The more expansive sequel. Reminded me of Game of Thrones, in that it takes place in a fantasy world, & has very lush food descriptions. The clothing descriptions were more reminiscent of Baby-Sitter's Club. Rachel & Nick kind of work best as normal observers (is that why he's called Nick?), so I liked the Kitty Pong & Astrid story lines (though I thought Charlie was kind of pathetic). On to the next one!

More satire of the super rich with their extravagance & hierarchies of snobbery. I liked the descriptions of the Singaporean high society's deference for those with royal titles. I also liked how it showed the lengths some of the "crazy rich" go through to hide that they are merely wealthy. Continues the strong points of the previous books, i.e. the portrayal of the improbable world of the 0.01 percent, & the extra detailed extravagant food descriptions. I was amused how gentrification hit home for Nick when one of his favorite noodle places closes because of redevelopment. All in all, the book also makes me wonder how the author feels about Singapore. Is he still a wanted man there?

Tale of a sort of redemption; pretty christian, pretty dark. I mostly like this book for the art, which really spoke to me. I would call the art "expressionistic pen drawing", but I'm sure there's a better term for the style.

A great read! Full of so many details about the early 20th century in America: the media landscape, New York (esp. the Polish community), & Antarctica (of course). An interesting detail was that the expedition at one point speculated to the press that they might find "lost world" sort of environments, or even humans living on the continent; this made me wonder if that was the state of knowledge in the 1920s, or if the expedition was feeding sensational ideas to the press in hopes of increasing public enthusiasm and funding. It would have been nice to get more of the stories of the other two stowaways, who, like the titular stowaway, both stowed away multiple times on multiple vessesls! But, it sounds like the historical documentation isn't really there for either of them. This book also makes me want to read more about Antarctica & the history of exploration there. Finally, I noticed the author used the terms "Ford Trimotor" and "Fokker Trimotor" interchangeably. They're two different (albeit similar & similar looking) aircraft types! Both were early airliners used in 1920s exploration. It doesn't really matter, but it irritated me slightly.

Story of a girl's pivotal summer at a sort of creepy lakeside vacation area her family visits every year. I liked how the main character is both the protagonist of her own story, and is also kind of the "Nick" (as in Nick from Great Gatsby) to the parallel stories of her parents & the random teens who live and work at this lake.

These 4 narratives will have me thinking in early 19th century english for a while. All 4 memoirs are riveting stories that had me on the edge of my seat. I also appreciated these memoirs for their historical and anthropological details of the slave societies of the Americas. When Linda Brent wrote "[My] bill of sale is on record, and future generations will learn from it that women were articles of traffic in New York, late in the 19th century of the Christian religion", I felt like she was looking right at me! All 4 memoirs illustrate that much slave labor in the slave economies was paid, but just not to the enslaved people actually doing the work. Douglass, Equiano, & Prince all worked alongside freemen and whites doing the same work while enslaved, and were paid like them, but the difference was that they were required to turn over their earnings to their "owners". Equiano's travels as a sailor offers a great look at the Caribbean-Atlantic economy of the late 18th century, and of the shipping industry of the time. I also especially liked his ironic use of the word "Christian". Linda Brent's reluctance to confide her status as runaway slave even to those she trusted after she escaped to the north reminded me of similar stories I've heard from undocumented immigrants.

History of the conceptualization, idea, & geography of walking. Begins with early modern walking, "rambling" , promenading, pacing, & strolling. Discusses spiritual, political, practical, & even artistic aspects of walking. This is a book I should have read 20 years ago when it first came out, especially the discussions of the political roles of walking or marching & about the modern view of walking's "obsolescence", & the modern city planning decisions that flowed from that view. I've occasionally felt like I've had to justify my walking to others, never realizing that someone had already done the job for me! Wanderlust also made me feel like I should get up and go for a walk more. I feel like I can't recommend this book to anyone, since I feel like I need to recommend it to everyone!

Got and held my attention, despite it starting off like a romcom. In that way, this novella kind of flipped my expectations. Well played, Sittenfeld.

Jane Eyre as modern day art student. Whole situation is still pretty weird, which makes sense, because the hyper-wealthy are the weirdest. There should be a sequel where Jane runs a water taxi, and has to give a fare a ride to the dark tower.

A good read if you like Romantic era literature, philosophy, & of course, HorROR! I could really feel the influences of ETA Hoffman & Goethe, who Shelley credits in the novel by quoting and referencing numerous times (among many others). With all of its dramatic speeches, exclamations (not to mention imprecations!) this book is meant to be read aloud, AT FULL VOLUME. Frankenstein is also interesting for its depiction of contemporary views of Switzerland, women in society, child rearing, criminal justice, republicanism, science, travel, &c. I'm sure Mary Shelley's views were a little outside the norm, but it is still interesting to read.