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956 reviews
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Just the right book if you need a book with Mexico neo-noir, urban fantasy, and vampires who descend from pre-Columbian times.
"Certain Dark Things" is an earlier work of Silvia Moreno Garcia, but thankfully it's been resurrected (vampire-style?) by a new publisher. And while I can see where SMG has grown as a writer, I especially love how deep her fascination with creating dark, compelling drama goes, without ever steering into grimdark. CDT has blood and death, but it also has hope.
Recommended if you need something to read that reminds you of walking on wet streets in the dark, with footsteps echoing nearby, and a bit of romance and crime on the side. And vampires. Don't forget the vampires.
"Certain Dark Things" is an earlier work of Silvia Moreno Garcia, but thankfully it's been resurrected (vampire-style?) by a new publisher. And while I can see where SMG has grown as a writer, I especially love how deep her fascination with creating dark, compelling drama goes, without ever steering into grimdark. CDT has blood and death, but it also has hope.
Recommended if you need something to read that reminds you of walking on wet streets in the dark, with footsteps echoing nearby, and a bit of romance and crime on the side. And vampires. Don't forget the vampires.
Jade War by Fonda Lee
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Good grief, Fonda Lee is trying to kill us. This book has somehow managed the impossible: a satisfying sequel?? But how??
The Kaul fam drama continues, with a healthy helping of Slow War between the No Peak Clan and the Mountain Clan. Hilo's the hot-head middle sibling put in a position of power and leadership he never expected to fill (after the sudden death of best big brother Lan). Shae's the Kaul patriarch's favorite grandchild, favored even over Hilo. Despite being the prodigal daughter in 'Jade City," Shae is now the trusted Weatherman with big shoes to fill (and always more conflict about how she feels about this life that relies so deeply on jade, death, and power). Finally, we have Anden, the baby of the family. Estranged from the jade-filled life he expected to lead but strayed from, Anden is exiled to fill a new role far from home, where he can be useful. But what does that mean? And will it bring Anden the sense of security and family he so desperately seeks? Can he only be happy at the cost of wearing jade?
Don't talk to me about Bero. This man is an ambulatory trashfire circus and every time he appears I have no clue what catastrophe he could possible bring about or witness next.
But most of all, I love Jade War and its Green Bone series for its thrilling drama. The action is cinematically vivid, the politics and street turf wars are even more fleshed out with Kekkon's history and culture, but the real selling point of the series is the family at its core. The Kauls are in a bad business. Lee doesn't romanticize the realities of living in a clan where loyalty trumps all and missteps come at a high price. But the Kauls are the beating heart of this story. Hilo and Wen, Shae and her inner turmoil, Anden and his search for approval... even the fearsome leader of the opposing Mountain clan has a family drama of her own, ready for us to unwind and pour over.
Recommended to anyone, even if they don't usually like fantasy, who enjoys family drama, high stakes, crime stories, and a plot you just can't see coming. (Also: the third book is excellent, so enter with no fear. This roller coaster nails every loop-de-loop.)
The Kaul fam drama continues, with a healthy helping of Slow War between the No Peak Clan and the Mountain Clan. Hilo's the hot-head middle sibling put in a position of power and leadership he never expected to fill (after the sudden death of best big brother Lan). Shae's the Kaul patriarch's favorite grandchild, favored even over Hilo. Despite being the prodigal daughter in 'Jade City," Shae is now the trusted Weatherman with big shoes to fill (and always more conflict about how she feels about this life that relies so deeply on jade, death, and power). Finally, we have Anden, the baby of the family. Estranged from the jade-filled life he expected to lead but strayed from, Anden is exiled to fill a new role far from home, where he can be useful. But what does that mean? And will it bring Anden the sense of security and family he so desperately seeks? Can he only be happy at the cost of wearing jade?
Don't talk to me about Bero. This man is an ambulatory trashfire circus and every time he appears I have no clue what catastrophe he could possible bring about or witness next.
