Same Story, Different Versions (and all are true)

WARNING:  This post is NSFW (Not Safe For Work) In the past eight years, I've reviewed plenty of amazing books, less-than-amazing books, really-kind-of-terrible books, and just-plain-meh books.  The reading experience has been a mixed bag of awesomeness and problems, but there was always something in each book that kept me going, whether it was the likable-enough characters, the plot that hooked me, or the world-building that made me want to stay in that setting just a little while longer. But an inevitable part of any reader's life is the DNF pile -- the books they simply Did Not Finish.  The books that were so ridiculous, or so problematic, or so put-down-able, that you simply can't stubborn your way through them.  Normally, I don't give those books a second thought after I've returned them to the library or sold them back to Half Price, but you know what?  It's time to give a shout out to my DNF pile -- at least the most recent/memorable ones from the adu...

Of course this title caught my eye when I saw it on the library's New Books shelf. It's not only a tribute to the late Ziggy Stardust, but a history of LGBT music throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, from jazz and blues to disco to country to punk rock to hip hop.  It's mostly U.S. and U.K. artists, but sprinkled throughout are stories of singers and bands from other parts of the world.  It's a blend of music industry history and social and political history, and author Darryl W. Bullock often sprinkles in his own opinions of the artists and movements he discusses. My only criticism is that it's also sprinkled with proofreading errors, but the fascinating stories and information kept my attention anyway. Some interesting facts I hadn't known before: Brigham Morris Young, the son of the Mormon leader Brigham Young, was a well-known "female impersonator," performing as "Madam Pattirini" in the late 19th and early 20th c...

WARNING:  This post is NSFW (Not Safe For Work) Back in 2013-2014, I was a contributor to the  Insatiable Booksluts  blog, which specialized in small-press literature reviews, Reading Rages™, and other fun and snark-tastic book-related business (I never did master Susie’s particularly awesome brand of snark myself).  It’s one of the most fun projects I’ve taken part in, and I’m really going to miss working with Susie, sj, and the rest of the IB team. Unfortunately, the site has since been retired, but I’ve decided, with Susie’s permission, to resurrect some of my posts here and at  Postcards . .  .  .  .  . Originally posted at Insatiable Booksluts on April 9, 2014 One of the first Anne Sexton poems I ever read was “Cinderella,” her adaptation of the Grimms’ tale, during my freshman year of college.  I didn’t know at the time that she’d written sixteen other fairy tale verse adaptations.  But a few weeks ago, while looking f...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Mar 2, 2011 Yes, I realize one wouldn't usually expect to see those two topics lumped into one post -- one is a fun, sparkly, creatively orchestrated, but ultimately frivolous tradition, while the other is a fantastic author who's described the hazards of being a dedicated, open-minded female professor in Iran. But here I go.  First, hooray to Colin Firth and  The King's Speech  for getting Best Actor and Best Picture.  And hooray to  Toy Story 3  for their Best Picture nomination!  It would've been awesome if an animated movie won that category, and TS3  is  one of my favorite Pixar movies ever...but seriously,  The King's Speech  deserved it more.  I can't comment on how it compares with any of the other nominees, because I haven't seen any of them.  I've heard  True Grit  is amazing, and would've made a great Best Picture. Second, Anne Hathaway is one of my favorite O...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Mar. 22, 2012 EDIT 04-24-12:   EOTW Challenge progress:  2515 pages    2464 pages .   I discussed it with the  Booksluts , and they said I can use  Whalesinger  as long as I don't count the first 51 pages.  Also, I'm including the Afterword to  Isabel of the Whales . See my reviews of  Whalesinger  (212 pages) and  Isabel of the Whales  (181 pages*) at  Postcards .                              * That's if you count the author's Afterword to  Isabel of the Whales .  If the challenge-makers say nay, then the story itself is 173 pages, and my total page count is 2507.  Also, I had started  Whalesinger  years ago, but put it down after the first four chapters (51 pages).  Depending on what the challenge-makers say, I may have to not count the book, or at least start...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on Feb. 25, 2012 EOTW page count:    1696 Anne Ursu.   Breadcrumbs .  New York: Walden Pond Press, 2011.   312 pages . Review at Postcards blog . I'm still planning my Nostalgic Review of the Sweet Valley books, to be posted at Postcards.  Meanwhile, the following are three books that somehow hadn't made it into my Elizabeth-and-Jessica-obsessed clutches before now. Weird, I know -- how could I never have read the first two books of the original series?  Honestly, I was much more interested in the spinoffs  Sweet Valley Twins  and -- especially --  Sweet Valley Kids .  It was one of the  Twins  books that first introduced me to the franchise, back in second grade. I'll save the more in-depth philosophizing about the franchise for that Nostalgic Review.  Right now, I'm just going to review the above-mentioned three titles.   SPOILERS AHEAD. Kate William. ...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on January 16, 2012. See here for info on the End of the World reading challenge. I'm in the middle of two books right now, and will be heading to Barnes and Noble soon for more from my To Read list. My impressions so far: Vandens Karaliene (The Queen of Water) , by Kai Meyer.   I picked this up in Vilnius a few summers ago, but hadn't got around to reading it until now.  The book was originally published in German, but my copy is the Lithuanian translation.  I might look up the U.S. translation ( The Water Mirror ) sometime, but first I want to meet my self-imposed challenge of improving my Lithuanian and Spanish. The story takes place in an alternate history -- a 19th-century world in which Egypt is still ruled by a pharaoh.  A pharaoh who is spreading his brutal empire, conquering other nations with his army of mummies.  Only Venice, it seems, has been spared, as it is protected by a mysterious, benevolent water s...

Originally posted at LiveJournal on July 16, 2011. Brace yourselves for the obligatory Potter fan moment.  SQUEEEEE OMG OMG LAST MOVIE OMG SQUEEEE LAST MOVIE WAS AWESOME OMG OMG SQUEEEEE!!! So yeah, I just saw  Deathly Hallows part 2  and it was as epic as it should have been, and left me feeling all fuzzy and nostalgic.  Sure, there were a few plot holes (I'll have to revisit the book to remember if those holes were at least smaller and less noticeable), some things left out, some things unnecessarily added, but it didn't irk me as much as the 5th and 6th movies.  Mostly. The awesomeness: It. Was. Epic .  The Harry-Voldemort battle, duh, was brilliant (except for the falling-off-the-tower bit, but more on that in a sec) .... The Ron/Hermione kiss was as dramatic as the Harry/Ginny kiss from movie 6  should've  been. ....  The part with all the professors building up Hogwarts' defenses was one of those wonderful We're- not-go...