Could You Repeat That? CLXXVI

I haven't posted one of these in FOREVER.

Washington Black, Esi Edugyan
She loved me with a viciousness that kept me from ever feeling complacent, with the reminder that nothing was permanent, that we would one day be lost to each other.

The Overstory, Richard Powers
"The best arguments in the world won't change a person's mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story."

A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness
"I don't like taking drugs, Matthew."
"Next time you go into shock, I'll let you suffer needlessly."

Island of the Mad, Laurie R King
It is a precious thing, to be in agreement with one's husband, particularly when it comes to misbehaviour.

The Mortal Word, Genevieve Cogman
"What would you have done if it hadn't worked?" Kai asked.
"Kai, that sort of question never helps," Irene said firmly.

The Astonishing Color of After, Emily XR Pan
I stand there with my feet rooted into the carpet of that memory, watching until my ribs crunch together and pulverize my heart and send the heat of my missing everywhere. The grief spills out of me sepia dark.

Shadow of Night, Deborah Harkness
I had been in 1590 for less than twenty-four hours, but I was already heartily sick of Christopher Marlowe.

The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan, x2
"There is one rule, above all others, for being a man. Whatever comes, face it on your feet."

Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi
I don't know this boy, afraid, making excuses for everything he claimed to hate. Or maybe I know him too well.
Maybe this is the truth: the broken little prince.

Mr. & Mrs. X (graphic novel), Kelly Thompson
GAMBIT: Wade! Cut her off over there!
DEADPOOL: I'm trying! She's very fast! Possibly because she's not wearing any clothes!
SHADOWCAT: ...Who is that? And why are people naked on that ship every time I talk to you? Are there no pants in space?

Shadow Magic, Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
People were such complicated animals, far harder to please than dogs and far harder to care for than horses.

Huntress, Malinda Lo
"I am no assassin."
The Queen gave her a measuring look. "I am not seeking an assassin. I am seeking a hunter."

Dressed for Death, Donna Leon
There ensued a muddle that was almost cinematic in its idiocy.

Ninth Step Station, Curtis C Chen, et al
"So we're looking for a creepy taxicab driver," Liu said.
"He literally just said they were self-driving cars," Emma said.

The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry
Cora, you cannot always keep yourself away from things that hurt you. We all wish that we could, but we cannot: to live at all is to be bruised.

The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton
"Newspapers are pointless."
"Not all of them."
"Most of them spread lies."
"Some lies are delicious," I say.

Death and Judgment, Donna Leon
Brunetti had more than once reflected upon the strangeness of the fact that a woman with Signorina Elettra's natural inclination toward the duplicitous should have chosen to work for the police.

Summerland, Hannu Rajaniemi
'Now it is just the two of us, Yakov Mikhailovich,' she said. 'No notes, no recordings, no ghosts. Just a living man and a woman, bleeding and drinking.'

The True Queen, Zen Cho
"I shall lay the path for you. There is no reason you should run into any trouble, provided you are sensible."
"It sounds perfectly straightforward," said Sakti, who had never been sensible in her life.

The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal
"I'm the one who should apologize. That joke was in poor taste."
"No, it's my fault."
"Really--no. You have nothing to apologize for."
"I was being thoughtless."
"I--" I stopped and narrowed my gaze. "I should remind you that I'm Southern, and you'll never win a politeness battle with me."

The Glitch, Elisabeth Cohen
"Don't you think it's still fun?" I said.
There was a pause. He did not rush to fill it. I gave him increasingly severe looks.

Latchkey, Nicole Kornher-Stace
The ghost gave Sairy a look that reminded Isabel of nothing so much as the screen of leaves over a beartrap: mild enough until you test it, then the long drop and the spikes.

Alice Isn't Dead, Joseph Fink
"Don't you wish sometimes that you could forget? That you could have your memory wiped, and then you wouldn't be a person wandering but a person who was almost somewhere, a person about to arrive, and when you arrived you could just stay?"

Casa Marcela, Marcela Valladolid
The only thing I love more than this home is my family living in it.

A Great Deliverance, Elizabeth George
"You got drive-in movies here?"
"I think that's a phenomenon endemic to your country," St. James replied.

Agents of Atlas: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 (graphic novel), Jeff Parker
KHANATA: Let me see if I'm clear on this...I slipped up and let a double agent infiltrate our Mojave base...and I'm being promoted.
DUGAN: Welcome to America.

The Luminous Dead, Caitlin Starling
"I'm not a complete monster," Em said once more, her voice quiet. "Just most of one."

A Noble Radiance, Donna Leon
He walked over and opened the door to the lab, and they left, returning to their jobs and to the world where crime was something to be stopped, not the subject of philosophical speculation.

Feast: Food of the Islamic World, Anissa Helou
As we drove back to the hotel, I sulked, wondering if I would get another chance to taste [camel] hump.

Fables: Book Seven (graphic novel), Bill Willingham
CHARMING: Mirror, mirror, sitting there. Will I win my bid for mayor?
MIRROR: The signs aren't certain, and do take note: You haven't done zip to earn my vote.

The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo
If Medusa was Dominican
and had a daughter, I think I'd be her.
I look and feel like a myth.
A story distorted, waiting for others to stop
and stare.

Raven Strategem, Yoon Ha Lee
Khiruev's first thought was that of all the things she had expected of this conversation, a critique of her assassination attempt had not been one of them.

My Beloved Brontosaurus, Brian Switek
More than once, my friends have indulged my curiosity, jokingly suggesting that male dinosaurs had a prehensile phallus that could safely inseminate females from a distance--an idea that shocks my mind into waking anime nightmares.

The Divided Earth (graphic novel), Faith Erin Hicks
RAT: You came from the world beyond the city's walls. But you came here with an open heart. You came to learn, you came to listen. Although you were born a stranger to us, the city sees your heart. We welcome you.

Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, x5
And she held her sword, and she smiled like a knife.

The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson
"If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change."

The Bird King, G Willow Wilson
"Are we really going to sleep in the harem? Will Catalina and I be the first Catholics ever to see it?"
"Hardly, said Lady Aisha in a blithe voice, turning away and clapping her hands to startle the other women to attention. "We've taken plenty of Catholic ladies hostage over the years."

And...

"It's convenient for girls to be angry about nothing. Girls who are angry about something are dangerous. If you want to live, you must learn to use your anger for your own benefit, not the benefit of those who would turn it against you."

Dark Matter, Blake Crouch
"And we're not lost."
We are so fucking lost. Literally adrift in the nothing space between universes.
"We're not lost."

The Cruel Prince, Holly Black
"I am tired of caring," I say. "Why should I?"
"Because they could kill you!"
"They better," I say to her. "Because anything less than that isn't going to work."

Milk Street: Tuesday Nights, Christopher Kimball, et al
Look at cooking elsewhere in the world and you'll find that flavor is built with ingredients, not time. For anyone living outside Europe, this isn't much of a revelation.

Fatal Remedies, Donna Leon
And now, here he was, three days later, turning on the embankment of San Lorenzo and approaching the Questura, where Paola sat, arrested for a crime she'd told him she was going to commit.

Bowlaway, Elizabeth McCracken
She could not get over him. Any day now, he might return! Then she would kill him. At night, in the same way she'd been staggered to discover, once married, the force of her desire, now she was staggered by her bloodthirst.

The Darkest Part of the Forest, Holly Black
The only way to end grief is to go through it.

Friends in High Places, Donna Leon
Fortunately, Paola was a fast reader, and she had returned to the twentieth century after finishing the last one, apparently none the worse for the shipwreck, battle, and scurvy that had menaced her during those weeks.

Lonely Planet Bangkok, Lonely Planet
Look in both directions before crossing any street (or footpath) and yield to anything more metal than you.

After the Fire, Will Hill
"Most seventeen-year-olds don't use phrases like 'technically speaking' to qualify the things they say," says Agent Carlyle.
"Maybe the seventeen-year-olds you know aren't very smart," I say.

A Sea of Troubles, Donna Leon
'No more blackberries.'
'But more tourists, I suppose,' Brunetti said, referring to the deity currently worshipped by those who ran the city.
'I'd rather have blackberries.'

Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Eight (graphic novel), Bill Willingham
AMBROSE: Judas was required for all of those events to turn out the way the needed to. Our two villains have their parts to play.

Uprooted, Naomi Novik
His armor was washed with blood and smoke, his face smeared with one bright red streak, but he looked for a moment like a child, or maybe a saint, pure with want. And the queen looked at him, and put her hand on his chest, and killed him.

That Ain't Witchcraft, Seanan McGuire
Blood trickled between his fingers, thick and red. He was practically panting from pain. He'd probably never been stabbed before. Amateur.

Lost Voices, Sarah Porter
How could you consider someone you love bad, no matter what anybody else might think?

The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker
Next morning, when I walked through the dunes to see Hecamede, there were forty-seven dead rats. I counted every one.