But most of all, I love Jade War and its Green Bone series for its thrilling drama. The action is cinematically vivid, the politics and street turf wars are even more fleshed out with Kekkon's history and culture, but the real selling point of the series is the family at its core. The Kauls are in a bad business. Lee doesn't romanticize the realities of living in a clan where loyalty trumps all and missteps come at a high price. But the Kauls are the beating heart of this story. Hilo and Wen, Shae and her inner turmoil, Anden and his search for approval... even the fearsome leader of the opposing Mountain clan has a family drama of her own, ready for us to unwind and pour over.
Recommended to anyone, even if they don't usually like fantasy, who enjoys family drama, high stakes, crime stories, and a plot you just can't see coming. (Also: the third book is excellent, so enter with no fear. This roller coaster nails every loop-de-loop.)
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Oh wow. Not to spoil anything, but this is a great read if you want a novella that requires you to read between the lines, pick up on clues, and put together the truths that mouths at court can't speak out loud. There are always prying eyes and indiscreet ears at hand.
Recommended for people who love low-key and high-stakes court drama, circumlocution, and unreliable narrators.
Recommended for people who love low-key and high-stakes court drama, circumlocution, and unreliable narrators.
The Story of the Country House: A History of Places and People by Clive Aslet
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Clive Aslet's "Story of the Country House" is the perfect relaxing audiobook. Aslet has a gift for taking us from topic to topic, often in chronological order but not necessarily. I don't know much at all about architecture, and my history of England knowledge is a little spotty, but it didn't matter at all. Aslet gives laymen just enough information to follow along, without any trouble, and with vivid and memorable descriptions of places I will probably never see in person. We learn about eccentric designs, how much our view of the English country house has been shaped by the Edwardian view (to the detriment of other periods preceding it), and how aspects we take for granted today were actually notable developments in house design. (For example: hallways. Imagine walking through every room in the house to get to the other side. It works in a museum but it never struck me how inconvenient that must have been in daily life. By today's standards, anyway.)
And on the subject of vivid descriptions, may I just say that there could not possibly be an audiobook narrator more suited to this book than Simon Vance. He has narrated many excellent books before, but "The Story of the Country House" feels like a natural choice for the person who narrated Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series full of winding staircases, architectural follies, and plush interiors that belie a long, stony history.
Recommended for anyone with even a casual interest in English history, the idealized English country house, or the way architecture can teach us about how people's everyday lives have changed (or not changed) over time.
Thank you to Tantor Audio and Netgalley for me a free advance review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
And on the subject of vivid descriptions, may I just say that there could not possibly be an audiobook narrator more suited to this book than Simon Vance. He has narrated many excellent books before, but "The Story of the Country House" feels like a natural choice for the person who narrated Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series full of winding staircases, architectural follies, and plush interiors that belie a long, stony history.
Recommended for anyone with even a casual interest in English history, the idealized English country house, or the way architecture can teach us about how people's everyday lives have changed (or not changed) over time.
Thank you to Tantor Audio and Netgalley for me a free advance review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"Jade Legacy" does something so few series accomplish: it sticks the landing and then does a bonus back-flip, just because it can. 10/10.
This final installment in Fonda Lee's Green Bone Saga gives us the end of the Kaul sibling story. Over the span of twenty years, we watch Hilo finally come into his own as Pillar of the No Peak clan, we see Shae grow more honest and wise with her goals and role as a Green Bone Weatherman, and we hold our breath as Anden continues his journey towards a life without the green bones' prized substance: jade.
All of that just scratches the surface of what "Jade Legacy" has to offer. Forgiveness, surprises, self-discovery, self-doubt, and a new generation that fits right into the existing cast. Hilo's children, including his adoptive nephew, his stone-eye son, and his jade-reactive daughter are all grown up, but not so fast that we can't spend time with them and see them become characters in their own right. Niko and Ru's brotherly relationship was just as touching and compelling as that of the original Kauls, not to mention Hilo's own relationship with his nephew who reminds him more and more of the original Kaul big brother, the late great Lan, and the daughter who has more than a little of Hilo's fire. I'm not even going to touch the amazing development we see between Hilo and his amazing, forever brave wife, the inimitable Wen.
