kingofspain93's reviews
325 reviews

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

4.25

No one else in the family seems to understand Mom’s emotions. Everyone else walks around clueless, never knowing which Mom they’re going to get. But I always know. I’ve spent my whole life studying her so that I can always know, because I always want to do whatever I can in any given moment to keep or make Mom happy.

McCurdy’s memoir about her own immense suffering is strikingly egoless. she spends no time selling the reader on her likeability or worthiness as a narrator. Instead she methodically describes the single object of study that has defined most of her life: her mother’s happiness and what it cost. 

anyone with a parent (or parents) like McCurdy's mother will recognize in McCurdy's authorial voice the simple desire to explain that yes, it really was that bad. while a lot of McCurdy's life is not immediately relatable, her ability to write unflinchingly and unselfishly about her defining relationships means that I felt like parts of the book were eerily reminiscent of my experiences and those of many of my friends growing up. it hurts to come face-to-face with the reality that your parents are in it for themselves, and that you have no identity beyond the one you carefully cultivated to please them.

as deeply sad as this book was, I'm so glad that the story is still going. I'm glad McCurdy got to write this and has plans to keep writing. I want the world for her and for all girls everywhere.

Forest Babies by Aimee Jackson, Kristen McCurry

5.0

these animals were very cute but baby moose and especially Little Fawn stole the show. “hiding in the tall grass” like girl you're standing in a flower patch and looking cute as hell, don't deny it! the inclusion of a raccoon here challenges the idea I had that each book would contain a unique set of Babies, since there is a raccoon on the cover of City Babies (my most anticipated entry). maybe the City Babies will be similar to others but just look a little rougher? it's a joke but even thinking about it is making me sad lol

Prairie Babies by Aimee Jackson, Kristen McCurry

5.0

I couldn't have named a single prairie animal before tonight and I'm so happy to have been educated. great photos that live up to the Animal Babies brand. maybe it's because they use technical terms (skunk kit, etc.) but something about these books feels uniquely non-condescending. oh and good use of color throughout including the striking/enticing cover.

Experimental Lecture by Colonel Spanker

4.0

good BDSM literature often acts as a theoretical explication of kink and as good smut at the same time, and Experimental Lecture is no different. like the much earlier Georgian era porn novel Manon La Fouetteuse: Or, the Quintessence of Birch Discipline, this dares to imagine a world where women are sexually aware and active, where people know what a clitoris is, where kink is an essentially commonplace practice only barely concealed by the thin chemise of propriety, where whipping and caning is a craft. in Experimental Lecture female characters are powerful sadists and willing submissives as well as the unconsenting victims of sexual torture, meaning that while this might challenge the normie view of feminism it is much more reflective of real life and advanced ideologically than even vanilla pornographic standards today (which porn, bear in mind, involves real people and not fictional characters and so is much more dangerous). all sex demands a critical approach, but I continually find to my great delight that BDSM embraces and expands critical thinking around fucking. i am not a hardcore sadist so some of the sequences did not hit for me but overall I think it was hot and good.

Desert Babies by Aimee Jackson, Kristen McCurry

5.0

Desert Babies is everything I want out of a board book. it's inquisitive, it's not condescending, it doesn't rhyme, and it's visually compelling. I have literally ordered the whole Animal Babies series and cannot wait to get my hands on them.

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

3.0

a very fun start gives way to a tedious adventure/revenge tale set in Salt Lake City (?). it's as though Doyle wasn't yet sure that Holmes and Watson were interesting enough to sustain a whole novel so he put in a bunch of filler. the central mystery turns out to be almost a non-event, too, that gets wrapped up quickly and with very little sleuthing required, so maybe Doyle was just trying to get a feel for the genre. I'm looking forward to future installments though! and boy we have really been fucking over Afghanistan for centuries huh. 

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

4.0

Chokshi’s writing is beautiful, which is not a compliment I get to give often. my experience of writing that attempts beauty, especially in prose fiction, is that it is boring or alienating. Chokshi has both the vocabulary and the imagination required to pull it off. the story itself is fine, though it drags in the second half and I couldn't help drawing comparisons to the infinitely superior The Secret History. still, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride surprised me with its creativity and world-building and ended sweetly. I would read more by Chokshi based on how much I enjoyed this.

edit: nvm apparently everything else she's written is young adult so I'm good. write more real books please.

Thank You, Tree by Hannah Fries

3.25

this feels targeted at parents who are scared that without early and strong pro-tree messaging their child will become a logger or a CEO of a coal company. I like my nature kids books more sure of their own subject matter (Desert Babies, for example). the art in Thank You, Tree is nice and I like the page at the end that lists the tree species. I think that's the kind of thing that gets kids interested in natural science, not thanking trees “for joy” or whatever.

Close Your Eyes by Kate Banks

5.0

soft and warm art, with lots of cute details happening on the page for you to notice and discuss with a little one. I like the comforting message reaffirming the peacefulness of sleep and the steadfastness of parental love. I’ve had a real lack of cute tiger literature recently so this hit the spot.

A Practical Wedding Planner: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Wedding You Want with the Budget You've Got (without Losing Your Mind in the Process) by Meg Keene

5.0

this was exactly what I needed. Keene starts by helping the reader clarify their values, after which a lot of the seemingly insurmountable challenges of planning a wedding start to seem more manageable (and certainly more meaningful). I love women who use spreadsheets. god knows you'll need them. great great book.