Willful Behavior, Donna Leon
'I've always been afraid of people in possession of what they believe is the truth. They'll do anything to see that the facts are changed and whipped into shape to agree with it.'

Shadowhouse Fall, Daniel Jose Older
It occurred to Sierra that she was about to take one of the most epic mug shots ever.

The Lost Sisters, Holly Black
Let's start with a love story. Or maybe it's another horror story. It seems like the difference is mostly where the ending is.

Uniform Justice, Donna Leon
Paola turned to face him and put her hands on her hips, looking like an actress trying out for the role of Angry Woman.

Doctored Evidence, Donna Leon
'There's a chapter here,' she said, pointing at the page she had been reading, 'on the Seven Deadly Sins.'
Brunetti had often thought that it was convenient that there should be one for each day of the week, but he kept this thought to himself for the moment.

Blood From a Stone, Donna Leon
'The Americans said Islamic fundamentalists.'
'The Americans say that if someone double parks,' Brunetti answered angrily.

Lost at Sea, Jon Ronson
I pause and add: "I realize what I just said is quite stupid, but will you respond to it anyway?"

The Best We Could Do (graphic novel), Thi Bui
This--not any particular piece of Vietnamese culture--is my inheritance: the inexplicable need and extraordinary ability to RUN when the shit hits the fan. My Refugee Reflex.

How Long 'til Black Future Month, NK Jemisin
Everyone thinks she's angry all the time, whether she is or not. (The fact that she often is notwithstanding.)

In Defense of a Liberal Education, Fareed Zakaria
Being forced to write clearly means, first, you have to think clearly.

The Book of Life, Deborah Harkness
"Fernando hasn't rescued a woman in distress for some time, but I'm sure he remembers how," Matthew assured me.

Through a Glass, Darkly, Donna Leon
Spring advanced, and Brunetti continued to measure it florally.

Middlegame, Seanan McGuire
Few things are more dangerous than a scientist with something to learn.

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, Amin Maalouf
Hasan's favourite technique for sowing terror among his enemies was murder.

Movie Moments XVI: February & March 2019

Twenty-nine movies in two months! Including a good chunk of Oscar-watching.

The Wife, 01 February 2019, DVD via Redbox
You have to throw the whole husband out and start all over again, girl.

If Beale Street Could Talk, 02 February 2019, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
God, this movie was gorgeous. Regina King was spectacular, but damn, that soliloquy by Brian Tyree Henry in the middle should be the stuff of legends.

The Front Runner, 13 February 2019, DVD via Redbox
On one hand, it’s tough to feel sympathy for a politician who dared reporters to follow him to spot misconduct, and led them directly to his mistress. On the other hand, yeah, it is wholly awful that this marked the turning point when politicians became tabloid fodder.

At Eternity’s Gate, 13 February 2019, DVD via Redbox
Watching #AtEternitysGate and experiencing all the feelings that exist. Like, oh, #TheGoodFight has turned you into a sobbing mess, better take a break to watch this movie about VINCENT GODDAMN VAN GOGH.

The Hate U Give, 15 February 2019, DVD via Redbox
Starr’s little blond friend can go straight to hell. Anyway, I should have been emotionally prepared to watch this, but I wasn’t. This one is shaking.

Bad Times at the El Royale, 15 February 2019, DVD via Redbox
What. Was that. I mean, who wouldn’t want to listen to Cynthia Erivo sing as many, many actors you like simulate getting murdered, yeah, but what. What.

Green Book, 16 February 2019, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
#GreenBook is a perfectly enjoyable movie that hasn't anything revelatory to share, but happens to star two Oscar-caliber actors.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, 17 February 2019, streamed via Netflix
What if #Deadwood was a vaudeville tragedy?

Sorry to Bother You, 17 February 2019, DVD via Redbox
That...did not go where I expected it would go.

Minding the Gap, 18 February 2019, streamed via Hulu
This is an excellent exploration of how toxic masculinity is perpetuated through economic circumstances. And, broken families. And, violence. And, skateboarding, by the way.

Of Fathers and Sons, 18 February 2019, streamed via Amazon
This documentary was a journalist who embedded himself into Al Qaeda, and it is 100% as disturbing as you would expect. Like, we’re all, look at at those cute kids and the great relationship they have with their dads! And then it’s all indoctrination. *shiver*

Nobody’s Fool, 18 February 2019, Blu-ray via Redbox
Just let Tiffany Haddish do whatever she wants, okay? We’ll all be the better for it.

Shoplifters, 19 February 2019, streamed via Amazon
Holy crap, this Japanese movie is the most heart-rending and sweet story about a found family of criminals that I could ever have wanted. Seriously, I loved this movie. I wanted it to win the Oscar.


Can You Ever Forgive Me?, 21 February 2019, streamed via Amazon
Apparently I am not as impressed with Grumpy Melissa McCarthy as most critics? Because she was great, but...Oscar great? Hm.

Hale County This Morning, This Evening, 22 February 2019, streamed via PBS
This is a gorgeous documentary about the everyday life of a somewhat impoverished neighborhood that is largely populated by Black folks. It doesn’t so much have a narrative as it has a melody. (Also, there is a long sequence where they just put the camera tripod in front of a rambunctious toddler, and it was amazing.)

Robin Hood (2018), 26 February 2019, Blu-ray via Redbox
W-who wanted this?

Fighting with My Family, 02 March 2019, Rave Colonel Glenn 18
So I have always had a non-resentment towards the WWE, and after watching a couple of classic matches with an ex a few years ago, I have honestly developed a serious respect for it as a performative lifestyle. ALSO, this movie was really sweet and a pretty classic sports movie that delightfully follows a young woman as she strives to conquer the wrestling scene.

What Men Want, 10 March 2019, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
This could have been way worse, honestly, but Taraji P Henson is fully wonderful and committed, so it was just a blast to watch her ramp up the ridiculous. Also, Aldis Hodge played the love interest. ALDIS HODGE, people.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, 18 March 2019, Blu-ray via Redbox Not as bad as everyone said, but certainly not good. Also, this series is dark as shit, and it angers me that it’s marketed to children.

Mortal Engines, 19 March 2019, Blu-ray via Redbox
I honestly could never quite get past the idea of predator cities, but I’d sacrifice much more than disbelief for the pleasure of Anna Fang.

Operation Finale, 20 March 2019, DVD via Redbox
I feel like this was a good movie that I nonetheless did not really engage with or care about.

A Private War, 21 March 2019, DVD via Redbox
Rosamund Pike, trying something different and wow, it does not work. I can’t tell if it’s her or it’s the movie, but this thing is a black hole when it should be provocative. (It had almost uniformly positive reviews, so it’s likely this is just Not My Kind of Movie.)

Instant Family, 22 March 2019, Blu-ray via Redbox
As someone who has never felt the urge to have biological children, this was kind of fascinating.

Free Solo, 22 March 2019, DVD via Redbox
As an agoraphobic, I am so thankful that I didn’t watch this in the theatre. Ooof.

Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse (Alternate Universe Mode), 22 March 2019, Blu-ray
Holy crap, they had an entirely different storyline sketched out in the commentary. That is a pretty impressive DVD extra.

The Mercy, 23 March 2019, DVD via Redbox
So I didn’t know anything about this movie except it starred Rachel Weisz, Colin Firth, and a boat, and it did NOT go where I expected it to go. Geez. That was hella dark.

The Runaways, 23 March 2019, DVD via Netflix
Look, I got into this because Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett just works for me, okay? I have nothing to say about pretty much anything else in this movie, except of COURSE the soundtrack is great.

Second Act, 26 March 2019, Blu-ray via Redbox
So, this movie is exactly what all the previews promised, but also NOT AT ALL what the previews suggested. Also, it must have had, like, nine different revisions, because it has so many tonal shifts that you can actually see the seams.

Gloria Bell, 28 March 2019, Rave Colonel Glenn 18
#GloriaBell feels a lot like #TheWife, except its last ten minutes are possibly the most satisfying a movie in this genre can get.

Could You Repeat That? CLXXV

Turning Tides, Mia Marshall
Better to be the one to wield the lightning than the one that got struck.

Lost Causes, Mia Marshall
Someone who leads you to a pile of dead bodies might not have your best interests at heart.

Smoke and Summons, Charlie N Holmberg
"What do you do? As Engel?"
Rone lowered his hand. "I think the more important question is, What the hell, Sandis?"

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge, Paul Krueger
Bailey decided to concentrate entirely on her pancakes. Sweet, reliable pancakes. Pancakes were delicious. Pancakes were dependable. She'd been eating pancakes her entire life and never got tired of them. They'd been there forever, like an old friend. Pancakes understood her.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Caitlin Doughty
Screwing up my face and emitting a high-pitched sound only dogs could hear, I pressed blade to cheek and began my career as barber to the dead.