And yes, for anyone wondering, we get plenty of Bero this time around. What would we do without our agent of chaos on the island of Kekkon?
If you're looking for a story with the family drama and stakes offered by the Godfather and martial arts movies with a touch of King Lear and an aesthetic reminiscent of mid-20th century Hong Kong, rest assured: this is the series for you. It will take care of everything, satisfaction guaranteed. An ending can make or break a story, but this one really, really makes it (and now I want to read it all over again). Hopefully, Lee will write more about the world of the Green Bones, like the material she posts via Patreon, but if she doesn't, this series already gave me more than I ever hoped it would.
Thank you so, so very much to Orbit Books and Netgalley for giving me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This final installment in Fonda Lee's Green Bone Saga gives us the end of the Kaul sibling story. Over the span of twenty years, we watch Hilo finally come into his own as Pillar of the No Peak clan, we see Shae grow more honest and wise with her goals and role as a Green Bone Weatherman, and we hold our breath as Anden continues his journey towards a life without the green bones' prized substance: jade.
All of that just scratches the surface of what "Jade Legacy" has to offer. Forgiveness, surprises, self-discovery, self-doubt, and a new generation that fits right into the existing cast. Hilo's children, including his adoptive nephew, his stone-eye son, and his jade-reactive daughter are all grown up, but not so fast that we can't spend time with them and see them become characters in their own right. Niko and Ru's brotherly relationship was just as touching and compelling as that of the original Kauls, not to mention Hilo's own relationship with his nephew who reminds him more and more of the original Kaul big brother, the late great Lan, and the daughter who has more than a little of Hilo's fire. I'm not even going to touch the amazing development we see between Hilo and his amazing, forever brave wife, the inimitable Wen.
And yes, for anyone wondering, we get plenty of Bero this time around. What would we do without our agent of chaos on the island of Kekkon?
If you're looking for a story with the family drama and stakes offered by the Godfather and martial arts movies with a touch of King Lear and an aesthetic reminiscent of mid-20th century Hong Kong, rest assured: this is the series for you. It will take care of everything, satisfaction guaranteed. An ending can make or break a story, but this one really, really makes it (and now I want to read it all over again). Hopefully, Lee will write more about the world of the Green Bones, like the material she posts via Patreon, but if she doesn't, this series already gave me more than I ever hoped it would.
Thank you so, so very much to Orbit Books and Netgalley for giving me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Little Sister by Susie Morgenstern, Johann G. Louis
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
What a heart-warming glimpse of family life and being a little sister in the 1950s New Jersey
Susie Morgenstern is an INSTITUTION in France. She has published countless books for children and was a huge part of my childhood growing up. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that this story about the youngest of three sisters and their parents living in midcentury Newark was... based on one of my favorite Francophone authors' childhood? Really?
(Yeah, really. The writing process for this was kind of funny because she reportedly had to go against her usual habits of writing the first draft in French so she could more accurately remember how she and her sisters spoke in the U.S. Unfortunately, the translation we have in English isn't her own, it's a professionally translated version of the French-language script she ultimately finalized. Language and translation is funny that way. It can spin around a few times.)
In "Little Sister," Susie is the baby of well-to-do Jewish-American family living in the suburbs. The story begins with her and her sisters sharing wonderful chemistry, sneaking American snacks, rightfully avoiding their mean neighbors, hanging out with friends, sharing magazines and chores, and joking around in a way that close siblings will recognize in their bones.
I don't want to spoil the slice-of-life story, but in short, Morgenstern is a master at finding the balance between genuine emotion that hits with kids, and that sense of deep longing and love that adults bring to long ago memories. I cried a few times. That's nearly always a given with Morgenstern, but I promise you'll laugh a lot, too. Sometimes it's scary to be a kid and feel small, but being a little sister also means you can have a big sister (or two big sisters) to look out for you, and a family that wants you to be happy. Johann Louis's illustrations are the perfect support for everything that happens. The style is childish, watercolor-like, and just a touch reminiscent of Sempé.
