Based on the podcast of the same name (which I never listened to). I've never read a serious book about the vicissitudes of human sexuality that was aBased on the podcast of the same name (which I never listened to). I've never read a serious book about the vicissitudes of human sexuality that was also so joyous and loving and filled with empathy. Horn draws on a lot of first-hand experience as well as a wealth of research in exploring a vast spectrum of kinks, fetishes, fixations, and relationships. I couldn't help compare this to Gaddam and Ogas's 'A Billion Wicked Thoughts': while that book leaned heavily into trying to explain sexuality with bogus evolutionary psychology, Horn is much more interested in the active psychosexuality of the people indugling themselves and others in different kinds of sex. I've already recommended this to a lot of different friends. Even for subjects that I find repulsive or uncomfortable, I felt like I learned something about the "whys", and the recurring impression was that Tina Horn "gets it". ...more
A historical novel set in a Pompeii brothel at the height of the city's debauched infamy? This was an easy purchase for me. The book is not as good asA historical novel set in a Pompeii brothel at the height of the city's debauched infamy? This was an easy purchase for me. The book is not as good as I was hoping, but it's hard to put my finger on why. Having grown up in England learning Latin and The Romans™ at school, it felt like Harper was running down a checklist of topics to have her characters experience: a fancy dinner party, the baths, gladiatorial games, and of course our old pal Pliny the Elder. But she pays attention to the daily life of those on the bottom of society: enslaved women, sex workers under the heel of the patriarchy. The plot has romance, betrayal, violence, death, and wall-to-wall tragedy. It's pretty relentless, actually, with nary a chapter going by without Harper reminding you how awful life is for Amara and her fellow enslaved women, but also for the token male-prostitute-slave Paris who is written as a particularly nasty, acidic little queen. A lot of reviews I've seen call this a "feminist masterpiece", and sure, but mostly it's the kind of misery-lit that left me really worn out.
Overall, I liked this? I think? The constant "by the way this is terrible, this society is awful, this patriarchy hurts everyone but the rich and the cruel" made me rather numb by the gut-wrenching climax. What's the Latin for "girlboss" again? I don't know. A mixed bag, but maybe I'll check out the sequels?...more
An emotionally fraught and moving memoir combined with stories from marine biology to become something greater than the sum of its parts. Each chapterAn emotionally fraught and moving memoir combined with stories from marine biology to become something greater than the sum of its parts. Each chapter explores an aspect of Imbler's life (her struggles with alcohol, the joy of being part of queer spaces, being mixed race in a prejudiced culture) and draws on a specific sea creature to extend its metaphors. This could read as contrived or tiresome but I was fully engrossed the entire time. The chapters about yeti crabs and salps were particularly good. Definitely one of the best I've read this year....more
The title play is a really fun and surreal horror story of a rhinoceros-transformation epidemic that becomes a strange nightmare of isolation, claustrThe title play is a really fun and surreal horror story of a rhinoceros-transformation epidemic that becomes a strange nightmare of isolation, claustrophobia and conformity. With plenty of satirical jabs, Ionesco's absurdist story still feels vital reading in 2024, in a world of pandemic denialism and resurgent fascism. It's hard not to compare this to 'The Plague' by Camus, both written in the wake of WWII and heavily inspired by French collaborators with occupying Nazi forces. But it's about more than that, too: the transformation that overwhelms society but becomes irresistible is a potent and unpleasant thing to be immersed in. I can imagine this being really powerful, and funny, on stage - I'd like to see it someday.
