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David McK (3883 KP) rated Last Human (Red Dwarf #3) in Books

Jan 28, 2019  
Last Human (Red Dwarf #3)
Last Human (Red Dwarf #3)
Doug Naylor | 1995 | Humor & Comedy, Science Fiction/Fantasy
4
7.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
The third and, unfortunately, least of the 4 <i>Red Dwarf</I> books, I actually read this one last, thinking it was book 4 of 4.

Written by Doug Naylor (who co-wrote the first 2 booms with Rob Grant), this follows an all-new plot with certain scenes lifted from the TV show on which it is based. Unfortunately, it fails to capture the humour of the show, with most of the 'funny' bits falling flat.

Both this and the next book (<I>Backwards</I> by Rob Grant) are perhaps best viewed as alternate third books in a trilogy: if that is the case, <I>Backwards</I> is the better of the two, even if neither of the two books in question live up to the first two. In short, the whole (Grant Naylor) is better than the sum of the parts!
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated The King in Yellow in Books

Aug 12, 2019 (Updated Aug 12, 2019)  
The King in Yellow
The King in Yellow
Robert W. Chambers | 1895 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Romance
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Much-mentioned but seemingly little-read collection of short stories by Robert Chambers. The anthology owes most of its fame to the fact that HP Lovecraft was sufficiently impressed by some of the stories to retroactively incorporate them into his own mythology, something Lovecraft's disciples built upon with more energy than finesse.

The best of these stories do have a sense of subliminal encroaching madness and unease, as symbolised by the mysterious play mentioned in the title and its associated motifs, which is very impressively created. However, much of the remainder is a set of essentially interchangeable tales of rich young Americans studying art in Paris and swooning over beautiful young mademoiselles; they are quite heavy going and possibly not worth the effort of reading. The opening few fantasy stories are very good, on the whole; the rest not so much.
  
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Eilidh G Clark (177 KP) rated Bill's New Frock in Books

Jul 2, 2019  
Bill&#039;s New Frock
Bill's New Frock
Anne Fine | 2002 | Children, Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The humour. Exploring the topic of gender and identity (0 more)
It is just average (0 more)
Funny and curent
I liked this book. In a nutshell, the protagonist wakes up one day and he is a girl. I guess that the reader has just to accept that because there is no indication as to whether Bill was actually a girl in the first place or if he actually physically changed. Fine explores gender inequality in her book as Bill is faced with a variety of obstacles that force him to see the way that girls are treated. I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on the pink dress and the impracticality of wearing such an item of clothing. I also liked the way that Bill reacts to the school bully who wolf whistles at him.
This book is a short read with lovely illustrations and rather funny.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Mar 27, 2021  
Visit my blog to read a great excerpt from the literary fiction/short stories book A WALL OF BRIGHT DEAD FLOWERS by Babette Fraser Hale. Enter the giveaway to win a bookplate signed by Babette Fraser Hale as well as a $20 gift card to Brazos Bookstore - two winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/03/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-wall-of.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Most are newcomers to the scenic, rolling countryside of central Texas whose charms they romanticize, even as the troubles they hoped to leave behind persist. Twelve stories highlight “the book’s recurring theme of desire—for freedom, for clarity, for autonomy, and for personal fulfillment … When women are alone, unencumbered and unbeholden to anyone, they engage in intense internal reflection and show reverence for nature—and during these scenes, Hale’s language is luminescent” (Kirkus Reviews).
      
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Sjon recommended Babette's Feast in Books (curated)

 
Babette&#039;s Feast
Babette's Feast
Karen Blixen | 2021
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"If what make a work of literature a classic is its ability to be a mirror held up against all times and all human societies — the personal experience and the political one — I think this short novel by Isak Dinesen (or Karen Blixen in her homeland, Denmark) must be in the process of becoming one. Read against our own times it can bee seen as a simple tale about a woman on the run from civil war who seeks refuge in an isolated community. Bringing nothing along with her into her exile but her natural kind spirit and knowledge of the culture of the culinary arts, Babette makes a quiet existence for herself as a simple housekeeper until the day she gets the opportunity to show and share her extraordinary skills. And there is nothing simple about that."

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