The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty
I have to admit up front that I did not completely finish The Cooking Gene; I had it from the library and ran out of renewals before I had to return it. This is not a fast read if you want to really get the content and the feeling. I don’t mean that the style is hard to read; on the contrary, it’s written in a pretty conversational way. What made it slower for me was the depth of what was being presented. This came […]
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society & the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen
Quick review (ha! possible for me?) for a book that’s been holding up my review queue. This was an excellent book about what it means to be asexual, and how we think about sexuality in general. The best thing about it isn’t the way it explains asexuality, or the ace identity (which is extremely varied! as is all sexuality and forms of identity) but the way that it takes that premise and then opens it further. Chen posits that by acknowledging asexuality and striving to […]
Heroes: Mortals and Monsters , Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry
Mythos was always going to be a tough act to follow. Not just because it was great, but because I also had the pleasure of reading it from a sunlounger on a Greek island as opposed to from a sofa in dark and rainy Devon. But Stephen Fry is fabulous and naturally pulled it off while making it look easy. While Mythos looked at the creation and then shenanigans of the gods, Heroes is more down to earth – while the gods are still meddling, […]
Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court by Lucy Worsley
For some years now I’ve been trying to work my way somewhat chronologically through English history, but a new mania for all things Georgian plus Lucy Worsley had me eagerly jumping ahead (I’m coming back for you, Charlie II, don’t worry). Inspired by the King’s Grand Staircase at Kensington Palace, commissioned by George I and featuring portraits of the servants of the Royal household, Courtiers is a brilliantly gossipy look at the reigns of Georges I and II and the different figures that peopled their […]
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen
I feel bad about only giving this one three stars, but I think it accurately reflects my reading experience. I had to read this by e-book, and that just isn’t a format that works perfectly for me, except for when I’m reading romance or fanfic. I had a hard time focusing on it. When I was able to focus, it was clear that von Bremzen was a good writer, with things to say. She writes about food, and her experiences around, so very well. This […]
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
“We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it’s necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all […]