Labyrinth Lost, Zoraida Cordova
For beings that don't bleed, the gods sure ask for a lot of it, I think.

I am a Filipino and This is How We Cook, Nicole Ponseca & Miguel Trinidad
There are some who like foods so spicy it leads to sweat, shakes, and gasps for air, but I've met countless Filipinos with a preference for a sourness so intense it provokes salivation and lip-smacking. Sourness is a cuisine-defining flavor profile. Sour is the gateway to Filipino food, and it sets the cuisine apart.

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions, Valeria Luiselli
Telling stories doesn't solve anything, doesn't reassemble broken lives. But perhaps it is a way of understanding the unthinkable.

China Rich Girlfriend, Kevin Kwan
You do not know the gossip that goes back to these people's childhoods. And this is the secret: They are all still completely obsessed with what happened when they were five.

The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan
"I didn't do anything wrong."
"That's what I always say," Mat said blandly, though he was suddenly grinning hard, and Egwene asked in a decidedly neutral voice, "Who's Elayne?"

In an Absent Dream, Seanan McGuire
Following the rules didn't make you a good person, just like breaking them didn't make you a bad one, but it could make you an invisible person, and invisible people got to do as they liked.

Call Me Zebra, Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
Because in order for a book to be a good counselor, I persevered, it must be negotiating a danger zone; there must be a transgression, a leap, a move beyond a prohibition.

So Lucky, Nicola Griffith
Her body didn't move, but her face changed, I saw it, a shuttering and turning away, just before she laid a hand on my arm and said, "I'm sorry."

Kingdom of the Blind, Louise Penny
"It was her decision. I had nothing to do with it. And I certainly didn't poach her."
"That wasn't my question," said Gamache. Though it was an interesting answer.

America Is Not the Heart, Elaine Castillo
She's not my girlfriend, Jaime said, unprompted.
I thought we had something special, Hero said.

Severance, Ling Ma
My mind kept searching for words--words to unite us despite, words to bond us in spite--and coming up empty.

Golden State, Ben H Winters
I am performing for Arlo, my mentor and friend; I am performing for Aysa Paige, who stands deferentially listening, absorbing. I am performing for Charlie, hung up there on the wall, behind the shield of his crossed arms, watching from the distant past.

Thick as Thieves, Megan Whalen Turner
He was a most eloquent onion farmer.

There There, Tommy Orange
And so what we could do had everything to do with being able to understand where we came from, what happened to our people, and how to honor them by living right, by telling our stories. She told me the world was made of stories, nothing else, just stories, and stories about stories.

Shadows, Robin McKinley
"Maybe engineers and philosophers go crazy more tactfully than magicians do."

In the Woods, Tana French
I am not good at noticing when I'm happy, except in retrospect.

The Likeness, Tana French
The quality of silence was different inside: deeper, and so thick I could feel it pressing softly around me.

Margaritaville: The Cookbook, Carlo Sernaglia and Julia Turshen
The only difference between a regular club sandwich and a beach club sandwich is that the latter is eaten on a towel or a lounge chair, preferably with your toes in the sand and a frosty drink next to you.

Kingdom of Ash, Sarah J Maas
So Lysandra kept killing, the blood of her enemy like spoiled wine on her tongue.

And...

If the stones and the roots of the forest hurt her, she didn't so much as flinch. She only walked on, Fenrys at her side within that sphere of fire, as if they were two ghosts of memory.

Sunday Suppers at Lucques, Suzanne Goin with Teri Gelber
But if someday, when cherries are long out of season, you happen to see in a corner booth at DuPar's Coffee Shop someone who looks like me, wolfing down a slice of all-American diner pie, wearing dark sunglasses and a stain that looks suspiciously like Red Dye #40, well, keep it to yourself.

State Tectonics, Malka Older
That might be what stings the most: all the time while she thought they were happy, while she imagined she had finally found someone who could forgive her for who she is, he's been feeling this way and smothering it.
Mishima's hands are fists. She keeps walking.

Faithful Place, Tana French
I had spent my whole adult life growing around a scar shaped like Rosie Daly's absence.

Solo, Anita Lo
Mix everything together. That's it. Then eat it.

Broken Harbor, Tana French
Over time, the ghosts of things that happened start to turn distant; once they've cut you a couple of million times, their edges blunt on your scar tissue, they wear thin. The ones that slice like razors forever are the ghosts of things that never got the chance to happen.

Fire and Blood, George RR Martin
When Aemon was given his first wooden sword to begin his training in arms, Baelon was judged too young to join him, but that did not stop him. He made his own sword from a stick and rushed into the yard anyway to begin whacking at his brother, reducing their master-at-arms to helpless laughter.

The Secret Place, Tana French
"We made it together, me and Chris, it was never going to exist anywhere else in the world, and it was beautiful. Wrecking something like that, grinding it up into nothing and throwing it away: that's evil. That's what evil is, isn't it?"

Roots, Diane Morgan
Pursuing the story of the dispersal of yams throughout the world's tropical and temperate regions involves untangling conflicting theories, decoding detailed studies, and sorting through mountains of scholarly research--tasks beyond my ability.

Dread Nation, Justina Ireland
Here's a thing about me: I have always considered pursuing a life on the stage if this whole killing-the-dead thing doesn't work out.

The Parking Lot Attendant, Nafkote Tamirat
I feel as though I'm carrying Ayale with me at all times, although for whom and for what reason escapes me. The weight is often unbearable, but I am terrified of what would happen if I were to let go completely. I fear that I would no longer recognize myself.

The Trespasser, Tana French
"Fuck me," I say, suddenly realizing. "I'm half English."
"And you're middle-class," Steve says. "Next time you go home, you're going to get the shite kicked out of you."

The Ruin of Kings, Jenn Lyons
"Good luck and bad luck. Joy and pain. They will always be there. It won't be better if you follow me. A hero who has never had a bad thing happen to him isn't a hero--he's just spoiled."

Speak No Evil, Uzodinma Iweala
There is a part of me that wishes Sportzone would burn down, leaving nothing but a sticky mess of rubber soles and melted mannequins with blistered and charred skin, but the only one capable of incinerating problems is God and almost everyone who matters in my life tells me that God is not on my side.

Rich People Problems, Kevin Kwan
"I'll never understand you coffee people." Victoria tut-tutted as she carefully stirred her cup of tea made from GFBOP Orthodox leaves she had flown in every month from a special reserve estate in Tanzania.

The Italian Teacher, Tom Rachman
He looks to the restaurant clock, irritated. Nobody likes to be understood without warning.

Milkman, Anna Burns
'You are not inferable. You cannot be deduced - and they don't like that.'

The Dictionary of Animal Languages, Heidi Sopinka
I know I have been strict with myself in an unforgiving way. But I needed something more durable than love, more subterranean.

My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite
I console myself with the knowledge that even the most beautiful flowers wither and die.

Movie Moments XV: January 2019

I realize February is almost over, but hey, here are the fifteen movies I watched in January!

Bird Box, 01 January 2019, streamed via Netflix
Well, this made zero sense at all, but it was appropriately post-apocalyptic. We spent most of the movie bewailing the fate of Greg (BD Wong), though. REST WELL, YOU HERO.

Peppermint, 05 January 2019, Blu-ray via Redbox
This is some nonsense violence, but Jennifer Garner does some quality vengeance.

Eighth Grade, 05 January 2019, DVD via Redbox
I am so glad I will never be a teenager again.

Bel Canto, 05 January 2019, DVD via Redbox
Y’know, just your average heartwarming-then-heartbreaking hostage situation tale. (I have not read the book, so.)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 06 January 2019, Hot Springs VIP Cinema
This movie is perfection. Just sheer perfection. I was super, super confused at the beginning, though, because I didn’t realize there would be another Peter Parker in Miles’s universe. OOF. Mary Jane needs all the hugs.

But seriously. MILES. #RepresentationMatters.


Split, 06 January 2019, Blu-ray via Redbox
This movie is trash, but the actors sell the hell out of it. But. Exploitative trash.

Blockers, 06 January 2019, DVD via Redbox
I rented this because a few critics I respect listed it in their best-of lists...and this was surprisingly inclusive and enjoyable. Weird.

Aquaman, 07 January 2019, Hot Springs VIP Cinema
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW THIS MOVIE WAS SO GOOD WTF. I mean, I’ve been a fan of Momoa since Stargate: Atlantis, so I would have seen it no matter what, but geez. Way to be a psychedelic romp of cotton candy, Aquaman.

Mary Poppins Returns, 10 January 2019, Hot Springs VIP Cinema
This was fine. Charming, even! Nothing that has Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda can be bad, after all. But it felt pretty unnecessary to the world.

Roma, 10 January 2019, streamed via Netflix
That scene of the dude singing lamentations while the forest fire is being fought will give me shivers for the rest of my life.

