false 23 294 263 true 5649199 read 4 true 710792 currently-reading 27 true 710791 to-read 100 false 3536808 childrens-and-ya 3 false 3823321 wish-to-finish-someday 1 false 3823326 currently-reading-but-must-find-cop http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40031846 to: The Folding Star: A Novel (Paperback) by Alan Hollinghurst
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5637270 to: Go Tell It on the Mountain (Mass Market Paperback) by James Baldwin
I think I should have been older, more self-aware, and not reading this book for class while also studying for the SATs to appreciate it more. But in retrospect I recognize that it was not only very well-written, but overall a very poignant story.

I have to read Giovanni's Room now.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5719652 to: The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood (Mass Market Paperback) by Christopher Pike
bookshelves: childrens-and-ya
My mantra for this one was basically, "Snuff films? What? Oh, no, not another blood transfusion..." It in no way lived up to the first in the series, and I had no interest in reading its sequel afterward. This story started out interestingly enough, dealing with the angst of the a newly-turned vampire and the heroine's quest to settle an ancient score, but the crazy plot angles were a bit overblown. As full of suspense as twelve-year-old me was at the end of the previous story, I was totally over it by the halfway point of this book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5637009 to: Magical Thinking: True Stories (Paperback) by Augusten Burroughs
The humor and wit from Burroughs are as strong as ever, but after awhile I found the self-decprecating, look-at-me-I'm-so-quirky style to be kind of tiresome. The guy can write and entertain, but to me the whole collection comes off as kind of a self-important wank.

Still, that's a personal taste thing and I can't deny that the stories are pretty good. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23037040 to: The Speakeasies of 1932: Paperback (Paperback) by Gordon Kahn
I loved the heartfelt illustrations and the dry wit that fills these pages. I know it sounds trite, but the book made me feel like I was there. It reminds the reader of a kind of atmosphere that is gone from our modern society, and while every time has its place it makes the reader--at least this one--sentimental for a scene he's never actually visited. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5575206 to: Expensive People (Modern Library Paperbacks) by Joyce Carol Oates
Oh, lord, this was hell to get through. Basically, this was Oates at her absolute worst. Take the most wheedling, bombastic, florid, I-feel-faint language and make it go for a couple hundred pages. Protagonist is a poor little rich kid who kills--god, I don't remember, his mother, his father, or both of them--and it takes forever for anything to happen other than his incessant whining. I hated it. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5576446 to: Lost: A Novel (Paperback) by Gregory Maguire
Perhaps I would have liked this story less if I'd read Wicked or Confessions first and came into it expecting something different, but I really enjoyed this book. It was quite strange in all the right ways, dark with just the right amount of sarcastic humor. I was intrigued by the mysteries within and pleasantly surprised, for the most part, by the way they are "resolved." I did think the ending was rushed--I felt a little worn-out and unsatisfied when I got to the last page. But I applaud Maguire for what he wound up doing with the Scrooge and Jack the Ripper themes--the story went in a completely different direction than I anticipated. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5720312 to: Why Is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality (Science Masters) by Jared Diamond
It was way too essentialist for my tastes. I mean, sure, some of the points Diamond made were interesting and made sense, but overall it seemed like a very simplistic view of human sexuality. And that was a very narrow view, indeed, since it was totally heterocentric (and didn't even touch on the diversity amongst heterosexuals alone). I thought when I picked it up, "Gee, this book is awfully skinny for such a broad topic." Well, there was a reason for that. Pretty disappointing, Diamond. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5721469 to: The Cat Who Came in from the Cold (Paperback) by Deric Longden
Oh, man, I must have read this twenty times as a kid. Even as an adult, though, I appreciate the author's voice. It's a "cat story," but it's not one of those cat stories that can only be appreciated by people looking for cat stories. Longden is rather a comfortable-with-himself bloke who just tells it like it is with a touch of gentle humor. I enjoy the way he gives day-by-day accounts of household life and very comfortably narrates the cats' thoughts as well. ]]>