Recommended if you like mid-century period pieces, sweet slice-of-life stories, and want a heartwarming read for the winter season.
Thank you to Netgalley and Europe Comics for sending me a free eARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
Susie Morgenstern is an INSTITUTION in France. She has published countless books for children and was a huge part of my childhood growing up. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that this story about the youngest of three sisters and their parents living in midcentury Newark was... based on one of my favorite Francophone authors' childhood? Really?
(Yeah, really. The writing process for this was kind of funny because she reportedly had to go against her usual habits of writing the first draft in French so she could more accurately remember how she and her sisters spoke in the U.S. Unfortunately, the translation we have in English isn't her own, it's a professionally translated version of the French-language script she ultimately finalized. Language and translation is funny that way. It can spin around a few times.)
In "Little Sister," Susie is the baby of well-to-do Jewish-American family living in the suburbs. The story begins with her and her sisters sharing wonderful chemistry, sneaking American snacks, rightfully avoiding their mean neighbors, hanging out with friends, sharing magazines and chores, and joking around in a way that close siblings will recognize in their bones.
I don't want to spoil the slice-of-life story, but in short, Morgenstern is a master at finding the balance between genuine emotion that hits with kids, and that sense of deep longing and love that adults bring to long ago memories. I cried a few times. That's nearly always a given with Morgenstern, but I promise you'll laugh a lot, too. Sometimes it's scary to be a kid and feel small, but being a little sister also means you can have a big sister (or two big sisters) to look out for you, and a family that wants you to be happy. Johann Louis's illustrations are the perfect support for everything that happens. The style is childish, watercolor-like, and just a touch reminiscent of Sempé.
Recommended if you like mid-century period pieces, sweet slice-of-life stories, and want a heartwarming read for the winter season.
Thank you to Netgalley and Europe Comics for sending me a free eARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece by Kevin Birmingham
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
I'll keep this as short and non-scary as I can for a book about Dostoevsky and (checks notes) murder. And to be honest, I don't have to try hard at all because this book has just the right balance of everything.
"The Sinner and the Saint" sounds like it's going to focus on Dostoevsky's masterpiece "Crime and Punishment," but really it's all about the lead-up to that book and then where it took the author's career.
The lead-up is much longer than the aftermath, probably because Kevin Birmingham's account is split down the middle. We have half the book dedicated to our famous Russian author, and the other half centers on a man who was executed the same year that Dostoevsky turned fifteen. This man is a French murderer called Pierre François Lacenaire, and he is part of what inspired Dostoesvky's murderer protagonist, Raskolnikov.
Lacenaire's story is fascinating, not so much because of his life but more because of the phenomenon he represented. Early 19th century France had a real true crime phase, not unlike the one we've observed in the U.S. for the last few years. Anyway, "The Sinner and the Saint" does a great job of summarizing the Lacenaire case, its media circus, and what made the account stand out enough for it to eventually make its way into Dostoevsky's hands years later. I wish there had been a more chronological treatment of his criminal career, the jumping back and forth got a little confusing halfway through. Still very well told. The Dostoesvky biographic parts were much more gripping for me, but I was never much of a true crime enthusiast.
Even if you haven't read Dostoesvky before, this is a really interesting intro to the author and his work, and it will make you appreciate how much the author went through so that we, over a hundred years later, could feel too intimidated to pick up his novels. Dostoesvky is more approachable than you think, and Kevin Birmingham knows how to bring that out in this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Press for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
"The Sinner and the Saint" sounds like it's going to focus on Dostoevsky's masterpiece "Crime and Punishment," but really it's all about the lead-up to that book and then where it took the author's career.
The lead-up is much longer than the aftermath, probably because Kevin Birmingham's account is split down the middle. We have half the book dedicated to our famous Russian author, and the other half centers on a man who was executed the same year that Dostoevsky turned fifteen. This man is a French murderer called Pierre François Lacenaire, and he is part of what inspired Dostoesvky's murderer protagonist, Raskolnikov.
