User Profile

This is a very out-of-context quote that still makes a lot of sense, in the middle of a story that careens between making zero sense and making all of it. The speaker is Thurston, her dog, whom I believe to have died, though when I look for evidence of this, I'm not sure.

@travisfw i read this a long time ago, when i was a different person and the world was a different place. i'm pretty sure i enjoyed it. in recent years i haven't gone near it, nor other books i read at the time, nor the people who still love the sci-fi of this era. the books wouldn't reflect me any more in the same way this wasn't digestible to you… and there is far too much in the world that hasn't changed, or that had even started to change and reversed course.

This book will be by my side for a long time, a coffee-table book that actually sits on the nightstand, comforting you after a long day.

By turns monograph, memoir and how-to, it takes you through the artist's life, from her start as a tiny fan of Sailor Moon to the accomplished artist she is today. She has made renderings of the locales that inspired her and the rooms she lived in through adolescence.

Whatever your day or week has saddled you with, there's an image in this book to take you away and calm you, whether that's the wilds of nature, a cityscape in Tokyo, or a girl lying on her floor with her feet up, scribbling in her journal.

(2022 review reposted from dead bookwyrm instance)

Even though the subtitle promised me 30 unforgettable journeys, I was still unprepared for how many overnight trains the authors had unearthed, nor for how far they went (think Arctic Circle).

A bit breathlessly cheerleader, this book is still one I'll keep for the next time I need a novel trip idea.

(2022 review reposted from dead bookwyrm instance)

The house from the Thriller video. Abandoned missile control sites. The graves of Carole Lombard and Clark Gable… and their lovers. The steps down which Laurel and Hardy dropped a piano.

This is not your Fodor's L.A. With lots of offbeat sites - A street steeper than Lombard! Dine with cops! A fiberglass chicken! - there's something in here to interest any L.A. unbeliever.

Worth the trip? Don't know. But the book got me thinking seriously about whether L.A. could be fun, and that's a 5-star lift.

(2021 review resposted from dead bookwyrm instance)

Tyson is the most objectionable writer I've encountered all year. I'd like to fill in my science knowledge gaps, in an entertaining way, but he's picking fights with the New York Times (over Pluto as planet) and J.R.R. Tolkien (over the plural form of "dwarf"). It's tiring and self-centered. It's a very bad year when I give out two one-star reviews, but this is a very bad year.

I normally take weeks to get through a book. I devoured this one in days. It pushed a Kleenex box in front of me just often enough that I couldn't set it down. These are two profoundly flawed women, yet also practically perfect in every way. Through it all I just wanted to wrap them in blankets, bring them tea and cookies, smooth their hair by the fire.

The jacket blurb already gives away more than I would prefer. And you know how it ends. But the journey is an E-ticket ride and worth every penny. You might not want to read it at the coffeeshop though.