Ralph Breaks the Internet, 12 January 2019, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18
So, like, there's a Shank/Disney princess fandom floating out there now, right? I WILL JOIN YOU.

Vice, 12 January 2019, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
#Vice is a deeply weird movie, but in the style of #TheBigShort, so...educational?

On the Basis of Sex, 13 January 2019, AMC Classic Central City 10
#OnTheBasisOfSex is another piece of evidence that Armie Hammer should be everyone's life partner.

Mary, Queen of Scots, 17 January 2019, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
Men are the worrrrrrst. Also, yay, a movie that acknowledges POC and queer folk existed before the 20th century! (Note: I don’t know if the actual persons played by POCs were, historically, POCs, but I think that’s beside the point itself.)

Antiquities, 26 January 2019, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
This was very Hallmarky. Enjoyable, but not really a thing to care about.

Could You Repeat That? CLXXIV

And with this bunch, that makes it a total of 260 books for 2018! Not too shabby.

Champions: Change the World (graphic novel), Mark Waid
MS MARVEL: Evil is not exclusive to super villains, aliens, secret societies and monsters!
GWENPOOL: Do you know how crazy that sounds?

Champions: The Freelancer Lifestyle (graphic novel), Mark Waid
NOVA: Dude, your peripheral vision sucks.
CYCLOPS: I KNOW THAT!

Champions: Champion for a Day (graphic novel), Mark Waid
MIGHT: Champions? What, was "Baby Avengers" taken?
MS MARVEL: Only by my fanfic!
VIV VISION: I have read it. It is enjoyable with a solid emotional core.

Champions: Northern Lights (graphic novel), Jim Zub
VIV: Hello, Samuel. You have not perished.
NOVA: I never told you my real name...
VIV: The mobile calls you make to our Champions group are registered to Samuel Alexander at an address corresponding to your own. You may wish to change that.
NOVA: Right...

The Totally Awesome Hulk: Big Apple Showdown (graphic novel), Greg Pak
AMADEUS: We'll show up and people will be like, "Ohmagod! Asian super heroes? What are they doing here?? IS THERE A KAIJU ATTACK?"
SILK: "Where are the ninjas?"
MS MARVEL: Haha!
AMADEUS: "Where's the Mandarin?" And we'll be like, "No, we just HAPPEN to be Asian American!"

Bookburners: The Complete Season 3, Margaret Dunlap, et al
"Perry says it's called the City Eater."
"Because it eats cities," Perry supplied. "Angels aren't big on nomenclature."

Vanity in Dust, Cheryl Low
She dressed like a widow who loved to grieve.

Daughters of the Lake, Wendy Webb
Teenaged girls have a way of holding fast to their illusions, even as those illusions are dissipating into the air. Denial of unpleasant reality is as powerful as the reality itself.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Mackenzi Lee
And then he leaves us to our own devices beside a store of gunpowder and flint and a cannon, thereby solidifying our captors' reputation as the worst pirates in the history of the Mediterranean.

The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang
"You can't kill me," Altan hissed. "You love me."
"I don't love you," Rin said. "And I can kill anything."

The Rule of One, Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders
For thousands of years, societies have built walls to keep their adversaries out or their populations in, but history tells us they all eventually fall.

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Mackenzi Lee
Everyone has heard stories of women like us--cautionary tales, morality plays, warnings of what will befall you if you are a girl too wild for the world, a girl who asks too many questions or wants too much. If you set off into the world alone. Everyone has heard stories of women like us, and now we will make more of us.

Kingdom of Needle and Bone, Mira Grant
"All right, everyone," she said. "This is where you start earning your paychecks."
"Not me," said Ami. "I don't work for you."
Izzy flashed her a swift, tight smile. "I think you'll find that starting now, everyone works for me."

The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper, x3
Ah, said Will the Old One unhappily, any church of any religion is vulnerable to their attack, for places like this are where men give thought to matters of the Light and the Dark.

A Beautiful Poison, Lydia Kang
One nitrogen and one carbon atom married together with three bonds. Not one, not two. Cyanide demanded a trifecta of irresistible gravities.

Ardulum: The First Don, J.S. Fields
"Risalians don't control me anymore," she said to the bits of skull as she stuck the crook of the gun into the front bib of her dress and walked out the open door. "I can save everyone on my own."

Still Waters, Viveca Sten
It was a glorious day, perfect for sitting in the sunshine with ice cream. You could hardly imagine more unsuitable weather for a murder investigation.

The Darkest Minds, Alexandra Bracken
I did understand what she was saying, and I understood that her words were coming from a true, caring place, but after having my life broken down into rotations for so long, the thought of dividing it up even further was unimaginable.

The Red Threads of Fortune, J.Y. Yang
Know the ways of the five natures, and you will know the ways of the world. For the lines and knots of the Slack are the lines and knots of the world, and all that is shaped is shaped through the twining of the red threads of fortune.

The Frame-up, Meghan Scott Molin
"In gaming terms, we are going to Leeroy Jenkins the shit out of this bitch," Latifah yells. "Hold my wig."

Detox in Letters, Cheryl Low
"There is no such thing as dragons," he finally said, hoping it would ring true. What did he know of real things? He had just seen a tree for the first time this morning.

Movie Moments XIV: September to December 2018

I need to keep up with my movie reviews, yeesh. But in four months: 35 movies. And 135 for 2018 in total! Not bad.

Searching, 01 September 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18

This movie is so FASCINATING. Putting aside that John Cho is excellent, the idea of having all the action taking place through mediated screens (seeing characters via webcam, via Facetime, or watching their online activity) is incredibly cool.

Frost/Nixon, 03 September 2018, DVD via university library
This feels weird to say, but #goals. This is a lovely old-fashioned sort of piece, and I thought it was cool to see all these seasoned reporters reckon with Nixon as a charismatic force.

Now You See Me 2, 03 September 2018, Blu-ray via Redbox
I mean. Mark Ruffalo.

Logan Lucky, 03 September 2018, Blu-ray via Redbox
I mean. Channing Tatum.

A Wrinkle in Time, 05 September 2018, DVD
Another watch of the movie for class--my students really enjoy it, or pretend that they do.

Avengers: Infinity War, 05 September 2018, Blu-ray
This movie is so comforting if you’re a comics reader. Like, if you aren’t familiar with comic book conventions, it’s horrifying--as was obvious by the audience the first time I saw it. Meanwhile, the comics readers were marked by their acceptance that the Snap is a totally normal and non-traumatizing way to end a movie.

Searching, 15 September 2018, AMC Classic Central City 10
I think my favorite thing about the movie is, both times I saw it, when one big clue pops up, more than one person in the audience audibly responded to it. That’s kind of magical.

ET the Extra-Terrestrial, 20 September 2018, DVD
Another watch for my class--this movie never gets less heartwarming. It’s the one the students respond to the most. Spielberg, man.

Independence Day, 28 September 2018, DVD
Another watch for my class--this movie never gets less ridiculous, but the actors are so dang solid in their work.

Colette, 13 October 2018, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
Keira Knightley does not give a good goddamn about her dignity whilst having numerous love scenes with folks of all genders. Bless her.

Venom, 20 October 2018, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
This was definitely not the movie that was advertised, but works really well as a buddy cop narrative. Kind of.

Rodents of Unusual Size, 21 October 2018, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
GIANT RATS ARE EATING LOUISIANA’S COASTLINE, WTF.

Whispering Truth to Power, 21 October 2018, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
I really enjoyed this--it was about Thuli Mandonsela, a super high-profile public defender (essentially) in South Africa. It’s a great look at how one person worked to serve the people through the justice system after apartheid.

The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution, 21 October 2018, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Obviously I was going to go to a screening where Edward Lee and Anita Lo would be doing a Q&A. BUT ALSO, the documentary focused on the career aspirations and tracks of several women who wanted to work in the chef business--a field that’s become pretty notorious for being pretty sexist. It was really interesting to see how the subjects coped and addressed the obstacles they faced.

Man on Fire, 22 October 2018, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
I made a special effort to see this one--a colleague in my network was one of the producers. That said, this is a look at the embedded racism in a small town in Texas, through the lens of a disillusioned preacher who committed suicide by setting himself on fire in order to draw attention to the issue. It’s thoughtful and kind of heart-breaking. (Also streaming for free via PBS.)

Call Her Ganda, 24 October 2018, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
This is an incredibly moving film about the murder of a trans woman in the Philippines by (allegedly) an American military member, and how her family, journalists, and activists fought and continued to fight to get the guy tried in a Filipino court.

Ask the Sexpert, 24 October 2018, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
This is an ADORABLE movie about Dr. Mahinder Watsa, a 90-plus-year-old sexologist who writes an advice column in India.

A Star is Born, 27 October 2018, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
This movie is so extra and I loved every minute of it. Great music, and feelings everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Lady Gaga is brilliant, and hats off to Bradley Cooper for killing it as a director in addition to the usual acting excellence.