Lacenaire's story is fascinating, not so much because of his life but more because of the phenomenon he represented. Early 19th century France had a real true crime phase, not unlike the one we've observed in the U.S. for the last few years. Anyway, "The Sinner and the Saint" does a great job of summarizing the Lacenaire case, its media circus, and what made the account stand out enough for it to eventually make its way into Dostoevsky's hands years later. I wish there had been a more chronological treatment of his criminal career, the jumping back and forth got a little confusing halfway through. Still very well told. The Dostoesvky biographic parts were much more gripping for me, but I was never much of a true crime enthusiast.
Even if you haven't read Dostoesvky before, this is a really interesting intro to the author and his work, and it will make you appreciate how much the author went through so that we, over a hundred years later, could feel too intimidated to pick up his novels. Dostoesvky is more approachable than you think, and Kevin Birmingham knows how to bring that out in this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Press for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Argo by Mark Knowles
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Look, I know I don't like every Greek mythology retelling book, but I still seek them out with the sense of hope akin to a spider rebuilding a web between a car and a parking lot ceiling. Like, this one is going to stick. Definitely this one. And once again, I am proven wrong.
"Argo" is certainly not good, nor is it laugh-out-loud bad (or my other favorite, frisbee-across-the-room bad). But despite its inherently adventure-packed subject matter, "Argo" is dreadfully, dreadfully boring.
If you're not familiar with the myth of Jason, the Argonauts, and the quest for the Golden Fleece, "Argo" is an... acceptable introduction? Except it's really not because, as I said, it takes a sea quest adventure and sucks all the life out of it. It tells the story of Jason of Iolchos, whose royal father was deposed by Jason's evil half-uncle. Not only do we spend the first 10% of the book with the evil uncle (who is passably entertaining as a paranoid villain in the vein of the king sitting under the Sword of Damocles), but when we switch to Jason the story has all the swiftness of molasses. Everything from this point on is a trudge, waist-high, through plot that is always explained and never truly lived. The characters are indistinguishable and invisible except as needed for a few lines of dialogue here and there. And that brings me to another feature of the book.
What is the point of a novelization of the Argonautica if you are not, for some reason, going to make the most of its ensemble cast? Why include Herakles and Hylas and do nothing with them? Why include Orpheus if all he's going to do is sing once and then decry the fact that if only his wife had worn sandals, she wouldn't have died of a snake bite? (With a reaction from the crew about as emotional as, "That's rough, buddy.") Worse, Peleus the father of Achilles is here, but does that matter? Could he have been replaced by another bland character named Steve? Yes, yes he could have. And so could the two other stand-out heroes, Castor and Pollux, who are fresh into exile after a spat concerning the Atreides and their sister Helen of Sparta (soon to be Helen of Troy, but if you're new to the weird timeline of mythology, Helen's still a kid here, probably between 10 and 13 years old if we assume Theseus hasn't headed over to fight the Minotaur yet because his father hasn't met Medea yet... and neither does Jason until the end of this book).
Ah, Medea. The only interesting character of the Jason myth, because let me assure you, Jason is a very boring man until he is allowed to get into some morally muddy waters in Medea's hometown. Medea in Mark Knowles's universe is adept at magic, which is really just pharmacology, and she worships Hekate instead of all those patriarchal gods that her father prefers. Ok, sure, why not? But what drives Medea, here? What makes a princess betray and abandon her family to marry a stranger and travel to foreign lands with no one but her new husband and her wits for support? Well, Knowles does try to give her agency. As in the myth, Medea's knowledge and skills are crucial to Jason stealing the Golden Fleece. But as for personality and motivation, she's about as empty as the other characters. I don't need Medea to be good or bad, I don't even mind if she's petty or earnest or naive or cunning. I just want her to be interesting. This Medea misses the mark.
