The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this and the second book out of order. They're both a bit Princess Bride, the movie, and just silly fun. But I think I prefer this one just a tiny bit: the bit at the very end.
Interesting take on Queen Victoria, too. Possibly my favorite there as well.
***
25 May 2025
"One can be happy in eternal solitude: a book, a cup of tea, and no company; that was Cecilia's idea of heaven."
One can quibble over the beverage, and might prefer to include a pet of some sort, but the concept is accurate.
Library copy
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Sunday, May 25, 2025
Review: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Review: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A clever, engaging, and empathetic look at a gamut of cults from the truly horrifying to the mostly harmless (no worse than any other late stage capitalism company) and the importance language plays in creating and maintaining them all. As a hypermedia you know I am all for a good book about language, so there's that, but there's also a great deal of insight into the appeal of social groups at the edges, non-sensationalized recent history about which I was ill-informed: both the massacre in Jonestown and how that in turn lead to the deaths of nearly eighty Branch Davidians. As well, there's a clear-eyed view of MLM and exercise studios of which I knew nothing.
Quotes that grabbed me and that I have to actually type in because I read an actual print version.
"...she willingly heard the buzzwords and thought-terminators she wanted to hear, and tuned out the rest...I let him address my priorities, and put blinders on for other things..."
"These folks can be thought of as "nerds" because what they're really doing is experimenting in corners...that might not be considered conventionally cool or glamorous. Analogous, I like to think of certain cultists religious types as "spiritual nerds." They're the people who geek out on niche theological theories...who are willing to look outside the box..."
Because there's a bravery to that process I admire.
"In the end, some problematic leaders are really just followers of the larger system. But a truly, destructively cultish leader is one who wishes to overthrow the system and replace it with something that grants them ultimate power."
I recognize that there are people like this, but they feel alien to me in a way that fictional Martians never do.
"The group [Ramtha] was founded in the late '80s....But Ramtha devotees...hear what they want to hear and ignore the rest."
That's a recurring theme, obviously, and so relatable. Many people are forced to make their choices from the lesser of two (or more evils), and not only in elections. But while some of my thoughts were dire, I was often amused as well, as this line, when recalling the bizarre claims of a conspiracy theory:
"...baseless doomsday predictions and ideas of dark forces secretly controlling everything are practically trite."
I am becoming a little devoted to Montell's writing.
Library copy
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Thursday, May 22, 2025
Review: Great Big Beautiful Life
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
My rating: 0 of 5 stars
22 May 2025
Last night I dreamed that I was once again back in book-publishing or -selling, and I met Emily Henry doing something work-related. She was lovely. In the dream Great Big Beautiful Life had been embargoed and only released [that day] so I hadn't read much of it yet. But whatever complimentary thing I said about her writing seemed to puzzle and mildly alarm her. (It's been a while, but I don't recall upsetting any authors I ever spoke to.) Ah, well, the bus driver was kind about me holding him up, and I got to pet the driver's snoozing grey cat who was very sweet and not at all alarmed by me.
It was a pleasant start to my day, and I so rarely remember dreaming at all, let alone people or scenes, that I wanted to note it. No doubt I will enjoy this one as much as I had been in the dream.
***
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Saturday, May 17, 2025
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Review: How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?
How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Possibly more appealing to adults than kids, although asking kids before reading the book would appeal to both. But for me, (view spoiler)
Library copy
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Review: The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The little skull and bone mobile hanging beneath the bridge fills me with morbid delight. Normally I skip the front flap copy because spoilers. This time I read I, possibly just because I was admiring the mobile close-up at the bottom. Lovely bone-strewn endpapers, by the way.
Nice troll, too.
Library copy
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Review: The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The little skull and bone mobile hanging beneath the bridge fills me with morbid delight. Normally I skip the front flap copy because spoilers. This time I read I, possibly just because I was admiring the mobile close-up at the bottom. Lovely bone-strewn endpapers, by the way.
Nice troll, too.
Library copy
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Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Review: Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I do not have a clever theory about what is going on here. But it's cool, whatever it is. Two boys decide to dig a hole. They dig a really big hole. Things get weird. No matter what age you are, no matter whether you don't normally read picture books, you must read this. Natasha and I both agree. Now.
You're welcome.
Library copy.
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Review: Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I do not have a clever theory about what is going on here. But it's cool, whatever it is. Two boys decide to dig a hole. They dig a really big hole. Things get weird. No matter what age you are, no matter whether you don't normally read picture books, you must read this. Natasha and I both agree. Now.
You're welcome.
Library copy.
View all my reviews
Review: Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I do not have a clever theory about what is going on here. But it's cool, whatever it is. Two boys decide to dig a hole. They dig a really big hole. Things get weird. No matter what age you are, no matter whether you don't normally read picture books, you must read this. Natasha and I both agree. Now.
You're welcome.
Library copy.
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Review: How This Book Was Made
How This Book Was Made by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf. The Reviewers seemed to run correctly last week, but didn't run this week at all, and the Readers list hasn't been fixed at all. I guess algorithm don't care. Looking at the beta pages, algorithm loves stars.
Really I don't have anything to add to what I originally wrote. Still awesome. I still really love the MacAdam books. Metafiction in picture books is the best.
***
7 November 2016
We are longstanding Adam Rex fans, and I've enjoyed his previous work with Barnett, so yeah, I grabbed this off the library shelf. I'm not following a lot of children's book bloggers any more, so I'm not walking into the library with a list of items, I'm just taking whatever looks appealing on display or the New Shelf. Sometimes I recall someone we used to love and see what's on the shelf, but usually I find myself in a bookstore or library unable to recall the name of any author or the title of any book that I've ever enjoyed. Is that just me, or does it happen to other people, too? Or perhaps other people have other book-shopping quirks that I can't even imagine? Feel free to share. Anyway, Barnett breaks down the whole process of writing, illustrating, and publishing a book in a way that is both accurate and amusing, not least because of Rex's great art. I have no idea if kids in general would enjoy this, but certainly the already bookish ones would.
Library copy
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Sunday, May 11, 2025
Review: Circle
Circle by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Nicely done with the menace. But the ending is the best! Seriously, my favorite ending in ages.
This next isn't really a spoiler, but I wouldn't want to contaminate anyone's answer. And I am curious.
(view spoiler)
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Review: Triangle
Triangle by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Triangle - Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen Set amidst a dystopian hellscape of repetition and conformity, Barnett and Klassen's story evokes a quiet terror in the unwary reader. Look into Triangle's mad, staring, eyes and see the sort of dread that comes to us all after thirty-six hours of bad coffee and no sleep.
The prose has been sucked dry of blood, or color, or warmth, or life: there is no trace of anything humane left. The prose is so terse, so spare, Cormac McCarthy is beating out his own despairing brains with the crumbling remains of Hemingway. No one else will ever approach so near to the void, where the only solace is that you have no back to turn on your best friend before he stabs you in it.
Most artists set their haunted houses amidst dark and shadowy sets, where the difficulty of seeing permits the mind to fill in the half-glimpsed with all that is worst in the imagination. Barnett and Klassen have set their nightmare against a stark, white, relentless background: this world is devoid of a single softening shadow, the universe itself is as inescapable and cruel as the ubiquitous eye of Big Brother.
In the end you are left exhausted, with nothing left except Triangle and Square, the two-dimensional shapes of pain.
Library copy
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Saturday, May 10, 2025
Friday, May 02, 2025
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