Week 18 + Week 19: 2 Weeks of Book Tweets
Deviating from my usual discussions to cover two weeks of books in one post full of tweet length reviews. (Yes, they are all are under 140 characters. I checked.)
Rewire, Signal to Noise, Penny Arcade: Attack of the Bacon Robots, Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Edition, There Goes the Neighborhood
Rewire is Ethan Zuckerman’s forthcoming book - it’s great, go buy it. Love the focus on “digital cosmopolitans,” a phrase I will now be using.
Signal to Noise - quick, depressing graphic novel with text by Neil Gaiman. Beautiful, highly recommend - but will make you very sad.
If you like Penny Arcade, you would like “Attack of the Bacon Robots.” Lots of early strips. Best part is the color commentary.
Philip Pullman retells Brothers Grimm. Again, best part was the color commentary. Realized Sleeping Beauty is secretly about rape culture.
There Goes the Neighborhood: About applying exit/voice/loyalty to race/class dynamics in Chicago neighborhoods. Eye-opening, incredible.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, The Child Catchers, Smart Casual, Adulting, Cinderella Ate My Daughter
Aimee Bender’s prose in 24 Hour Book Club “Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake” is a bit clunky, but story is good. I cried so much. Too much.
Child Catchers is about international Christian adoption. Eye-opening, well-researched, and judging from Amazon reviews, controversial.
Smart Casual covers modern restaurant culture, like death of Jacket Required. Repetitive, and uninspired, but lots of David Chang mentions!
Adulting is brilliant - a guide to being an adult, from thank you notes to checking out a rental apartment. Wish I’d read it sooner.
Cinderella Ate My Daughter is a book on “princess culture” but awkwardly full of misogyny and slut shaming. Peggy Orenstein, you disappoint.