Overall, I can't recommend this book, especially to someone who is new to the source material and risks being put off the Jason myth altogether. I respect the attempt, and it clearly took a lot of work by virtue of the LENGTH of the book. But considering the page count reaches a staggering 528 pages and stops right after Jason steals the Fleece (while apparently planning to cover Jason & Medea's Mediterranean honeymoon & crime cruise in a future sequel), the book is too long and too bloated to justify the length.
Recommended only if, like me, you simply must read another Greek mythology retelling. Otherwise I think readers would be better served by the d'Aulaires, Edith Hamilton, or even Stephen Fry's recent mythology books.
Thank you to Netgalley and Aria & Aries for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
"Argo" is certainly not good, nor is it laugh-out-loud bad (or my other favorite, frisbee-across-the-room bad). But despite its inherently adventure-packed subject matter, "Argo" is dreadfully, dreadfully boring.
If you're not familiar with the myth of Jason, the Argonauts, and the quest for the Golden Fleece, "Argo" is an... acceptable introduction? Except it's really not because, as I said, it takes a sea quest adventure and sucks all the life out of it. It tells the story of Jason of Iolchos, whose royal father was deposed by Jason's evil half-uncle. Not only do we spend the first 10% of the book with the evil uncle (who is passably entertaining as a paranoid villain in the vein of the king sitting under the Sword of Damocles), but when we switch to Jason the story has all the swiftness of molasses. Everything from this point on is a trudge, waist-high, through plot that is always explained and never truly lived. The characters are indistinguishable and invisible except as needed for a few lines of dialogue here and there. And that brings me to another feature of the book.
What is the point of a novelization of the Argonautica if you are not, for some reason, going to make the most of its ensemble cast? Why include Herakles and Hylas and do nothing with them? Why include Orpheus if all he's going to do is sing once and then decry the fact that if only his wife had worn sandals, she wouldn't have died of a snake bite? (With a reaction from the crew about as emotional as, "That's rough, buddy.") Worse, Peleus the father of Achilles is here, but does that matter? Could he have been replaced by another bland character named Steve? Yes, yes he could have. And so could the two other stand-out heroes, Castor and Pollux, who are fresh into exile after a spat concerning the Atreides and their sister Helen of Sparta (soon to be Helen of Troy, but if you're new to the weird timeline of mythology, Helen's still a kid here, probably between 10 and 13 years old if we assume Theseus hasn't headed over to fight the Minotaur yet because his father hasn't met Medea yet... and neither does Jason until the end of this book).
Ah, Medea. The only interesting character of the Jason myth, because let me assure you, Jason is a very boring man until he is allowed to get into some morally muddy waters in Medea's hometown. Medea in Mark Knowles's universe is adept at magic, which is really just pharmacology, and she worships Hekate instead of all those patriarchal gods that her father prefers. Ok, sure, why not? But what drives Medea, here? What makes a princess betray and abandon her family to marry a stranger and travel to foreign lands with no one but her new husband and her wits for support? Well, Knowles does try to give her agency. As in the myth, Medea's knowledge and skills are crucial to Jason stealing the Golden Fleece. But as for personality and motivation, she's about as empty as the other characters. I don't need Medea to be good or bad, I don't even mind if she's petty or earnest or naive or cunning. I just want her to be interesting. This Medea misses the mark.
Overall, I can't recommend this book, especially to someone who is new to the source material and risks being put off the Jason myth altogether. I respect the attempt, and it clearly took a lot of work by virtue of the LENGTH of the book. But considering the page count reaches a staggering 528 pages and stops right after Jason steals the Fleece (while apparently planning to cover Jason & Medea's Mediterranean honeymoon & crime cruise in a future sequel), the book is too long and too bloated to justify the length.
Recommended only if, like me, you simply must read another Greek mythology retelling. Otherwise I think readers would be better served by the d'Aulaires, Edith Hamilton, or even Stephen Fry's recent mythology books.
Thank you to Netgalley and Aria & Aries for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Guillermo del Toro: The Iconic Filmmaker and his Work by Ian Nathan
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
The PERFECT gift for the cinephile friend in your life.
