Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another post-apocalyptic tale? Who needs it, right? Well, Station Eleven turned out to be the definition of a page-turner. One of those books where you finish a chapter, get ready to turn out the light, and end up reading at least one (or two) more. I loved how all the characters share a common thread and how it is explored pre and post-flu.

Cover Distraction Rating: Nil. Unless your train line has a Station Eleven.

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After a While You Just Get Used to It by Gwendolyn Knapp

After a While You Just Get Used to It: A Tale of Family Clutter by Gwendolyn Knapp
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Humor combines with unvarnished personal and familial stories--delivered with non-mawkish affection--to produce these original, memoir-esque tales. Disparate topics such as IBS, cyber-cheating, and hoarding are delivered via Knapp's unique voice. It's not easy to speak about members of your family so deeply, honestly, and critically without losing any (or all) of a reader's sympathy There's underlying heart in not explaining away why people are they way they are. It's very genuine and refreshing. I'd want someone like Knapp writing my biography. Which I realize is an incredibly vain thing to say. How about this: She's someone I'd want to have a conversational, lengthy interview with for a blog post. One where she asks all the questions.

BTW, I came across Knapp's work via Eater, where she contributed a perfect story of what it's like to volunteer at Tales of the Cocktail. It's also included in this book.

Cover Distraction Rating: Very low, unless there are squirrel aficionados in your train car.

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The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler

The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The back cover blurb touting The Way of All Flesh as an novel that "sounded the death-knell of the Victorian age", intrigued me. This is a tale of Ernest Pontifex and his truly awful parents. His father beats him regularly and both mother and father engage in a psychological abuse that is particularly insidious. Cunning and malicious. Compounding this treatment is that Ernest's parents see themselves as paragons of virtue and sacrifice in regards to the treatment of their son.

Naturally, Ernest's development suffers mightily and he endures a series of setbacks both minor and major. (Well-rendered and often painful to read.) Will he ever break free, assert himself, and defy his parents?

The Way of All Flesh is at its best when Ernest is front and center. The novel, however, gets bogged down by pages of exposition. The narrator diverges from the story to engage in philosophical and religious discussions that range from the general to the vague. This is especially the case when discussing Ernest's work as an author. I was bored.

I would recommend this novel for a view into the dark side of the Victorian family, displaying an outward morality and propriety when actually a prim reign of terror. Ernest Pontifex is a memorable character. I'm wavering between three and four stars but the dull moments overshadow the brilliant ones.

Note: The edition I read has a different cover but the page count and publisher is the same.

Cover Distraction Rating: I'll say high. Not because of the what's on the cover but because of the condition of my paperback. It was brittle like Pringles and started falling apart the second I began reading it.

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Love Goes to Buildings on Fire by Will Hermes

Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever by Will Hermes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is practically a reference book for those looking to explore the music scene in New York from the early to late 70s. I wish I would have jotted down notes of bands, musicians, and songs while reading. (Idiot.) It gives equal consideration to jazz, salsa, hip hop, and more in great detail. Love Goes to Buildings on Fire, of course delves into CBGB so there's plenty about Patti Smith and Talking Heads.

Would be a five-star rating but I didn't enjoy the format of the book where one page(ish) would focus on a musician or genre/scene then completely shift gears to a totally different area. Too manic and jumpy; would rather of had these vignettes strung together. It was interesting to note the author grew up in New York City at the time and had many first-person memories. They, however, seemed shoehorned in. I'd be interested in reading them as a separate treatment.

Cover Distraction Rating: Medium. The pen-and-ink drawing of the city with the major players represented is pretty standout-ish. Also, the flames in color. Talking Heads fans will want to swipe right on you.

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The White Album by Joan Didion

The White Album: Essays by Joan Didion
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You have to like a book that starts with the author detailing and analyzing her own psychiatric report. Interesting essays about the California Governor's Residence, lifeguarding, Hawaii, Hollywood, the Hoover Dam. There's a quote that I think perfectly encapsulates my interest in, and fascination with, Didion:

"I want you to understand exactly what you are getting: you are getting a woman who for some time now has felt radically separated from most of the ideas that seem to interest other people."

Keenly observant of others and revealing of herself.

Interestingly, Martin Amis discusses this volume of essays in The Moronic Inferno.

Cover Distraction Rating: Low. Though the photo of Didion sitting in the driver's seat of a car with the t-tops off, cigarette perched in her right hand, is pretty cool. Beatles fans may wonder if it's about The White Album. Spoiler alert: it's not though the Manson family is discussed.

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Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As far as The Southern Reach Trilogy goes, Annihilation kicked things off like Star Wars. It set the stage for what was to come: a sequel that upped the ante considerably, The Empire Strikes Back. The second book of this series, Authority, was definitely Empire-esque with characters, action, and plot twists. The final installment, Acceptance, had highs like Return of the Jedi along the lines of the opening scene in Jabba's palace, but no lows like mawkish corny Ewok shit. And lacked a warmed-over, lazy plot like, "Hey, uh, what if they rebuilt the Death Star?"

If you're looking for definitive answers about Area X, get ready to be disappointed. But any reader of this series expecting everything to be tied up in a nice little package with a pretty bow on top would be misguided. There is some excellent background about the lighthouse keeper, and his story fleshes out the history of Area X and those orbiting its sphere to a certain satisfying degree. On the whole, a fitting conclusion to the trilogy.

Cover Distraction Rating:Well it's hot/neon pink with a menacing owl crushing a rat in its talon. Definitely a nice contrast to a sea of people in black coats. Like that line that Nathan Lane has in The Birdcage, "One must have some color."

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The Moronic Inferno by Martin Amis

The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America by Martin Amis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The title is a misnomer as this book is more than 50% reviews of books written by American authors. I much more enjoyed the essays, especially those on Hugh Hefner and his Playboy "empire" as well as Gore Vidal and Jerry Falwell.

Amis also delves into the AIDS crisis in 1985. It's a powerful, and early, call for sympathy, understanding, and action. And a rebuke of close-minded heterosexuals who see AIDS as solely a gay problem and disease. (Though Amis does engage in stereotyping gay men as hyper-promiscuous and dismisses monogamous gay couples as a "myth".)

Amis' droll wit and keenly deployed sarcastic-to-scathing pen provide great insight into a period of America (Elvis Presley in sad, grotesque decline, the rise of Ronald Reagan and the Moral Majority) I came of age in. The book reviews are quite good and expansive but I can't help but feel a little cheated that Amis' reflections on America weren't more numerous.

Cover Distraction Rating: With a title like "The Moronic Inferno" I know I'd be staring at whoever was reading it. What a provocative, intriguing title!

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