alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

I started Snow with the idea that it would follow the lines of a literary noir, but it is definitely not that. This book is a masterful reflection on the devout and the secular, the traditional and the contemporary, the East and the West. I already like books set in "crossroads" cultures, and I was pleasantly surprised by the elegant discussions and characters. I plan to read more of Orhan Pamuk's books.

Ate this book up in one day. So interesting! I so wish that author Michelle McNamara had been alive to see the arrest of GSK.

I learned something about myself while reading this book: I like true crime because I like the psychological aspect of it. This book doesn't even remotely touch on psychology—no speculations about "Bonnie" or why he would whimper "Mommy" in some encounters, nothing about the implications of his signature sexual tendencies, and not even a general overview of the psychology of serial killers and rapists. Now that Joseph James DeAngelo has been arrested, I think everyone remotely interested in the dozens (hundreds?) of crimes he committed must be chomping at the bit to learn about his personal life. Well, I am anyways. I care less about the details of the crimes and more about his motivation and the first two decades of his life.

Fantastic amd hilarious personal essays about Americana that took me back to the period of Bush-era political frustration washed in midwestern naivety. Remember when the Lewinsky scandal was still fresh in our minds and Al Gore “invented the internet”? Ahh, the good ol days.

Anyways, I love American humore that is self-depreciating and appreciates our Wild West values. two choice essays here: Why Americans have cowboys and Canadians have mounties, and how Gore vs Bush was a replay of highschool nerds vs jocks.

Also, if you don’t listen to this via audiobook, you are missing out. Sarah Vowell is a favorite voice on This American Life and she plays Violet in The Incredibles. Also, there is functional music by They Might Be Giants.

Just as good as when I was a kid. :)

Let's just call this the Kale Avocado Cookbook because nearly every recipe has those ingredients. I like kale and avocado as much as the next person, but Candice Kumai must literally live on them.

That said, if you used this book as your primary recipe source and you are the target audience of single 20-something female, your grocery shopping at your local Whole Foods (I prefer Sprouts...saudades) should be pretty straightforward. Nothing too crazy as far as ingredients go, and most of these recipes whip up in 30 minutes. Bonus points for being gluten and dairy free.

This book is good inspiration for making your lunches a little healthier, but I would give it a trial run before buying to see if it is really useful long-term.

I always like Sarah's Scribbles and I relate to every comic. They are goofy and silly and honest. This book includes a pep talk for creatives at the end.

I think this is the first book I've ever ready by or about a trans woman. So it was interesting because of that. The author originally wrote this as a personal diary, not intending it for publication, and that's exactly what it seems like.

If you love ghost stories, and also the manipulative scheming of Gone Girl..... have I got a recommendation for you! Just wish this was longer than a short story *tear*

When I got this book from the library, I was under the impression it was a thriller. This is despite the cover not looking like a thriller cover in the least, although the title is almost a thriller title. It was just lacking the word "girl" or woman" and a preposition like "The Girl on the Could Have Been Beautiful Train" or "The Woman in the Beautiful Window." At 80% through the book, I was still not convinced that this book was not a thriller. This is because the main character is a rich asshat with a perfect fiancé who refuses to talk about his past (this is a thriller recipe for domestic disaster) and the language of the book is thriller language. She lives in a pure white house with a blood red door. None of her friends or family likes her perfect fiancé. He makes kids nervous and cry-y. Her mom with Alzheimer's freezes up when the fiancé is around. These kinds of clues are dropped all the time but make no mistake, this is NOT A THRILLER. There are some twisted weird family secrets but it has a happy ending sooo...... Anyways, it was like when you are promised ice cream from Dairy Queen and then you are given a popsicle. This is not what was promised.

It’s like this: humans shape culture. We have the capacity to do that. So why don’t we shape culture to reflect that 52% of the population is female?