I've always considered myself a Guillermo del Toro fan, but my experience with his filmography has been spotty. The few movies of his that I have seen, I can recite by heart, and I've really enjoyed following his career since the late 2000s. But what about the rest of his work? What about his inspiration, his personal experience, his aspirations and projects that just never came to pass?
Ian Nathan's beautifully illustrated and researched "Guillermo del Toro" coffee table book went above and beyond my expectations. Nathan starts at the beginning, like many great stories, and shows us how the great del Toro grew up on formative fiction we still see referenced in his works today. A lot of this consists of horror fiction and pop culture that has only recently gained mainstream recognition (think superheroes, from a more niche standpoint, and pulp fiction... the genre, not the movie). del Toro's early steps as a filmmaker navigate a strange space between cultures, where he always stays true to his Mexican roots but inevitably draws on imports from other countries, all inextricably mixed in his mind to create the perfect combination of scary, beautiful, and genuinely touching human emotion.
The cinephile and film history fans will particularly appreciate the detailed overview Nathan gives of del Toro's creative process and production history across multiple different films. Having worked in multiple circles (even with the Almodóvar brothers in Spain), del Toro experienced a lot of different approaches to studio systems, creative liberties, and the dance between the producer and the director. Even if you're not the #1 del Toro fan out there, you'll find a lot of incredibly interesting information here about the various creative and directing roles that shape a film and how those roles can vary wildly depending on who's involved (not to mention when).
Overall, this is a must-have if you like movies, del Toro's work at any point of his career, or high-quality coffee table books that justify every single glossy illustrations with educational notes and visual delight.
Thank you to Netgalley and the White Lion Quarto Publishing Group for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I've always considered myself a Guillermo del Toro fan, but my experience with his filmography has been spotty. The few movies of his that I have seen, I can recite by heart, and I've really enjoyed following his career since the late 2000s. But what about the rest of his work? What about his inspiration, his personal experience, his aspirations and projects that just never came to pass?
Ian Nathan's beautifully illustrated and researched "Guillermo del Toro" coffee table book went above and beyond my expectations. Nathan starts at the beginning, like many great stories, and shows us how the great del Toro grew up on formative fiction we still see referenced in his works today. A lot of this consists of horror fiction and pop culture that has only recently gained mainstream recognition (think superheroes, from a more niche standpoint, and pulp fiction... the genre, not the movie). del Toro's early steps as a filmmaker navigate a strange space between cultures, where he always stays true to his Mexican roots but inevitably draws on imports from other countries, all inextricably mixed in his mind to create the perfect combination of scary, beautiful, and genuinely touching human emotion.
The cinephile and film history fans will particularly appreciate the detailed overview Nathan gives of del Toro's creative process and production history across multiple different films. Having worked in multiple circles (even with the Almodóvar brothers in Spain), del Toro experienced a lot of different approaches to studio systems, creative liberties, and the dance between the producer and the director. Even if you're not the #1 del Toro fan out there, you'll find a lot of incredibly interesting information here about the various creative and directing roles that shape a film and how those roles can vary wildly depending on who's involved (not to mention when).
Overall, this is a must-have if you like movies, del Toro's work at any point of his career, or high-quality coffee table books that justify every single glossy illustrations with educational notes and visual delight.
Thank you to Netgalley and the White Lion Quarto Publishing Group for sending me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Solid Ivory: Memoirs by James Ivory
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.5
James Ivory is a familiar name to anyone who likes Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, and Anthony Hopkins in sad but gorgeous British period pieces--all featuring the famous Merchant Ivory trademark of lush sets and very quiet acting.
So you can imagine my surprise when I learned that Ivory was not, in fact, British, but actually American. Born in California and raised in Oregon, Ivory gives us the tale of his early years in an easy chronological order for the first half of his biography. It's a bit of a lopsided treatment, to be frank. He talks about his day-to-day life a lot, with his early memories of the Great Depression, his school friends, his popularity in high school and subsequent "fall from grace" once he entered the Greek scene at university.
