The Kamogawa Food Detectives, Hisashi Kashiwai

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai translated by Jesse Kirkwood

Started: September 18, 2024

Completed: DNF

Recommendation: I have no recommendation

Recommended By: Kobo

Review:

I thought that this was a traditional detective story with a little food thrown in.  No.  This is a series of short stories with the same protagonists who use analysis to determine how to make a particular meal.  I was listening to this book and with unfamiliar names, place names, and food names, I had trouble distinguishing one from the other.  In addition, I neither recognized the dishes nor many of the ingredients.  That all made it very hard for me to enjoy or even have an opinion on this book.

Who's Afraid of Gender?, Judith Butler

 

Who's Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler

Started: September 15, 2024
Completed: September 17, 2024
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody initially, but upon discussion cousin Amee

Review:

The audio book is read by Butler who sounds a lot like Martha Stewart, so the topic is initially jarring in that voice.  The arguments are truly stellar and the mechanical workmanship which goes into the refutations of particularly conservative and Catholic positions on gender is excellent.  This gives me a whole new perspective on how to talk about gender with those who have not really spent much time thinking about their positions.  What a wonderful work!

The Mosquito, Timothy C. Winegard

 

The Mosquito:  A human history of our deadliest predator by Timothy C. Winegard

Started: September 8, 2024
Completed: September 15, 2024
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended by: Kobo books

Review:

The author attributes pretty much everything to the mosquito.  Of course, that is not correct, but this storm through human history looks at an awful lot of places where the mosquito was undoubtedly involved.  I am not inclined to disagree.  It is pretty shocking the level of human death attributable to the mosquito.

Your Absence is Darkness, Jón Kalman Stefánsson

 

Your Absence is Darkness by Jón Kalman Stefánsson

Started: September 7, 2024
Completed: DNF
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended By: I cannot remember how I chose this title

Review:

I just could not figure this book out and it was exhausting me trying.  I gave up.

The Bright Sword, Lev Grossman

 

The Bright Sword:  A novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman

Started: August 29, 2024
Completed: September 7, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody, c'mon, King Arthur

Review:

Grossman is pretty clear in his understanding of Arthur and is well aware of all the things that simply could not be in his telling.  He includes a historical note that explains all this.  So, despite the anachronisms, or maybe because of them, this is a romping tale that is fun to read.  Like many Arthurian tales, this one changes perspective throughout the book.  I find Grossman's portrayal of Guinevere to be particularly compelling.  Addressing sexual orientation in the book, Grossman does a good job of making this an LGBTQ+ novel of sorts without going overboard and throwing in things that would likely have led to a swift death if revealed in this era.  Grossman highlights closeted life and details how horribly frustrating it is to be born the incorrect gender as well as how hard it can be to be a homosexual.  Grossman alludes to bisexuality in the one character who could truly be bisexual without reproach.  In general, from a heterosexual point of view in the 21st century, it feels to me like Grossman did a good job of including a wide range of sexual identities in a tale that has generally ignored such things without making sex the center of the book.  I liked this book, but I feel like it was a little long and maybe could have been reasonably shortened without the tales of the Red Knight (I really don't understand the inclusion of this character at all).