You know how sometimes you feel that you’ve become inured to the world’s cruelty, and you realize that consuming the news every day and hearing about humankind’s fundamental inhumanity has turned you into a person who doesn’t flinch at each successive news story that comes on Morning Edition, and yes, sure, that’s good and necessary for your own mental health, but on the other hand, are you possibly becoming a robot person incapable of empathy because, like, what kind of human isn’t shattered anew every time they hear about what’s going on in Syria? You know that feeling? Boy Erased,…
9 CommentsAuthor: Jenny Hamilton
The best legal and investigatory minds of Moscow are on the trail of Woland and his crew, and look, again, I am all about the bureaucratic details of organizations tasked with addressing supernatural issues. That’s what I wanted Agents of SHIELD to be, if you’ll recall: A workplace drama where the characters perhaps are taken hostage by supervillains occasionally but mostly are bickering over whose turn it is to make coffee and which budget codes to use for reimbursements when Thor hammer-smashes most of the furnishes in a 5th Avenue McDonald’s by accident. So, very fun for me to have…
9 CommentsRenay joins us from Fangirl Happy Hour to advise me and Whiskey Jenny about what SF to start with. She has ten recommendations and they are all (we’re confident) gold. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly to take with you on the go! Episode 69 What We’re Reading The Weather of the Future, Heidi Cullen Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, Cynthia Barnett City on Fire, Garth Risk Hallberg The Shining, Stephen King Death: An Oral History, Casey Jarman Gotham Academy, Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl the logo on…
2 CommentsWell, Satan’s Ball did not disappoint me in the slightest and in fact kind of reminded me of the balls in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Do you think this book was an influence on Susanna Clarke? (Y’all, I think Susanna Clarke is going to never write another book. That’s honestly what I’ve come to believe. She wrote one incredible book, we were so lucky to have it, and that’s all we get from her. Thanks, Susanna Clarke. Thank you for this gift.) Woland and his crew even kick around our old pal Berlioz’s head (remember that?) for old times’…
10 CommentsI’m over at Lady Business recommending nonfiction! This is not tremendously on brand for me, but I just need y’all to know that there are people whose job title is “smokejumper” and before they became smokejumpers, their job title was “hot shot.” For real. This is real life. Here is how excited I was to share this news with Whiskey Jenny.\ Once again, I want to really emphasize that we have done nothing to deserve Alexandra Petri. Here’s her recap of the second and third presidential debates. 2016 is not real. Here’s the evidence. The thing about Mike Hookem is…
9 CommentsAs I’ve possibly mentioned once or twice (or thrice maybe?) on this blog, I find the country of North Korea morbidly fascinating. Even in an election season where the impossible-to-believe comes true on what seems like a daily basis (not in a good way), North Korea remains an unknowably impossible sort of country to have in the modern world. So I obviously was always going to read How I Became a North Korean. This debut novel by Krys Lee, who has worked with defectors from North Korea herself, follows three characters on a long and strange journey to find a reality that they can accept. Yongju…
9 CommentsLook, either I have Stockholm Syndrome or the book has really kicked into high gear in this, the third section of our Master and Margarita Readalong. Have I eaten any M&Ms yet? NO, but only because I am boycotting Hershey, Mars, and Nestle until 2020 which is when they’ve pledged to go to all fair-trade chocolate suppliers. But we’re halfway through the book and I appear to have stopped caring if any of it makes sense. I guess that’s the point Bulgakov’s trying to make anyway, right? Community Russia makes NO DAMN SENSE. Now. I will admit that I began…
10 CommentsNote: I received a copy of The Secrets of Wishtide from the publisher for review consideration. I do not read many mysteries. I think the reason is that so many mysteries come in serieses, and as a completist I find this very daunting. (Yes yes I am in love with the Amelia Peabody books, of which there are infinity, but I started reading them when I was like fourteen so it barely counts.) Also, a lot of mysteries feature divorced dude private eyes wandering around thinking bitter thoughts about their exes. Or really gruesome autopsy details. And I don’t like those…
27 CommentsAnother Wednesday, and proper fall still has not come to Louisiana. Luckily I had podcast editing to take my mind off it. Whiskey Jenny says to please apologize to you all for her slight audible congestion; she was fighting off a very bad cough throughout recording and managed valiantly, all things considered. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly to take with you on the go! Episode 68 Peter Freuchen’s appearance on The 64,000 Question What We’re Reading The Fade-Out, Ed Brubaker, The Hairdresser of Harare, Tendai Huchu Mapping the Heavens:…
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