Autobiographies are always a tricky business to write and an even trickier business to review because I can't exactly say "I would have liked more details about X, Y, or Z, please." This is someone's life and personal thoughts, and anything Ivory tells us is more than that to which we are entitled. Still, I was surprised by how little Ivory talked about his relationship to his family, particularly his sister who pops up a good 50 pages in as a fully-formed teenager, with hardly any mention of her in early childhood and hardly any more after high school.
What really shocked me were the number of letters Ivory had kept from his early years, given how often he's moved around and (my apologies) how old he is (born in 1928!). It's a very lovely treat to see excerpts of his correspondence, and it lends the book a greater personal quality.
The second half of the book consists of a series of person-focused chapters, each about a collaborator of Ivory's or a good friend. These made for excellent stories but were, as far as I could tell, not really in-depth overviews of his relationships. The parts about Ivory's long-time collaborator and significant other, Ismail Merchant, were treated with a moving restraint. I suppose I would have preferred more about how they met (which Ivory does cover briefly), how they came to work together, and so on, but what we have is very telling of their relationship, and I'm glad Ivory sat down to write this at all.
As an added surprise, fans of Ivory's screenplay for the film "Call Me By Your Name" may appreciate the light he sheds on that creative process. Ivory was originally set to co-direct the piece and later found himself shafted, for reasons he couldn't make out. I hadn't expected that production to be contentious. We've heard very little about it in the press, and ultimately Ivory won an award for the screenplay so I suppose it all worked out.
Overall, "Solid Ivory" is a semi-solid biography, a bit rambling at times but when you've lived a life as long as James Ivory has, you'd have a difficult time picking out the best parts, too. Maybe he'll write another one about the actual movie-making process, which was mostly left out.
Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for granting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
So you can imagine my surprise when I learned that Ivory was not, in fact, British, but actually American. Born in California and raised in Oregon, Ivory gives us the tale of his early years in an easy chronological order for the first half of his biography. It's a bit of a lopsided treatment, to be frank. He talks about his day-to-day life a lot, with his early memories of the Great Depression, his school friends, his popularity in high school and subsequent "fall from grace" once he entered the Greek scene at university.
Autobiographies are always a tricky business to write and an even trickier business to review because I can't exactly say "I would have liked more details about X, Y, or Z, please." This is someone's life and personal thoughts, and anything Ivory tells us is more than that to which we are entitled. Still, I was surprised by how little Ivory talked about his relationship to his family, particularly his sister who pops up a good 50 pages in as a fully-formed teenager, with hardly any mention of her in early childhood and hardly any more after high school.
What really shocked me were the number of letters Ivory had kept from his early years, given how often he's moved around and (my apologies) how old he is (born in 1928!). It's a very lovely treat to see excerpts of his correspondence, and it lends the book a greater personal quality.
The second half of the book consists of a series of person-focused chapters, each about a collaborator of Ivory's or a good friend. These made for excellent stories but were, as far as I could tell, not really in-depth overviews of his relationships. The parts about Ivory's long-time collaborator and significant other, Ismail Merchant, were treated with a moving restraint. I suppose I would have preferred more about how they met (which Ivory does cover briefly), how they came to work together, and so on, but what we have is very telling of their relationship, and I'm glad Ivory sat down to write this at all.
As an added surprise, fans of Ivory's screenplay for the film "Call Me By Your Name" may appreciate the light he sheds on that creative process. Ivory was originally set to co-direct the piece and later found himself shafted, for reasons he couldn't make out. I hadn't expected that production to be contentious. We've heard very little about it in the press, and ultimately Ivory won an award for the screenplay so I suppose it all worked out.
Overall, "Solid Ivory" is a semi-solid biography, a bit rambling at times but when you've lived a life as long as James Ivory has, you'd have a difficult time picking out the best parts, too. Maybe he'll write another one about the actual movie-making process, which was mostly left out.
Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for granting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.