Men in Black, 27 October 2018, streamed via Amazon
So I showed the opening scenes of this for my literature class, and then was like, okay, I’m going to watch the rest of it. Will Smith is so goddamn charming, y’all.

Night School, 03 November 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18
This was not the laugh riot I was expecting, but it was a reliable chuckler with a surprisingly heartwarming message. I really really dug the character work we got in the end.

First Man, 10 November 2018, UA Breckenridge Stadium 12
Everything about this movie was beautifully done, but it felt so long that I literally fell asleep during the frickin’ moon landing.

Arrival, 12 November 2018, DVD
Another movie for my lit class (yes, it was as fun as it might sound). Only two of my students had seen it previously, so it was SO FUN to hear the rest of them freak out when the twist was revealed.

Mr. Holmes, 18 November 2018, DVD from public library
Ian McKellen as Cranky Old Holmes was a delight. I don’t quite buy the reasoning for why he stopped detecting in the first place--it relies too heavily on Holmes not understanding human emotions--but otherwise it was a neat glimpse into the character.

Widows, 01 December 2018, Riverdale VIP Cinema
Lots of reviews called this a grittier Ocean’s 8, and I’m not mad about that. This movie is glorious and kind of mean, which actually made it more glorious.

Bohemian Rhapsody, 08 December 2018, Riverdale VIP Cinema
Just as extra as A Star is Born, but with songs that mostly made me want to watch a lot of actually Queen on YouTube. Is that mission accomplished?

BlacKkKlansman, 09 December 2018, DVD via Redbox
Okay, this is way funnier than I expected it to be, which is totally unfair. Great work by Washington and Driver. The use of actual footage of recent events was a sharp touch, and also felt horrible (intentionally).

Kin, 09 December 2018, DVD via Redbox
This is a 100% “oh, okay, cool” sort of movie, and then at the very end, BOOM, surprise Michael B Jordan. Apparently he was one of the producers on this movie, which is adorable and makes me like the movie about 3% more in hindsight. (It wasn’t a bad movie by any means--it just wasn’t filled with anything particularly note-worthy. Interesting plot, solid acting, good character work.)

First Reformed, 09 December 2018, DVD via Redbox
WHAT. WAS. THAT. ENDING.

Men in Black II, 11 December 2018, DVD via public library
Had I watched this before? No idea, but everything felt nicely familiar. Will Smith continues to be Will Smith, Rosario Dawson isn’t quite Rosario Dawson yet but almost, and this must have been fairly satisfying to folks who loved the first movie.

Men in Black III, 11 December 2018, DVD via public library
I had absolutely not seen this movie yet, and WOOOOOO it was a fun one. I mean, time travel paradoxes are generally a joy to untangle, so I dug it.

The Favourite, 12 December 2018, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
This movie is vicious and vulgar and gorgeous and absurd, and I loved it, and I have no idea to whom I would recommend it.

The Age of Adaline, 20 December 2018, streamed via Amazon
Or, rich white dude doesn’t understand that some ladies have boundaries. Like, I think this was supposed to be romantic? But instead I spent most of it like, GET AWAY FROM BLAKE LIVELY, YOU CREEP.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 22 December 2018, streamed via Amazon
I hadn’t watched this in YEARS and it is just as achey and heartbreaking as I remembered.

Creed II, 28 December 2018, Jurupa Stadium 14
"This is why she left us."
I mean, daaaaaaaang.

A Simple Favor, 29 December 2018, Blu-ray via Redbox
I love this movie so much. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are acting in completely different genres. It’s so weird. I mean, how else can you describe “murder mystery starring Anna Kendrick set to French pop music”? Also, what is up with Stephanie and inappropriate hook-ups after funerals? Girrrrrrl.

Could You Repeat That? CLXXIII

The Influencing Machine (graphic novel), Brooke Gladstone & Josh Neufeld
The irony is that the more people participate in the media, the more they hate the media. The greater the participation, the greater the paranoia that the media are in control.

Pacific Fire, Greg Van Eekhout
"How's your throwing arm?"
"I throw like a girl," Em said. "By which I mean with strength and accuracy."

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?, Alyssa Mastromonaco with Lauren Oyler
I realize I promised you that I didn't want to focus on "my legacy" in this book, but since they didn't engrave the tampon dispenser with "Made possible by Alyssa Mastromonaco," I wanted to leave a record of it somewhere.

Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Five, Bill Willingham
ROSE RED: Well, hang in there, old man. Mowgli will come through.
WOLFLING: Of course he will. Mowg was raised by wolves.
WOLFLING: Wolves know how to get things done.

The Ship Beyond Time,, Heidi Heilig
"Is it so strange we find ourselves allies? After all, you're a confessed gentleman."
"What's wrong with being a gentleman?"
"In Hawaii? I've stolen much, Mr. Hart, but never an island."

Legends of Japan, Hiroshi Naito
"How many men will come with him?"
"Oh, they are not human beings. I am not a human being either. You will find out what I am tomorrow."

Small Victories, Julia Turshen
The only way to become a cook is to cook, and the road to becoming a good cook is paved not only with repetition but also with the intuition you gain along the way.

Japanese Soul Cooking, Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat
The golden rule of ramen is...shut up and eat.

The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
What had Deidameia thought would happen, I wondered, when she had her women dance for me? Had she really thought I would not know him? I would recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.

The Black Tides of Heaven, JY Yang
"Let the black tides of heaven direct our lives," he murmured. He turned to look at his partner. "I choose to swim."

Hawker Fare, James Sybahout
I'd gone to Europe hungry for refinement. In a weird way, the chefs there were hungry for the rough purity of food like my mom's.

Lethal White, Robert Galbraith
"Hi. Everything OK?"
"Fine. All right to talk for a moment?"
"Yes," said Robin, leaning against the garden wall, and watching a moth banging fruitlessly against the bright glass, trying to enter the house.

Earthly Remains, Donna Leon
It's always the odd, unpredictable things that set us off, Brunetti thought. Grief lies inside us like a land mine: heavy footsteps will pass by it safely, while others, even those as light as air, will cause it to explode.

Basque Country, Marti Buckley
Mushrooms are more than just a food item; they are an activity, a topic of conversation, and a social gesture.

Dragon Coast, Greg Van Eekhout
"Water mages can drown?"
"You'd be surprised. It usually starts with a squabble between rival mages, and before you know it, someone's facedown in a swimming pool."
Cassandra surprised him by allowing a little bit of humor in her eyes. "I love it when wizards die ironically."

Archivist Wasp, Nicole Kornher-Stace
Ghosts didn't get into her house unless she let them. She didn't have to let this one. She stood there, in that choosing moment, weighing dangerous in one hand over useful in the other.

Polpo, Russell Norman
The pears are poached, the apples are caramelized and the figs are left to speak for themselves.

Cravings: Hungry for More, Chrissy Teigen
So for this recipe I wrote a whole thing about how much I love New Orleans for its baked oysters and regrettable yardstick drinks and Clams Casino, but then my editor told me that Clams Casino are from Rhode Island, so I had to scrap it.

Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett
[How do you know it's after the twenty-first hour?] asked Clef.
[TEMPORAL SCRIVING PRORATION RECORDS THE NUMBER OF HOURS PASSED.]
[And how long's an hour?]
[IT IS RECORDED AS SIXTY MINUTES.]
[Oh, that's wrong. They changed all that. Listen...]

Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The knowledge of cooking does not come pre-installed in a vagina.

The Sea Queen, Linnea Hartsuyker
"Did Solvi make you like this?" His voice carried a grief that made Svanhild's eyes burn again.
"Perhaps," she said. "I have learned to take what I want when I can, for I may not keep it long. Is that such a terrible lesson to learn?"

A Study in Honor, Claire O'Dell
Grateful is a bitter word, my father once said.

Conversations on Writing, Ursula K LeGuin with David Naimon
I realized that a lot of people who write about writing don't seem to hear it, don't listen to it, their perception is more theoretical and intellectual. But if it's happening in your body, if you are hearing what you write, then you can listen for the right cadence, which will help the sentence run clear.

Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse
Kai is sprawled across my living room couch, oblivious to the horrid death he recently died in my unconscious, and completely unconcerned.

Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Six, Bill Willingham
CINDY: Just guide me to the edge of their territory and I'll take it from there, Rose.
ROSE: And I'm willing to take your word on this why exactly?
CINDY: Because I'm smart and lovely and clearly the leading lady of this particular tale.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, Theodora Goss
Mudge went to check on his boiler, and they sat in silence: the detective, the murderer, the Giantess, the Poisonous Girl, and the man who might die that night.

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold
Studying him, Desplains rubbed his jaw and grimaced. "So, have you become a security risk, Vorpatril?"
"I don't know, sir," said Ivan, as honestly as possible. "Nobody tells me anything."

