I just find these so delightful; this one was a fast read (it was short, obviously, but it also moved fast and didn't feel like it was too big for the space it had. I will say that there is not much in terms of a recap from the last book, which is probably fine for regular people with normal memories, but the important parts were emphasized, so you're probably fine.

This was delightful, I loved

the friend who was a ship!!!

If anything this almost felt a little too contained; I'll be interested to see how the story moves forward from here, not because it was wholly wrapped up but because I don't know what will carry over from this in terms of relationships made. Regardless, robots forced to make friends are a new delightful thing, and I love it. Can't wait to read the next one!

Just so incredible and lovely. The poetry is very accessible and there are moments that hit you, and I think this is just an incredible way to tell this story. I think kids who love first-person narratives about history would really love it; she manages to put so much nuance into it while also making it so approachable, and she balances her own story and what is possible with the larger history and her family story. Really just an incredible story, incredibly told, so if you have not read it definitely do, and pick up a copy for a kid in your life!

I! Love! Nuanced! Trans! Butch! Writing! This was just so beautifully written, every little vignette was so rich and detailed and beautiful. I think maybe there are some things that feel like they are more explicitly for cis people than trans folks, but I think there are definitely pieces that are for trans folks, for queer folks. I don't know that every single piece feels like fresh in the larger world of like Trans Discourse, but I am nonetheless so, so grateful for Coyote's voice in the world, and the different ways they show us navigating it. Also the piece about trans elders made me bawl like a baby.

Definitely both hilarious and moving by turns; Sedaris's focus on aging, loss, and death is maybe more palpable as a serious undercurrent than you might find in some of his other work, but there are also definitely moments that made me laugh out loud while listening at work. I definitely recommend the audiobook--it's not long (only something like 6 hours,) and his voice is so important in parts, especially when he's doing voices for his siblings or other people that he meets. There are things that make me cringe--a joke about how he's transitioning because he buys and wears culottes, and a bit from a pre-pandemic moment where he talks about how much he hates people wearing masks in public (oops!) but you can't blame him for not seeing that one coming. I don't know that I needed his perspective on the 2016 election, but I kind of feel that way about all white people reacting to the 2016 election (and strongly recommend Tessie McMillan Cottom's essay about that election in Thick, among other essays in it.)

Nonetheless, I think this was a really good read, and if you like Sedaris's other work you will probably like this--and you will enjoy how he has grown and evolved over time!

Wow this is not my usual book wheelhouse, but this was so fast-paced and quick and really grabbed me and kept me on my toes the whole time. The narrator did a GREAT job of using different voices and cadences to distinguish between characters, and the story was just so tense the whole time. If you know stuff about thrillers I don't know that you would be surprised by the ending--I kind of guessed where some of it was going--but it was definitely a great, kind of twisted story that kept me on the edge of my seat.

In his defense, in the preface Sedaris says this is not a book he intended to have people read straight through, but kind of flip through instead, and I think that's probably a good idea (though it makes the audiobook version kind of a weird choice.) I think some of it definitely is interesting--hearing the context around some of his most famous stories ("Me Talk Pretty One Day" being probably the most obvious,) and more information about them. It's also interesting to hear him talk about 9/11, and the brief entries where he mentions AIDS (the one especially where he tested negative I think is fascinating, though it's very brief obviously.)

There's also like. A LOT of use of the n-word uncensored in this, which on the one hand, he's surrounded frequently by racist white southerners and is quoting them, and on the other hand please could you be a little more heavy-handed with the edit pen. (There's other disparaging and sometimes violent language but man is the n-word ever prevalent.) So maybe keep that one in mind before you crack this open.

Ultimately I would say this was nice to just have Sedaris's voice in my ears for 12 hours while I was at work, and some of it was funny, but I wouldn't call this a required reading, even for a person who really really likes his work.

This manages to do so much in so little space, it's frankly amazing. Nuns in space is a great sell already, but it takes on faith, religion and colonialism, queer romance, and more. It's also accessible and the worldbuilding is built in in really wonderful ways where we don't have to spend too much time on it at expense of the plot, and it's rich enough to get an actual sense of it (and also definitely want more in this universe!) Sometimes I'd get the characters confused but I'm blaming that on me and not on the book. Definitely check it out!

I read this a number of years ago and remember walking away thinking it was kind of just okay, and I sort of feel that way about it again. It has Pratchett Tone all over it, which I don't mind, but also wow parts stuck out as... more racist than I remember. Pratchett does this thing in Discworld too sometimes, where a character says some pretty racist shit, but it's excused because he's a misanthrope who hates everyone, and like uh maybe in 1990 but not really now. (This is not to aim all blame at Pratchett, Gaiman also clearly has responsibility, but it's a trend I've noticed as I've been reading Also I'm not sure if it's because this was an audiobook, but there's a part where the narrator went ahead and used a fairly racist "Asian" accent and I'd love it if we didn't.

Also the Crowley and Aziraphale parts were... not that interesting to me? Frankly this book should have been 12 beautiful hours of Adam and Them doing things and talking, they were the best part and the most interesting to me. This could be because I had a hard time distinguishing between the voices the narrator used for Crowley and Aziraphale, but I just found the parts they were in to be uh not as interesting as other parts.

Overall, I found this like. Kind of disappointing. Again. So just not for me!

OKAY SO this book is fucking hilarious and SO WILDLY HORNY. I had a joy of a time. Is it a good book? No, not really. Sometimes the things that are written are so wild you just have to sit there and go "....stephanie are you okay?"

It is 2020 so wrt "this book makes young women want ABUSERS," 1) at least in this book, the worst thing Edward Cullen does is something that NO ONE TALKS ABOUT (

HE TASTED BELLA'S TEAR???? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK???

) 2) I do not actually care that much, all straight romance written by women presents us a warped vision of the men they want and that's because heterosexuality is a prison and straight people are not okay.

Anyway, I had a delight listening to this; it made me laugh, and it's a fun vampire story. If you go in with the understanding that it's just a fun stupid romance, rather than a Dramatic Romance, you might have a better time?