As for the other two included in this collection - 'The Leader' and 'The Future is in Eggs, or, It Takes All Sorts to Make a World' - are short, absurd and bitter satires of hero-worship and of the Family. Both entertaining but lacking the same depth as 'Rhinoceros'....more
This is starting to pick up. The protagonist and an equally Mari-fixated highschooler try and track down the details of Mari's life while keeping the This is starting to pick up. The protagonist and an equally Mari-fixated highschooler try and track down the details of Mari's life while keeping the plates spinning. Oshimi is starting to do some more interesting stuff with gender I think, let's see how it develops....more
As a fan of Rossi's YouTube channel, I was excited to read this. It's a collection of short snippets of history, archaeology and some creative writingAs a fan of Rossi's YouTube channel, I was excited to read this. It's a collection of short snippets of history, archaeology and some creative writing to bring the titular facts to life. Throughout the book Rossi's enthusiasm is infectious: every one of these things excites and fascinates him, and he is always quick to remind the reader that people from the past - even non-"human" people - were much more like us than we like to think. There are some really cool and interesting things in here, but it's let down by being a broad and shallow introduction to each item. The writing has the same breathless wonder and snarky asides as I've come to expect from Rossi's videos, but in print the jokes don't work in the same way, and the descriptive passages feel awkward as often as they're engrossing. Still a good book, especially for younger audiences who might be driven to explore more about human history and culture....more
A pleasant enough fantasy story that ebbed almost completely from my mind as soon as I finished it. There is a neat story in here about a magical pandA pleasant enough fantasy story that ebbed almost completely from my mind as soon as I finished it. There is a neat story in here about a magical pandemic and an over-ambitious doctor and a promising student who ends up out of their depth. And it is kind of interesting to see this fantasy-Persian setting written with LGBTQ identities as just another normalised fact of life. But I never felt excited, or particularly engaged. Maybe this needed longer to grow into something more substantial....more
Not a Bramblepelt in sight, but a lot of character names come close. Once you hack your way through a dense forest of Proper Nouns and strict feline hNot a Bramblepelt in sight, but a lot of character names come close. Once you hack your way through a dense forest of Proper Nouns and strict feline hierarchy, there's a lot to like about this. The story of a housecat running away from home to join a clan of feral cats is a fertile soil to grow exciting fantasy adventure, and the writers who make up Erin Hunter do a decent job of it. The cosmology and social structure of the Clans is engrossing, though not quite as deep as I might have liked. Our protagonist's journey of transformation and self-discovery is satisfying, as is the cast he meets along the way. There's bloodshed, betrayal, death, peril, a prophecy, and of course a tyrannical ruler pushing for violent territorial expansion. All the boxes ticked for the kind of book I would have loved if I'd been born six or seven years later - I might have latched onto this instead of (or alongside) Redwall. Unfortunately, having been planned as a series from the outset, this book wraps up quickly and leaves plenty of loose ends to be picked up in the sequel, diminishing the impact of the climax. Even so, I was pleasantly surprised by this one....more
The third and final volume of the supernatural adventure, and the final conflict between angels and demons. It's packed with fun and adventure, and StThe third and final volume of the supernatural adventure, and the final conflict between angels and demons. It's packed with fun and adventure, and Steele manages to wrap things up neatly and sweetly by the end. The art is bright and stylish and colourful, and Steele's writing is at its best when his characters are looking for emotional closure. It's a real feel-good victory lap, and it's a great send-off for the characters, as sad as it is that the story never got to finish onscreen....more
Dinosaurs doing the Copernican Revolution? Sign me the fuck up. A young astrologer's pilgrimace to see the Face of God with a new-fangled device for sDinosaurs doing the Copernican Revolution? Sign me the fuck up. A young astrologer's pilgrimace to see the Face of God with a new-fangled device for seeing long distances leads to potentially cataclysmic political upheaval. This was largely really entertaining, even though there are some entire chapters about explaining orbital mechanics to awestruck tyrannosaurs. Sawyer put a lot of thought into the social makeup of the setting, too, with a culture of evolved carnivores regulating their innate territorial bloodthirst in order to main a peaceful and thriving society. So obviously when some young upstart who's friends with the prince starts yelling about moons and planets and the end of the world, things get messy. I'm excited to read the other books in this series!...more