The Consuming Fire, John Scalzi
"Your pledge moves us, Countess," Grayland said. "It is a reflection of the quality of your soul, and we are glad to know it." And then, after that absolutely fucking masterpiece of saying, Oh, I see you, bitch, and making it sound like a compliment, the emperox turned her attention to Kiva.

A Baker's Life, Paul Hollywood
I defy anyone to make one loaf and never make another.

Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eats, Lonely Planet Food
This culinary adventure is not for the small of stomach nor, for that matter, the indecisive.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Infinity Quest (graphic novel), Gerry Dugan
ANT-MAN: This is amazing! I can hear that dog speaking with a Russian accent in my head.
COSMO: Da, and Cosmo can hear least popular Avenger.
ANT-MAN: Wait, wha--

Bitch Planet: Triple Feature, Volume One (graphic novel), Kelly Sue DeConnick
NANNA: Is this the one? Is he the one? For real and for true?
KIMMY: Oh, Nanna, he is, I swear it, David is my perfect Prince Charming. And he treats me like his princess and gets me anything I ask for. And making him happy makes me so. Happy. Nanna. Like a real woman. For real and for true.
NANNA: ...What a goddamned disappointment you turned out to be.

Ottolenghi Simple, Yotam Ottolenghi
Unless otherwise stated: All eggs are large, all milk is whole, all weights in parentheses are net, all salt is table salt, black pepper is freshly cracked, parsley is flat-leaf, and all herbs are fresh.

Everyday Dorie, Dorie Greenspan
These days I have only one rule: There must be dessert! Please follow it.

All About Cake, Christina Tosi
I mean no harm by my feelings on cupcakes.

Shaya, Alon Shaya
If I were to cook this book cover to cover, I think the results would taste like my life flashing before my eyes.

Null States, Malka Older
"The problem with feeds, beyond all the obvious problems, I mean, is that they give us the illusion of a perfect truth, incontrovertible evidence, a flat, singular version of history. They are too easy to rely on, to believe in." She lightens her words with a smile and a half-shrug. "I practice sustaining my disbelief in objective, documentable truth."

Artificial Condition, Martha Wells
"Sometimes people do things to you that you can't do anything about. You just have to survive it and go on."

Where the Dead Sit Talking, Brandon Hobson
We were silent for a while.
Finally, he spoke up:
"I keep thinking about death," he said.

L.A. Son, Roy Choi
That's L.A. for you: eating local, even after midnight in a K-town nightclub in 1992.

Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells
Right, so the only smart way out of this was to kill all of them. I was going to have to take the dumb way out of this.

The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin
Klara won't be a woman who is sawed in half or tied in chains--nor will she be rescued or liberated. She'll save herself. She'll be the saw.

The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai
"But it's hard to paint when someone's yelling in your ear."
Fiona said, "Why did you put up with it?"
"Guilt, I suppose. He'd been through so much. And I was madly in love, and you're never reasonable when you're in love."

Florida, Lauren Groff
I didn't say, I had never said: Lord, how I longed for a version of you I could hold, entire, in my arms.

Exit Strategy, Martha Wells
So the plan wasn't a clusterfuck, it was just circling the clusterfuck target zone, getting ready to come in for a landing.

Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
"You have suffered--yes--but what you are doing now will only prolong that suffering."
She shook her head.
"You're wrong. There are times when I almost enjoy myself."
"And that, Mademoiselle, is the worst of all."

A Lucky Man, Jamel Brinkley
Feints and trickery are generalized into a capoeira player's worldview such that they are revealed to be an unavoidable part of the texture of life itself.

The Witch Elm, Tana French
Rain swept softly against the window, the fire fluttered. I felt like there was something else they should be telling me, some crucial secret that would illuminate this whole story so that all its rotten shadows blazed to life with a great transforming meaning, but I couldn't for the life of me think what that might be.

Kill the Queen, Jennifer Estep
I was going to perform the dance perfectly, every single step, and not just because my life depended on it. No, I was going to perform the dance for me. Because I had put the time, energy, and effort into learning it, just as I had all those other useless skills, and because I never did anything less than my best.

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, Lois McMaster Bujold
"Bring home one dismembered body part, once, mind you, once, and people get twitchy about checking your luggage ever after."

The Strange Bird, Jeff VanderMeer
Human beings had such strange ideas about gratitude. When it should be given. When it should be withheld. Should she be grateful for being imprisoned? What should she feel now? She sang out the question that was its own answer.

Warlight, Michael Ondaatje
"Who do you think is going to come for you someday?" I would have asked her, if I had known. "What did you do that was so terrible?" And she would, I think, have said, "My sins are various."

How to be Safe, Tom McAllister
Instead of banning guns, what they needed to ban was people who get shot. If we stopped having such shootable people, then guns wouldn't be such a problem. Guns could be used for their true purpose of killing nonhumans and empty beer cans.

The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
Marin, under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life. Anybody.

The House of Broken Angels, Luis Alberto Urrea
They could see the tequila buzz upon her like some electric halo of doom.

Gmorning Gnight!, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Your best impulse, that selfless impulse, let it take the wheel.

Small Country, Gael Faye
War always takes it upon itself, unsolicited, to find us an enemy. I wanted to remain neutral, but I couldn't. I was born with this story.

Transcription, Kate Atkinson
"I'll kill you, you little traitor," Chester Vanderkamp yelled at Juliet as they hauled him away.
"I wouldn't worry," the tall detective said to Juliet. "He probably won't."

A Terrible Country, Keith Gessen
"If it had worked out," my grandmother now said, of the Soviet experiment, "that would have been nice."

Movie Moments XIV: June/July/August 2018

Thirty-eight movies for June/July/August 2018! That’s a decent summer, I think.

Pitch Perfect 3, 07 June 2018, Blu-ray via Redbox
It seems incredibly clear that none of these women are actually singing the alto line, so now the series is obviously ruined for me.

Solo, 08 June 2018, Hot Springs VIP Cinema
2 Fast 2 Corellian, and I mean that as the highest compliment. Also, L3 and her REVOLUTION is 100% magic.

Ocean’s 8, 08 June 2018, Hot Springs VIP Cinema
#Oceans8 is an un-ending delight, as is Cate Blanchett’s wardrobe. (Cannot. Even.) Also, this movie is queer as hell and no one can say me nay.

Also, I kind of love that Anne Hathaway leaned all the way into every snipey gossipy thing folks have said about her since Les Mis. She sees your disdain, and raises it by six pounds of diamonds.

RBG, 09 June 2018, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
#RBG is a rather witty biography, and establishes: 1) This nation is uber-screwed when she retires, 2) RBG was a stone-cold fox in law school, and 3) in her 80s, she can hold a plank longer than, like, 70% of Americans.

Hotel Artemis, 10 June 2018, AMC Classic Central City 10
#HotelArtemis is a pretty original near-future action movie framed by water riots in Los Angeles, and it needed either one less or two more revisions to really earn the helluva cast it's got. (I really liked it.)

Adrift, 14 June 2018, UA Breckenridge Stadium 12
Extremely glad #Adrift intercut before and after the storm, because there's no way I could survived a chronological telling of the tale.

Superfly, 15 June 2018, AMC Classic Central City 10

• #Superfly is kind of what you'd get if you crossed a heist movie with a drug cartel movie, and also tossed in the complete videography of Rick Ross. I dig it.
• They seemed to have an honest-to-goodness throuple, which is refreshing. The (requisite?) shower softcore blew past sexy and landed on awkward pretty damn quickly, though. Sigh.
• Like #LukeCage, this movie is largely populated by POCs (Black and Hispanic, with incidental Asians), with the White folks with speaking parts being corrupt cops. (Including Jennifer Morrison, in a lovely flip of stereotypes.) And, honestly? That felt the most true-to-life. (One scene has characters being pulled over by a cop, and as soon as the POV switches to dashcam, you know exactly what’s coming.) Also, a car chase scene ends with exploding a Confederate monument, so everyone wins.
• No less than four characters remark upon the lead’s hair, which. Valid.
  
• In one flashback scene, Priest nonchalantly reveals he’s been catfishing a security guard for a month, and reader, I have never felt so delighted.

My Week with Marilyn, 15 June 2018, DVD via public library
Michelle Williams remains amazing, though, ye gods, could we have a movie about an interesting woman that isn’t mediated through the eyes of a dude who thinks he loves her?

Meanwhile, Eddie Redmayne and Emma Watson making out is disturbing the Harry Potter timestream.

The Incredibles 2, 16 June 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18
I legit never saw a single trailer or commercial for this movie, which is kind of shocking, given how much screentime I clock on a regular basis.

#Incredibles2 was great, but the #Bao short film before it had me like WHOA.

Tag, 16 June 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18
This movie is just ever-lasting delightful for me. Crazy competitive playfulness extends into adulthood; a third of my friends are Gryffindor and this is their lives, I swear to you.

