Girl in Translation
reviewdate:
Oct 26 2015
isn:
9781101187487
Tagged with nyc
About a Girl
reviewdate:
May 11 2015
isn:
9781250068620
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In the Age of Love and Chocolate
When you love the first book of a trilogy, but by the last you're meh.
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(Aside: How much of this book--nay, my life--have I spent "trying not to cry"? When I think of the wasted effort!)
reviewdate:
Jan 12 2015
isn:
978-0-374-38075-5
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Lost Synagogues of Manhattan, Including Shuls from Staten Island and Governors Island, the
The third in Ms. Levitt's series of "lost" synagogues of New York's five boroughs focuses quite a bit on buildings in my neighborhood that formerly housed Jewish congregations. I've lived in three Manhattan zip codes (and one in Brooklyn, if you're curious, 11222). My current 10002 has 22, the one I lived in the longest, 10009 has 14, and the other, 10003 has 4. Levitt covers 32 others, as well, but to me, the book is primarily a Lower East Side party. Most of the buildings she describes in my neighborhoods are familiar, though I wouldn't have guessed that many of them had once been shuls.
reviewdate:
Aug 16 2013
isn:
978-0-9836975-2-7
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Bunheads
This novel about 19-year-old corps de ballet dancer Hannah Ward reminded me a little of the nun memoir Through the Narrow Gate because it was about the protagonist's struggle with the sacrifices required to please her god, in this case the artistic director of the "Manhattan Ballet."
reviewdate:
May 28 2013
isn:
978-0-316-12653-3
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Someday, Someday, Maybe
Like with First Spring Grass Fire, you wonder of Someday, Someday, Maybe how much of the story of a young aspiring actor in NYC written by a former young aspiring actor in NYC is autobiographical. While reading it I was thinking that it's possible that fictionalizing one's life might make it easier to tell the emotional truth.
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I grasp onto the nearby silver pole, steadying myself as the train lurches along, my hand slipping on the smooth surface, vying for a safe position along with half a dozen other hands. Today, everything about New York leaves me feeling like I'm competing for space, and just barely hanging on.
reviewdate:
May 8 2013
isn:
978-0-345-53274-9
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Dead and the Gone, the
A companion to Life as We Knew It, The Dead and the Gone tells us what it was like in Manhattan after the moon got knocked out of place and messed up life on Earth.
reviewdate:
Feb 1 2013
isn:
978-0-15-206311-5
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Last of the Live Nude Girls: a Memoir, the
If a zine girl is going to write a memoir, I'm going to read it. Sheila does a better job than most at making the leap to the big spine. I don't have any complaints as far as that goes, like I often do. The editing and production are good. The only thing that bothered me at all is that I'm pretty sure I recognize one of the background characters, whose identity is concealed only by a very minor name change.
reviewdate:
Nov 13 2012
isn:
978-1-59376-400-5
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Hooked
I don't usually care for novels without likable protagonists, but I found Hooked to be compelling and enjoyable even though the narrator, Thea Galehouse, is pretty apathetic and presumably depressed. Her parents are self-absorbed and helpless, and Thea's boyfriend doesn't seem to have much special about him other than his potent sperm. The characters I like best are Carmen of the yarn shop and Thea's best friend Vanessa.
reviewdate:
Aug 1 2012
isn:
978-0-385-74008-1