aka @kingrat@sfba.social. I'm following a lot of bookwyrm accounts, since that seems to be the only way to get reviews from larger servers to this small server. I make a lot of Bookwyrm lists. I will like & boost a lot of reviews that come across my feed. I will follow most bookwyrm accounts back if they review & comment. Social reading should be social.
This link opens in a pop-up window
Success! Phil in SF has read 59 of 28 books.
Phil in SF
boosted
In Jesmyn Ward’s first novel since her National Book Award–winning Salvage the Bones, this singular …
I was not expecting the emotional roller coaster going into this book. The turn that the book takes about half way through that suddenly throws some magical realism into the plot threw me off a little. I would recommend this, but just make sure that you're up for a pretty bleak book.
Thrilled to spend the final hours of her spring break in the VIP room of an elite Manhattan club, fresh-faced …
Thrilled to spend the final hours of her spring break in the VIP room of …
She tucked her card in the front pocket of her jeans and handed Gina her glass, then took a big sip from her own to bring the meniscus to a safer level.
— Angel's Tip by Alafair Burke (Ellie Hatcher, #2) (68%)
new vocabulary: meniscus
I've only heard meniscus used as a cartilage thing before now.
Phil in SF
boosted
Follow Odysseus after he leaves the fallen city of Troy and takes ten long dramatic …
Because he draws as much from the Aeneid and other sources as from Homer, this takes a long time to properly get to the telling of the Odyssey itself. I could perhaps have done with less of the context, though given it's those aspects of the story I had little if any knowledge of, it's certainly those I've learned most from!
The books rounds out the telling of the ancient Greek myths, and gently, lovingly explores the transitions of humanity from awe and fear of the world to hard work and negotiation both with the world and with other people. The grand canvas of the myth woven of very personal, often selfish, individual stories. I guess like the titular hero, it takes its time, but it does get there in the end.
Phil in SF
boosted
When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to …
In honour of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes to compete in the fiftieth annual Hunger Games.
While I quite enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy back in 2012, “Sunrise on the Reaping” feels like a somewhat unnecessary addition. I found the romance annoying, the arena a dreary slog to get through, and the ending dismal but not enjoyably so. Also, too much song lyrics and poetry for my tastes. Not for me. However, all that is a “me problem”, and Hunger Games fans should thoroughly enjoy this latest entry in the series.
Squid Game meets The Left Hand of Darkness meets Under the Skin in this radical …
My Otherwise award list is complete with the addition of this book. On SFBA.club the list should have high resolution covers and book descriptions. YMMV when the list is copied to other servers.
(The Otherwise Award encourages the exploration & expansion of gender.)
At once a lush fairytale, an unforgettable queer romance, and a celebration of trans love, …
Very weird. This book does not come up in a search using the title, but it does come up in a search with the ISBN.
Phil in SF
boosted
"Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent Joe Evers still mourns the death of his wife …
Every time I searched for an Indigenous mystery on Libby, this book would come up front and given the starred reviewed I figured I should read it. Boy, was I not more wrong, what a terrible book. This man is a current FBI agent who used to investigate cases in the Reservations. First things that are off, a dog is killed by a cop ("but you didnt take care of it anyway" says the cop to the Indigenous person), then a coyote & her puppies are killed by an Indigenous Elder because Coyotes are a "nuisance", I have never heard of Indigenous people killing Coyotes especially pups. Final nail in the coffin was when his characters who were leaders of American Indian Movement decide to claim some current issue as a fake reason to raise money.
I refuse to read any book that does not respect & honor Indigenous people …
Every time I searched for an Indigenous mystery on Libby, this book would come up front and given the starred reviewed I figured I should read it. Boy, was I not more wrong, what a terrible book. This man is a current FBI agent who used to investigate cases in the Reservations. First things that are off, a dog is killed by a cop ("but you didnt take care of it anyway" says the cop to the Indigenous person), then a coyote & her puppies are killed by an Indigenous Elder because Coyotes are a "nuisance", I have never heard of Indigenous people killing Coyotes especially pups. Final nail in the coffin was when his characters who were leaders of American Indian Movement decide to claim some current issue as a fake reason to raise money.
I refuse to read any book that does not respect & honor Indigenous people especially when it is about them. Read a book by an Indigenous person any time. I really hope nobody decides to make an adaptation of this book for TV.
Thrilled to spend the final hours of her spring break in the VIP room of an elite Manhattan club, fresh-faced …
If Truffaut or Godard or Ozu wrote novels instead of making films, Before is the book that might have resulted. …
Mikael, a young gay photographer, finds in the courtyard of his apartment block a small, …
Been putting together the Otherwise Award list. Got to this book, the 2004 co-winner, which was published under 4 different titles, depending on which country. I added this edition, which was the first edition in English. Then added the Finnish, German, and US editions. Everything looked great.
Then I added the book to the Otherwise list, and everything broke. Every time I refreshed Johanna Sinisalo's page, the editions would show up differently. First as two separate works. Then as five. The edition that showed up in the Otherwise list switched to the 2010 edition (which has a shitty cover). Then finally four works showed up on Sinisalo's author page.
I painstakingly added the editions back to this work and corrected the entry on the Otherwise list. The editions seem to be sticking to the work this time. However, there are still three other works that have duplicate information for editions …
Been putting together the Otherwise Award list. Got to this book, the 2004 co-winner, which was published under 4 different titles, depending on which country. I added this edition, which was the first edition in English. Then added the Finnish, German, and US editions. Everything looked great.
Then I added the book to the Otherwise list, and everything broke. Every time I refreshed Johanna Sinisalo's page, the editions would show up differently. First as two separate works. Then as five. The edition that showed up in the Otherwise list switched to the 2010 edition (which has a shitty cover). Then finally four works showed up on Sinisalo's author page.
I painstakingly added the editions back to this work and corrected the entry on the Otherwise list. The editions seem to be sticking to the work this time. However, there are still three other works that have duplicate information for editions from this one.
Phil in SF
boosted
An intense, intimate and first-of-its-kind look at the world of human smuggling in Latin America, …
Even more than I was hoping for, a thoroughly humanizing personal and anthropological narrative closely following several young Hondurans over several recent years in their own experiences of migration up and down Mexico, the relentless gang violence and poverty causing them to be stateless human smugglers, the shrinking space between state enforcement and cartel consolidation for less violent less exploitative routes.
If Truffaut or Godard or Ozu wrote novels instead of making films, Before is the …
This was part of a Noir Bundle put together by Nick Mamatas back in 2017-ish. Starting this as part of my effort to clear out stuff in my TBR.
A Newflesh novella from the New York Times bestselling author that brought you Feed, Mira …
It's okay. Not particularly interesting. Not off-putting either tho.
A Newflesh novella from the New York Times bestselling author that brought you Feed, Mira Grant.
It was the summer …