Nostalgia, 23 June 2018, Delta Airlines
Whoever wrote this movie started out in theatre, which means the script is too talky and earnest, and I dig it so much.

Zodiac, 23 June 2018, Delta Airlines
That Mark Ruffalo can act. I’m not so down with the serial killer stuff (NIGHTMARES FOREVER), but this was a good watch.

Central Intelligence, 29 June 2018, Delta Airlines
You guys, I think this is a legit version of The Rock that we should all believe is true.

Downsizing, 29 June 2018, Delta Airlines
WAIT, the romantic lead for this movie was a disabled Southeast Asian refugee woman and NOBODY TOLD ME?!

A Little Something for Your Birthday, 29 June 2018, Delta Airlines
This 100% violates my “no rom-coms about affluent white people,” but Liza Lapira is in this, and I support her choices.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure, 29 June 2018, Delta Airlines
Watched the third #MazeRunner without having seen the first two. There was no maze and, frankly, not a lot of running.

Gemini, 30 June 2018, DVD via Redbox
This movie made no sense, but John Cho is in it, so.

Maze Runner, 01 July 2018, streamed via Amazon
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, 01 July 2018, streamed via Amazon
Wait, it ISN’T Shawn Mendes and Harry Styles? How did it take me three of these to figure that out?

Ant-Man and the Wasp, 06 July 2018, Hot Springs VIP Cinema
#AntManAndTheWasp isn't quiiiiiite as funny as it thinks it is, but it's a fun romp nonetheless. And that Baba Yaga payoff was *kisses fingers.*

Also, how could a man-hunt for Hank and Hope possibly miss a *randomly appearing multi-story building* in the Bay area? Like anyone there wouldn't immediately clock new real estate.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, 07 July 2018, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
This is a seriously cozy movie and sort of makes you hate everything about the public discussion of nowadays. I don’t remember a lot about watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood as a kid, but this was a really comforting documentary to watch.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, 07 July 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18
Who puts the heel turn in the first act?!

Avengers: Infinity War, 19 July 2018, AMC Central City Classic 10
Mantis is the very best, y’all. I salute her god-quelling powers.

Leave No Trace, 21 July 2018, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
I would never survive in the wilderness on my own. This is a lovely meditation on independence and familial love and, in fact, PTSD, without being too obvious about any of it. I love the ending. It’s sad and yearning and perfect.

Tully, 31 July 2018, DVD via Redbox
This is why I will never birth children. I would murder anyone who came within ten feet of me, no matter how friendly their expression. Also, we really don’t acknowledge often enough how golden Charlize Theron is.

Ready Player One, 01 August 2018, Blu-ray via Redbox
#ReadyPlayerGo: Where every scene ends with me muttering, "Bro," with disappointment.

Lean on Pete, 02 August 2018, DVD via Redbox
#LeanOnPete is SO STRESSFUL, and also a really good partner for #LeaveNoTrace.

Mission Impossible: Fallout, 06 August 2018, Hot Springs VIP Cinema
#MissionImpossibleFallout is a rollicking good time. Also, I am unable to recognize Henry Cavill when he sports a mustache, so maybe Clark Kent's theory of disguise is solid. (I legit thought Cavill was the 50 Shades guy until the opening credits rolled.)

Eating Animals, 08 August 2018, Riverdale 10 VIP Cinema
#EatingAnimals is, surprisingly, a pretty strong critique of how the government protects industrial farm corporations from scrutiny, rather than protecting farmers. (The "eat ethically and sustainably" call is there, but it's not the thesis.)

Christopher Robin, 11 August 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18
#ChristopherRobin is one big ol' sunshine hug.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, 11 August 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18
#MammaMia2 is apparently about what happens when a Manic Pixie Dream Girl decides to become a real human. Also, Firth and Skaarsgard playing King of the World is the loudest I've laughed in public for several months. Also, that final scene with the double-versions of the characters is worth thrice the price of admission.

The Spy Who Dumped Me, 11 August 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18
I would legit watch an entire series based on #SpyWhoDumpedMe. Movies, TV, comic novels, whatever.

A Wrinkle in Time, 12 August 2018, Blu-ray
This is such a weird and lovely movie that gets very Hunger Games right in the middle for reasons known only to marketing focus groups.

ET the Extra-Terrestrial, 12 August 2018, DVD
I have no idea when I first watched this. I know I must have at some point, but everything I had remembered could easily have been chalked up to cultural osmosis. I legit did not remember how much the kids teamed up, nor the whole lab scene.

Crazy Rich Asians, 18 August 2018, Cinemark Colonel Glenn 18

• #CRAZYRICHASIANS IS SO GOOD AND ALSO WAY TO PULL THAT GAME THEORY SCREENWRITERS, DANG.
• Wait, how did Harry Shum Jr get single card billing on #CrazyRichAsians? His agent is earning the hell out of that percentage.
• If you're wondering how much #CrazyRichAsians makes you crave Chinese food...I'm roasting a duck right now.

The Darkest Minds, 18 August 2018, UA Breckenridge Stadium 12
Yet another YA dystopia with weirdly specific mutant powers, but I ended up really liking it. Anyway, it ended on something of a cliffhanger, so I guess I have to binge-read a YA trilogy tonight.

Independence Day, 20 August 2018, DVD
I enjoy how absolutely nonsense this movie is, and the fact that, weirdly, its nonsense has actually aged pretty well. Like, nothing struck me as ~~~sooooo 90s~~~~ or anything. So, it’s...classic?

The Meg, 26 August 2018, AMC Classic Central City 10
#TheMeg is some delightful nonsense populated by a refreshingly international and diverse cast. Also, SHARKS. Also, the movie establishes that Statham's character has watched #FindingNemo, which is the stuff of which fanfic writers' dreams are made.

Could You Repeat That? CLXXII

Greece: The Cookbook, Vefa Alexiadou
Making a soup is a relaxed process that is more or less rule-free.

Wine to Water, Doc Hendley
One after another someone would inevitably ask me something about Darfur. Yet I realized I had no more than sixty seconds before I’d lose them. Their eyes would glaze over. These are good folks, and they cared about me and what I was doing over there. But I guess at the end of the day, they were simply too far removed from the world that had become my life to understand.

Chloe Flavor, Chloe Coscarelli
Despite the stereotypical public opinion of what vegans eat, I actually don't consider myself to be much of a salad person.

The New Education, Cathy N Davidson
Technology is ideology. Technology is epistemology. How we know shapes what we know, but we have not yet fully grasped the different ways that our new access to global and local stores of knowledge should be revolutionizing higher education.

And...

If college costs so much that it governs your choice of career, it is not preparing you for the best possible life. It is preparing you to pay off your loans.

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
"It's much too wild a night to travel in."
"Wild nights are my glory," Mrs Whatsit said. "I just got caught in a down draft and blown off course."

Baking With Less Sugar, Joanne Chang
Sometimes the sweetness of that ice cream is exactly what it takes to wait out that agonizing soon-to-be ex's %#^$ phone call.

Dawn, Octavia Butler
She let the silence lengthen until she was certain he would not answer. This was one more thing they had done to her body without her consent and supposedly for her own good. "We used to treat animals that way," she muttered bitterly.

Healthyish, Lindsay Maitland Hunt
A good recipe strikes a balance between tart, rich, and salty. Without one, the other two throw the recipe off-kilter.

Saladish, Ilene Rosen
After all the adding, tweaking, adjusting, seasoning, tasting, and seasoning again, if you find yourself saying, "This salad is missing something," the answer is often an easy one: sliced or diced red onion usually does the trick.

The Power, Naomi Alderman
She feels the power in her fingertips, as if she could punch a hole right through the world.
"I want justice," she says. "And then I want everything."

Simply Vibrant, Anya Kassoff
I still consider recipe writing a true art, but a dish that allows its ingredients to be used in other meals carries a special sort of elegance.

The Lost Plot, Genevieve Cogman
With any luck he'd go for her as the easy target, taking the pressure off the other two. As for the local gangsters on the one hand, and Captain Venner on the other, Irene would just have to avoid being assassinated or arrested. But she was used to that.

Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang
Freedom isn't an illusion; it's perfectly real in the context of sequential consciousness.

Food Swings, Jessica Seinfeld
My grandmother, who lived to age ninety-nine, ate tons of butter; had a cocktail, a glass of wine, and dessert every night; and walked everywhere in Manhattan. It's a good recipe for life: aim for virtue, accept some vice, and stay active.

The Half-Drowned King, Linnea Hartsuyker
"You'll be coming with me whether you like it or not."
"Your men will be fishing me out of the sea if you do not do as I ask. Well kicked and bitten for their troubles," she said. She had never felt so clearheaded. She could walk across these waves if she had a mind to.

