have no tolerance for the romantic fantasy of "ooh, we should open a restaurant together!" Absolutely not. If shows like Kitchen Nightmares and Bar Rescue have taught us one thing, it's that opening a restaurant with your significant other is a one-way ticket to both bankruptcy and divorce, every time.
I'm harping on little stuff, but the truth is that overall, this is a delightful little escape from the real world, full of beautiful people, decadent food, exotic locations, and graphic sex scenes (this book seeks to answer the question "what if Under the Tuscan Sun had fisting?" and boy does it). I also should admit here that I identified so strongly with Theo, which I guess means I should go to therapy. ...more
I mean. Do you really have to guess?
This book came recommended to me by a friend who's a huge Casey McQuiston fan, and even though their books aren't totally my jam, I see the appeal. McQuiston has written a decadent bonbon of a novel, where literally everything is beautiful and nothing hurts, and if you're in the mood for an escapist fantasy that's equal parts delicious food descriptions and steamy sex scenes, McQuiston's got you covered.
But I have to admit, after a while reading this book started to feel kind of like that scene in Hook where the Lost Boys are just eating giant bowls of frosting for dinner. After the fourth or fifth time these two met another European local who just could not be more delighted to meet a couple of Americans, I realized that this book does not take place in the real world, but rather a queer utopia where everyone is beautiful, pansexual, and 100% DTF at all times. This book definitely takes place in the same universe where the president of the United States is a female Democrat from Texas whose son is dating the Prince of Wales, so at least McQuiston is consistent with their settings.
And I'm not saying that I wanted to see our protagonists get hate-crimed on their sexy European tour or anything like that, Jesus, but there's got to be a middle ground between that and what's going on in this book. Could we, just once, meet a character who doesn't want to fuck Kit and Theo for whatever reason? Any character who isn't Kit or Theo has one purpose in this book, and that's to play a part in their grand romance. We get introduced to some other people on the tour, and McQuiston attempts to give them subplots and personalities, but they felt less like fully realized people and more like actors in a play - you get the sense that when they're not interacting directly with Kit or Theo, they're sitting quietly offstage, waiting for their next cue.
Also, McQuiston is, as the kids say, too online, and their writing is absolutely infested with Tumblr-speak. Kit throws out "a secret third thing" in his own inner monologue, and he and Theo have a conversation about Keanu Reeves that I swear is taken word-for-word from an actual Tumblr post. It's grating and exhausting, and the way most of the dialogue seemed cribbed from something McQuiston saw online makes it seem like the characters don't have any original thoughts of their own.
I will also admit that, thanks to a decade in the service industry, I have no tolerance for the romantic fantasy of "ooh, we should open a restaurant together!" Absolutely not. If shows like Kitchen Nightmares and Bar Rescue have taught us one thing, it's that opening a restaurant with your significant other is a one-way ticket to both bankruptcy and divorce, every time.
I'm harping on little stuff, but the truth is that overall, this is a delightful little escape from the real world, full of beautiful people, decadent food, exotic locations, and graphic sex scenes (this book seeks to answer the question "what if Under the Tuscan Sun had fisting?" and boy does it). I also should admit here that I identified so strongly with Theo, which I guess means I should go to therapy. ...more
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Mar 07, 2025
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Oct 08, 2024
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As the description and opening chapter of this book tells us, Lisa Marie Presley was only one month into working on her memoir when she died suddenly,
As the description and opening chapter of this book tells us, Lisa Marie Presley was only one month into working on her memoir when she died suddenly, the result of a lifetime struggle with addiction and substance abuse. Her daughter, Riley Keough, was left to cobble the recordings and snippets into a book, supplementing it with sections that provide her own memories of growing up in the shadow of Elvis Presley's legacy. So while Goodreads lists Lisa Marie as the only author, we actually split page space between her and Keough. It's incredibly brief - the book clocks in at less than 300 pages, and uses the publisher's trick of wide margins and large fonts to make it seem more substantial than it is. I blew through it in about three days.
People seeking out this book for a memoir focused on Elvis will be disappointed. He died when Lisa Marie was nine, and Riley Keough obviously never met him, so aside from some early appearances when Presley is sharing stories from her childhood, the king himself is not here. Not that there aren't some good tidbits - the little we get from Lisa Marie about what it was like growing up at Graceland are fascinating, and made me wish we'd gotten more of it - but this memoir is about Riley Keough first, Lisa Marie second, and Elvis last.
And considering the family we're focusing on, of course it's not going to be sunshine and smiles. Lisa Marie Presley battled addiction for her entire life, and Riley Keough approaches this memoir from the perspective of a woman who is still reeling from the loss of her mother, and the realization that they never got enough time together.
So even though there's a famous figure at the center of it, this memoir is actually incredibly relatable, because millions of other families have gone through exactly what gets described here: addiction, death of a parent, suicide, and how to pick up the pieces in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. You're not going to get a lot of inside information about growing up with a famous parent, but what From Here to the Great Unknown ends up providing is something much more universal.
"If I look back at everything, my whole life, I can just lose it. Try, fail, try, fail, good, bad, fail. I get really overwhelmed and start crying, looking at how fucked up my life has been. Sometimes it feels like there's nothing left, no purpose. Like there's nothing I want to accomplish anymore. No goal, no anything. Zero.
...But then I can look at it another day and think, Okay, wait, there was that part that wasn't so bad. There was some good over there, and there was some fun over there. I try to pepper it with, 'It's not all just shit. I met this person, that part happened. That was good.'
Some of it was good."
...more
People seeking out this book for a memoir focused on Elvis will be disappointed. He died when Lisa Marie was nine, and Riley Keough obviously never met him, so aside from some early appearances when Presley is sharing stories from her childhood, the king himself is not here. Not that there aren't some good tidbits - the little we get from Lisa Marie about what it was like growing up at Graceland are fascinating, and made me wish we'd gotten more of it - but this memoir is about Riley Keough first, Lisa Marie second, and Elvis last.
And considering the family we're focusing on, of course it's not going to be sunshine and smiles. Lisa Marie Presley battled addiction for her entire life, and Riley Keough approaches this memoir from the perspective of a woman who is still reeling from the loss of her mother, and the realization that they never got enough time together.
So even though there's a famous figure at the center of it, this memoir is actually incredibly relatable, because millions of other families have gone through exactly what gets described here: addiction, death of a parent, suicide, and how to pick up the pieces in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. You're not going to get a lot of inside information about growing up with a famous parent, but what From Here to the Great Unknown ends up providing is something much more universal.
"If I look back at everything, my whole life, I can just lose it. Try, fail, try, fail, good, bad, fail. I get really overwhelmed and start crying, looking at how fucked up my life has been. Sometimes it feels like there's nothing left, no purpose. Like there's nothing I want to accomplish anymore. No goal, no anything. Zero.
...But then I can look at it another day and think, Okay, wait, there was that part that wasn't so bad. There was some good over there, and there was some fun over there. I try to pepper it with, 'It's not all just shit. I met this person, that part happened. That was good.'
Some of it was good."
...more
Notes are private!
1
not set
Feb 2025
Feb 21, 2025
Hardcover