June, 2014
June 7th, 2014, 2:21 p.m. - Annual vacation reading roundup!
16. Little Failure (Gary Shteyngart)
17. Will Not Attend (Adam Resnick)
18. Lexicon (Max Barry)
19. Mr. Mercedes (Stephen King)
Up next: Run, Don't Walk (Adele Levine)
June 8th, 2014, 2:26 p.m. - Insert "why don't you come on over, Valerie" joke here
So You Think You Can Dance - Chicago and L.A. auditions: Officially rooting for Valerie and Dani. Hopefully I'll be able to add a few more people to that list in the next couple weeks, but so far, no one else has stood out that much. Rating: 4 dragging segments letting ineligible family members dance
June 14th, 2014, 2:44 p.m. - As fun as the celebrity judges can be, I like when they bring in actual dancers
So You Think You Can Dance - L.A. and Philadelphia auditions: Yay for very little filler! I also got a few more dancers for my must-watch list: Casey, Jourdan, and Amir. Plus, Jenna gets to be an all-star! Rock on, Jenna! Rating: 5 times I said, "Please tell me he's not dead" during Jourdan's story about her brother
June 15th, 2014, 12:04 p.m. - Let's hang out, Adele
20. Run, Don't Walk (Adele Levine, P.T.)
Up next: All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)
June 21st, 2014, 2:03 p.m. - More to root for! Let's get this thing going!
So You Think You Can Dance - Atlanta auditions: I'll be watching Mariah, Cristina, and Ricky. Heck, let's just put Ricky in the finals right now. Rating: 4 Dragon House dancers
June 28th, 2014, 1:17 p.m. - Tara Lipinski: Best guest judge ever?
So You Think You Can Dance - Callbacks: Lots of people I like made it (Valerie, Jourdan, Casey, Marcquet), plus some people I grew to like. I'm especially happy that Emilio made the top 20, though I think he should have gotten a bye, since he made it last year, too. So far I haven't seen anyone I think shouldn't be there. But I probably said that last year, too. Rating: 4 times I was surprised they didn't make Rudy and Nick face the judges at the same time for a "one of you made it...actually, you both did!" fakeout
June 29th, 2014, 12:58 p.m. - All the diamond storyline that just won't end
21. All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)
Up next: Phantom Instinct (Meg Gardiner)
Shteyngart's fiction is a little too weird for me to get into, but I might give it another shot now that I know his background. He tells great stories about his childhood as a Soviet immigrant in the U.S., and how it and his family shaped who he is.
Eh. Good, not great. I probably wouldn't read another book by him.
I had mixed feelings when I stared this book, but they were solidly positive about two chapters in. One of the best books I've read this year.
Speaking of mixed feelings – my less-than-favorable experiences with King's last two books made me skeptical that I would like this one, but I did. He's able to bring the suspense without the supernatural.
Reading this was like going out for a drink with a friend and listening to stories about her job. I wouldn't say Levine is a spectacular writer in the technical sense, but she's a wonderful storyteller. I would read anything else she wrote about her experiences as a physical therapist at Walter Reed.
I liked a lot of this, but some of it dragged, and the diamond subplot didn't interest me. I needed more of Madame Manec.