When I was home a few weeks ago, I talked my parents into watching Logan Lucky by describing it as “hillbilly Oceans Eleven.” It’s hard to not like a good caper – underdogs taking on the man in increasingly clever ways. My reviews on the Gentlemen Bastards series mostly bemoaned the lack of that cleverness and unkindly compared them to the Rogues of the Republic series so here I am, finally reviewing the ones I liked better. It’s Oceans Eleven, but with unicorns! Weekes manages the tough job of […]
Liking a book becomes relative
This was the second book in a row I read that featured a tangential connection to music (in this one, the adults in the novel had been in an often-referenced college band) and it definitely benefited in my esteem for that. I really didn’t like Goon Squad, so naturally I compared Modern Lovers to it, and it was so much the better of the two. Modern Lovers isn’t a book I would ordinarily select. “College friends and neighbors deal with their grownup lives and their kids bang” isn’t […]
The past and present was fun, the future was not
Pulled up the Amazon page for this book and realized it’s by the same author as Manhattan Beach and stuff makes a lot more sense now. It’s an interesting story that falls apart about halfway through and you finish it just for the sake of finishing it. The idea is more fun than the execution. Also immediately after I read this one, I read a book also tangentially about music, so I may get my wires crossed in places. The book is largely about the people […]
The author has a formula, but it’s a good one
I love love loved Where’d You Go, Bernadette. I reviewed it back at the beginning of the year and my opinion stands – Maria Semple’s writing is just addicting. Today Will Be Different takes place over a smaller timeframe and doesn’t have quite the same stage presence as the other novel, but damn is it hard to put down. Y’all, I finished this in hours. It does feel a lot like Bernadette, it’s like the second verse in the same song. Eleanor is a bundle of quirks […]
Maybe the better book?
K. Yeah, I read this book several books ago. I think I remember it. Okay yeah, it’s coming back to me. I read Girl on the Train, and I actually preferred this one. There were a lot of characters, but it was easier to follow. The book takes place in a small town with a serious safety hazard – there’s a pond right below a big cliff and it seems to be a popular kid spot? So yeah there’s a history of people dying there. Of […]
We’re back in business, baby!
Don’t read this review if you’re planning to read the book. After my unfortunately middling review of book 6 (largely thanks to the Marvel-esque villain problem) I am so happy to report that holy COW we are back! Also please forgive typos, tangents, and the like – I am suffering so mightily from a terrible jet lag. I’m going to beef up these first few sentences of the review because while I hate to call it a spoiler (given that it’s revealed in, like, literally […]
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