Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

In a lot of ways, this book felt more like what I have come to expect from a Brandon Sanderson novel than the first two secret projects.  It had the feel, the slow world-building, brick by brick, we were transported into another world and introduced slowly to a new cast of characters.  But in some ways, it was completely different than what I expected.  Romance?  Is this a romance novel?  It absolutely is.  I was not expecting that.  Additionally, I heard echoes if not full-on arguments supporting issues that are presently being debated.  What is art? What role do machines play in our everyday lives? Why do stories have sad endings? Is it ok for artists to leave us in a place?  Ok, so the last one might be a hot-button issue only for me, given this new trend to leave readers stranded in between a series of books or movies.  Generally, I turn to Sanderson for escape not for reflection, but this story had a nice balance.   I love the way this novel sits nicely in the Cosmere and unreliable narrators aside, the tone of the story was a good blend of humor and tension.  Even though there were some scary elements, actual nightmare creatures, I wouldn’t say the story was scary.  I listened to the audiobook, as I always do, and really enjoyed the descriptions of the pictures in the book.  So much so that I found myself downloading the PDF just so that I could see them.  Michael Kramer and Kate Reading did a wonderful job with the narration, and I find that there are few voices that I trust more when listening to an audiobook.  I worried about the Korean and Japanese elements of the story, as I am not sure if Brandon Sanderson is the right person to tell stories from that perspective.  But I am certainly not the one to judge that either.  I did like his explanation at the end where he explained the inspirations for the book.   I got through this fourteen-plus hour book at normal speed in just two days and I can’t think of much else I would have preferred doing.

Daisy Jones & The Six: An Audiobook Review

I know people always say this, and usually, because it’s true.  The book is better.  I enjoyed the show, but some of its choices made the characters seem dirtier than the book. So much so, that it took the book a while to make me see them differently.  It’s worth getting to know each band member again, to see their nuanced depth. Daisy Jones and the Six is a story about a band that broke up, but it’s also about people coming together.  I listened to the audiobook with the full cast narration and the moment I heard Julia Whelan’s voice I knew that I was in good hands.   I can’t imagine what the book is like to visually read, but there is no way that it could be better than the full cast narration which included the well-known voices of Jennifers Beals, Pablo Schreiber, Benjamin Bratt, Fred Berman, Ari Fliakos, Judy Greer, Robinne Lee, Julia Whelan, Jonathon Davis, Henry Leyva, Oliver Wyman, Nancy Wu, P.J. Ochlan, Arthur Bishop, Holter Graham, Brendan Wayne, Pete Larkin, Alex Jenkins Reid, Robert Petkoff, and Sara Arrington.  Reid has a way of leaving you feeling like everything is going to be all right, a sense of tainted hope that feels true because it isn’t perfect. It’s the kind of story that is easily consumed in just one sitting on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Daisy Jones & The Six was published by Books on Tape as in imprint of Random House Audio.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 a review

The IMAX theatre was full, the smell of popcorn was in the air and I think we all were breathing freely. I went into the theatre feeling confident that I would love what I was about to see. I counted on the music being good, the quips being funny, and a few moments where I wouldn’t be sure if a character I loved would make it. I went in knowing that this was going to be the last Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and I was prepared to say goodbye. I remember the first film, it had come out in the midst of the Marvel Cinematic Universes hay day. Back when it felt like comic book movies would keep coming and I would never ever get tired of them. Now, I am still in, but I’m not sure I will be forever. Vol.3 focused on Rocket, one of the most loveable and scruffy members of the crew. His back story was filled with a lot of horrible things. These experiences helped explain the raccoon – not-a-racoon, that we all know and love today. I have heard arguments that the movie went too far and the trauma was visually upsetting. Having never experienced real trauma like that, I would have to defer to those that have. There were a lot of moments that were tough to watch and those with a sensitivity to animal cruelty may want to skip it altogether. That being said, I loved it. I enjoyed seeing them all one more time, even if the ties that held them together were beginning to fray. Found family is one of my favorite tropes. Found family that saves the day is going to win me over every time. The music was great. The quips were mostly funny (there were a few too mean to tease a laugh from me). I won’t tell you if all the characters make it, but I definitely am glad I had the chance to say goodbye to them in this final film.

My recommendation is to see it in the theatre as soon as you can.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: A Review

This book felt like a magician revealing his tricks.  Interesting for sure, but also, afterward, the magic is gone.  It was like Morgenstern had an idea for a story and then rather than write it, she turned it inside out and cut it into pieces.  And even though the pieces still fit together, there are chasms where it was cut.  I could see, even feel the lines in it, constantly reminding me that I was listening to a story.  I couldn’t be a part of it. I couldn’t get lost in it. And worse I could see the strings, the muscle of it, and that made it kind of a drag.  I did enjoy the narration and was pleasantly surprised to hear the voice of Bahni Turpin. Her chapters were the most interesting as Katrina Hawkins was my favorite character. Not just because of the narration, I love the epistolary format.  It was in those chapters I was the most connected to the novel.   I can see why this book was so heavily recommended, but it wasn’t for me.  I have a weird hang-up for books/movies/TV Shows where the framing device takes over the story and becomes its own character, if you like that sort of thing, you might love this.

I listened to the audio version read by Dominic Hoffman, Dion Graham, Bahni Turpin, Fiona Hardingham, Allan Corduner, and Jorjeana Marie and published by Books on Tape. Imprint by Random House Audio.

Presence: Bringing your boldest self to your biggest challenges by Amy Cuddy

I started reading this book because I had heard of Amy Cuddy via her Ted Talk on Power Poses and I had loved those scenes in Grey’s Anatomy when the surgeons would stand like Wonder Woman before a surgery. In a recent Women in Cable Television event a presenter had mentioned that Cuddy’s research was being challenged, I thought I might as well read her findings before they became irrelevant.

I chose to listen to the book as opposed to reading it because that is the only way that I could guarantee that I would complete it before a mentorship meeting where I had volunteered to lead a book club and discuss you guessed it Presence by Amy Cuddy. She read the book herself, I was not surprised by this as she was already known as a good speaker and had quite a bit of experience in presenting. Generally, this doesn’t work out, Neil Gaiman aside, most writers benefit by hiring someone else to perform their book. Amy Cuddy unfortunately, also falls into this category. While her voice is pleasant and her speaking is understandable her tone is predictable and patterned which makes it easy to check out while listening. She also speaks quickly so while, I normally listed at 1.3x for this book I had to move the dial back to 1.1 to listen at a comfortable speed. I still would recommend the book in the audio format because it allows you to participate fully with the activities suggested in the book while listening.

The content of the book was interesting and applicable to daily life. I felt confident in the research presented and compelled to make changes in my own life. I’m already a fan of pretending to be wonder woman so it is a pretty easy sale.

As I indicated earlier recent studies have shown that her research could not be replicated. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170911095932.htm

Even if power poses don’t work, there is still some practical knowledge that can be gleaned from this book. Being cognizant of our postures, focusing on being present, listening, being aware of how positions of power and imposture syndrome can impact our performance are also important subjects addressed in this book. Also now I kind of want to read more about yoga and it’s impact on mental health.

Three Word Review: The Gifted

Best New Show!

Three Word Review: Ghosted Pilot

Fun! Funny! Fantastic!

Three Word Review: The Brave

I’ll watch again

Three Word Review: Lethal Weapon Season Premiere

Glad its back!

Three Word Review: Star Trek Discovery

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