Think of the cheapest-tasting candy you have ever eaten. It will differ for all of us, but for me, it’s Tootsie Rolls. They’re not bad, per se, but they’re just not great as far as candy is concerned. Think about it: when you’re cruising the candy aisles at Target, there are great bags of Reese’s or Hershey candies or even Wonka Candy varieties for $9, but the Tootsie Roll bag is always $3 or $4, and there’s a ton there, because no one wants to […]
Son: A Beautiful End to a Beautiful Quartet
Having got a late start on The Giver, I decided to make up for lost time by reading the entire quartet. How beautifully wonderful it was! I don’t know what critics or readers think of it, but I thought it was the perfect ending to an original and piercing series. The story begins with a girl named Claire. A disappointing student, she is assigned the role of Birthmother. And then it all goes wrong. She feels things she cannot explain, things that no one else […]
Jane Austen meets Jonathan Strange and we all win.
Paging Jane Austen enthusiasts! Paging Jane Austen enthusiasts! Here’s an enjoyable and delightful read that merges Austen’s Regency-era novel of manners with fantasy and science fiction. It’s delightful and entertaining and innovative at once. My sister recommended this book to me–and since I recommend so many books to her, it seemed only fair to read one of her choices. So glad that I did! Jane Ellsworth is a single woman in her late twenties, part of a respectable family and a skilled glamourist. While her […]
Ahab’s Wife
After reading Moby-Dick, I decided that after letting Ahab’s Wife languish for years and years on my reading list, that it was finally time to read it. I’m honestly glad that I did. It’s an interesting book, with only a few silly moments. Una’s story begins when she is laboring with her first child, at her mother’s home in Kentucky. She then moves backwards in time, describing her tumultuous childhood, her adolescence at her aunt and uncle’s lighthouse, and her impetuous voyage as a cabin […]
Put the book in the freezer, Joey.
I’ve read Little Women countless times, and there was always malcontent about how certain love dilemmas resolved themselves. I used to think that Alcott really didn’t know her characters. But reading it this time, as a married adult, I think she might have been on to something. If you’ve never read Little Women (and seriously, why haven’t you?), it’s the story of the four March sisters trying to keep their spirits up during the Civil War. They undergo character trials, vexations, and the simple joys […]
An intriguing international crime thriller
Last year, I reviewed Nairobi Heat for CBR5. I remember liking it, with some caveats, and I had mentioned those. Ngugi has greatly improved with his second novel, and I really hope that he continues this series. Detective Ishmael has decided to stay in Kenya and make a life for himself. He has fallen in love with refugee Muddy, and is a partner to the engimatic O. Together, their detective business is struggling to break even, until a man shows up dead in a nearby […]
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