Six short stories, many of which feel like extensions of, or offcuts from, previous works. 'Face Eraser' and 'Start' are stream-of-consciousness frenzSix short stories, many of which feel like extensions of, or offcuts from, previous works. 'Face Eraser' and 'Start' are stream-of-consciousness frenzies that bookend the collection, drawn from Cooper's remixes and pastiches of desperate hook-up personals, which ramble frenetically from confessional to posturing to desperate yearning. 'From Here On' is a deeply touching George Miles episode. 'Corpse and Hand Puppet', adapted from a performance art piece, is an uncomfortable script about control and coercion. 'Trou Français' feels like a chapter cut out of 'The Marbled Swarm', with incessantly verbose French cannibal-artists that got a little tiresome (as did the novel, if I recall). The longest story in the book, 'Gold', is some of Cooper's most horrendous and disgusting works: its layers of utter depraved evil have echoes of A Serbian Film but manage to actually stick the landing. If you're a DC fan you know what to expect, but even then there are some moments that genuinely disgusted me....more
I liked this book more than I expected given the mixed reactions to it. It's Miéville writing in a different mode, blending low-fantasy historical ficI liked this book more than I expected given the mixed reactions to it. It's Miéville writing in a different mode, blending low-fantasy historical fiction with modern techno-thriller with intense, gory violence. I haven't read the comic series that it's based on, but I can absolutely see modern-day Reeves in the starring role, as a stoic, exhausted but not closed-minded figure as capable of great heroism as he is dreadful cruelty. The plot is less important than the moods the different chapters set, and Miéville seems to have enjoyed the different styles and voices even as he keeps his own proclivities (we even get some of his favourite "word pervert" words in there, like 'puissance'). While it has its faults (some wooden dialogue and a too-quick climax, to name two), I was having fun from cover to cover, and I hope both Reeves and Miéville liked the experience of working together....more
Surprisingly powerful and very spooky. A man survives a shipwreck off the Australian coast thanks to cannibalism and a mysterious shapeshifting presenSurprisingly powerful and very spooky. A man survives a shipwreck off the Australian coast thanks to cannibalism and a mysterious shapeshifting presence. He gets home convinced that the presence has followed him...and it has. There are whole chapters told from its perspective, and the narrative is never without tension. I'm sure there are things going on allegorically - this is set in 1850s colonial Australia, and there are some references to human dominance and destruction of the natural world - but I was mostly engrossed in the story itself, and the heartbreaking climax. It's really good!...more
Damn, there's a lot packed into this last volume. Finally learning what's going on with Jin and his dad, the new fashion sensei, and of course the ineDamn, there's a lot packed into this last volume. Finally learning what's going on with Jin and his dad, the new fashion sensei, and of course the inevitable scene of Ryo coming out to his family. There are a lot of threads left hanging, and I feel like this series ended too soon, but as a coming-of-age story about finding your own voice and working out what kind of person you want to be, it performs really well. Already recommended this widely....more
Betrayal! Crisis! Exploitation! Some nasty cynicism is revealed, and the identity crisis cascades from Ryo onto Tsubasa. It's good to see him gaining Betrayal! Crisis! Exploitation! Some nasty cynicism is revealed, and the identity crisis cascades from Ryo onto Tsubasa. It's good to see him gaining self-confidence enough to rock their world, even though the circumstances are messy as hell. Excited to see how this concludes....more
The cast grows, Ryo is surrounded by more supportive people than ever before as the fashion brand takes shape. A trans influencer, a cool woman at hisThe cast grows, Ryo is surrounded by more supportive people than ever before as the fashion brand takes shape. A trans influencer, a cool woman at his new job, and a new lease on life...but of course, identity troubles, dysphoria and anxiety still play havoc with Ryo's feelings. This is such a good series!...more
The final phase has everything in colour, and the story turns away from our heroes to the end of the world, rendered in psychedelic horror and uncannyThe final phase has everything in colour, and the story turns away from our heroes to the end of the world, rendered in psychedelic horror and uncanny post-human supremacy. It's grim and cynical but still with a quirky, anarchic sensibility. The twin epilogues included in the collection are bitter and sad - I get the sense that by the end of it all Morrison was just tired of the character and too invested in other more forward-looking projects. This is still a good series though, I'm glad I checked it out!...more
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