Cooking the Roman Way, David Downie
Once the tender pale green, purplish or yellowish inner leaves appear, place the artichoke on a cutting board and with a large, sharp carving knife lop off the upper ends of the leaves, leaving only the tender bottom sections of the leaves and the heart. Be draconian.

California Bones, Greg van Eekhout
"Hey, Jo. How're your lungs feeling? Kind of bursty? Good old oxygen, your gassy friend."
Jo's middle finger emerged from the water like a periscope.

How to Eat a Peach, Diana Henry
It might be because I was born in October--or maybe because I'm a bit of a hibernator--but I recognize the world at this time of year, I know its food, I like its smells and rhythms; October is where I'm from.

The Girl From Everywhere, Heidi Heilig
I could never give up the myths, the maps, the ship that had shaped me. Blake's home might be paradise, but my home was the Temptation.

The Beautiful Ones, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A sea roared inside her and made demands, but she waded it, she bobbed up, took a breath, and opened her eyes to the cold winter morning. Then she rose because the day was there, the world was there, and she wanted to be a part of it.

At My Table, Nigella Lawson
It probably goes without saying that if you're feeding small children, predisposed to be persnickety about Green Bits, then you would be ill-advised to stir any parsley into the stew.

The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook, Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez
There is nothing intuitive about balancing social mission and business acumen, because what is good for business doesn't always help the women we train.

Jade City, Fonda Lee
Hilo draped his arm over Shae's shoulders and hugged her, then spoke into her ear. "I could still kill him for you."
"Screw you, Hilo," she snapped. "I can kill my ex-boyfriends myself."

Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen, Chloe Coscarelli
I named this after Kate Middleton because I always fantasize about what I would cook for her if she came over for lunch.

Appetites: A Cookbook, Anthony Bourdain
The human heart was--and remains--a mystery to me. But I'm learning. I have to.

The Fifth Season, NK Jemisin, x2
Her eyes are shockingly black--shocking not because black eyes are particularly rare, but because she's wearing smoky gray eyeshadow and dark eyeliner to accentuate them further. Makeup, while the world is ending. You don't know whether to be awed or affronted by that.

The Obelisk Gate, NK Jemisin
This is a farm. Most of the plots are planted heavily with grains and vegetables, and there are a number of people out working on them, since it's a nice day and no one knows the Guardians are busily killing everyone in the admin building.

The Stone Sky, NK Jemisin
But there are none so frightened, or so strange in their fear, as conquerors.

Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith
Their food arrived and the deliciousness of his fillet of beef did something to assuage his resentment.

Night and Silence, Seanan McGuire
Hearts are resilient. They can heal over and over again. That's the good part. The bad part is that having a resilient heart means it can be broken so many times that it feels like it should never recover, like it should be nothing but a pile of shards in my chest.

Could You Repeat That? CLXXI

The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith
"I'll be lucky not to get a knife in the back one dark night."
"Are you serious?"
"Robin," said Strike, mildly exasperated, "Quine was tied up and disemboweled."

The Moosewood Cookbook (New Revised Edition), Mollie Katzen
Assembling a green salad is a highly personalized endeavor, and of course there is no absolutely correct method. But the truth is, some salads are much better than others.

Golden, Itamar Srulovich & Sarit Packer
The last and strangest of all my guidelines is to listen to your cake. You may think I'm mad but give it a go. Take the cake out, lower your ear towards the surface and listen: if you hear crackling, bubbling and hissing, put it back in the oven--it isn't baked.

Royals: Judgment Day (graphic novel), Al Ewing & Javier Rodriguez
PRINCE: The curse of my blood upon you, mammal! May your gift be a blight to your flesh! May you see your world in ruin! And may I see you next in the pits of--



Fables: Book Four (graphic novel), Mark Buckingham
THE PRINCESS: Fencing lessons.
THE PRINCE: Buttercup, be reasonable.
THE PRINCESS: I'm adamant.

Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, The Moosewood Collective
Going home and announcing that you no longer eat meat can shake the cultural norms of your family--they don't know how to feed you, and they surely hope you'll get over it soon. We're here to help.

A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J Maas
My hand was quiet as a final, dying breath as I plucked the ring from the shelf.
The Weaver stopped singing.

Transit, Rachel Cusk
It was interesting thought, that stability might be seen as the product of risk; it was perhaps when people tried to keep things the same that the process of decline began.

Market Cooking, David Tanis
(Aioli, by the way, is not the name for any other sauce, so when you encounter imposters such as Yuzu-Wasabi Aioli, Bacon-Chipotle Aioli, or the like, be polite but not overfriendly.)

A Torch Against the Night, Sabaa Tahir
I am alone, but for ghosts.

An American Marriage, Tayari Jones
"I'm not going," she said. "This is my life, too."

Step Aside, Pops, Kate Beaton


Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
(A few weeks ago he said to me, completely out of nowhere, "You good friend to me, Liss. Loyal friend. Loving friend." Then he sighed, stared off into space and added mournfully, "Not like Sharon." Who the hell is Sharon?)

Night Flower, Kate Elliott
Kiya trudged inside and sat on a bench with a glowering heart.

Tomb Song, Julian Herbert
Some characters just won't go away. They wait patiently until you have a breakdown to come and collect what you owe them.

The Friend, Sigrid Nunez
To write and have something published is less and less something special. Why not me, too? everyone asks.
Wrote French critic Sainte-Beuve.
In 1839.

And...

It's not that I can't say how I feel. It's very simple. I miss you. I miss you every day. I miss you very much.

The Austin Cookbook, Paula Forbes
Turn the chiles periodically with tongs until the skin is blistered all over--don't worry if the skin burns, but if the chile catches fire, you've gone too far.

A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J Maas
"So I bound myself into this body. I shoved my burning grace deep into me. I gave up everything I was. The cell door just...unlocked. And so I walked out."

The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, Emily Elsen and Melissa Elsen
Creating a good atmosphere should be your priority as well; it is a very important part of our workday--music, good light, and a clean and organized workspace are major factors in creating good pies. Set up such a space for yourself before you begin and your pie will come out better--we promise.

Nashville Eats, Jennifer Justus
It's hard to think about much else when eating hot chicken.

Circe, Madeline Miller
Whatever you do, I wanted to say, do not be to happy. It will bring down fire on your head.
I said nothing, and let her dance.

Semiosis, Sue Burke
She worked for a while, lips pursed, silent, tugging at the reeds. I had never seen her angry, but of course she was angry enough to make and burn an Earthling during every spring festival.

Census, Jesse Ball
As we got older, we grew used to this. Perhaps we gained a thicker skin. Does that mean caring less? I think it does--but about everything.

Kudos, Rachel Cusk
The muffled sound of the water rose from beyond the dunes, and there was suddenly the sea's feeling of weight and extension, despite the fact that it was out of sight.

Giada's Italy, Giada de Laurentiis
If you have leftovers (and you won't have as much as you think), they are great with eggs in the morning or shredded and served over pasta.

The Merry Spinster, Daniel Mallory Ortberg
"You are too beautiful to remain here in these woods all alone," he declared, as if annexing her.

Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
"You're such a creature of habit. It would be super-easy to assassinate you."

Heritage, Sean Brock
Authentic food must engage its geographic culture--it must reflect a way of life.

The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, Seanan McGuire
"I'm pretty damn sure that if you had suddenly appeared in the time of gods and heroes, there'd be something in the folklore about this weird woman who didn't speak Greek, and yet still managed to punch Zeus in the dick before she got turned into an almond tree."
"Why almond?" asks Gary.
"They're bitter."

Space Opera, Catherynne M Valente
Oort St. Ultraviolet, man of a thousand instruments, flicked his smoke off the balcony, half a mile straight down into the ocean. "Because," he sighed. "If Mira had been born here and not in fucking Sheffield, she'd never have had the Eeyores so bad that she tried to nail her tail back on with a speeding van and I'd still get to take her for gelato at five in the morning." He smiled ruefully, and it turned his face twenty years younger. "No sale, Zaraz. Everybody's got a Nico and a Siouxsie and a Justine. AM radio is not even a thing compared to the guy who leaves them all to burn because he doesn't want to get up there with the poinsettias and the xylophone and sing about the angels. It's all of us or none of us."

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, Deb Perelman
When my son was about five weeks old, and my every second was devoted to his sweet little squeaks and "beh"s, I realized I hadn't had a real meal in, well, five weeks and that it was becoming hard not to gnaw off his tiny arm from hunger (note: no infants were harmed in the making of this recipe).

Passing Strange, Ellen Klages
"We can only be ourselves as long as we're entertainment?" She frowned and lit a cigarette. "I'm not certain that's a good trade-off."

Soul, Todd Richards
Even after 20 years of cooking professionally, putting watermelon on a menu felt taboo.

Heroine Complex, Sarah Kuhn
Goddammit, Dead-Inside-O-Tron.