As a dedicated Gilmore Girls and Parenthood fan, when I heard that Lauren Graham wrote a book I obviously had to read it. In Someday, Someday, Maybe, Graham tells the story of a young actress ready to find her break in 1995 New York. It’s easy to speculate that at least some of the book is based on the real life experiences of a young Lauren Graham trying to make it as an actress in the big city, but this is a not a biography. It is, however, a thoroughly enjoyable story […]
More Poehler Please
Amy Poehler, comedienne, best friend of Tina Fey, SNL alumni, genius behind Parks and Recreation, brains behind Smart Girls at the Party, and all around general ass-kicker, wrote a book. And it’s good. In fact it’s great. I’ll avoid comparisons to Bossypants, Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me?, and the other recent biographies written by the various funny women we’re so lucky to have in our lives, except to say that I’m so so glad to live in a time when women like Poehler, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling […]
Not your typical boarding school brats
The Secret Place by Tana French was far better than I’d expected. I picked it up because it gets great reviews and because I was interested in moving away from the more romantic fare that I had been reading and back into a mystery. I didn’t realize it until after I’d finished the book, but this is the fifth in the Dublin Murder squad series, and while it stands on it’s own, I have the feeling that there were some references to the previous novels that I didn’t […]
Not exactly a cheery read…
The Book of Fate by Parinoush Saniee was a sweeping and beautiful novel about the life of a woman living through 3 successive revolutions in Iran. I didn’t realize it was a translation until after I’d read it, and the prose absolutely does not give it away. Poetic and beautiful, the writing is captivating. The characters are, while not always likeable, well-developed and painfully real in their hypocrisy and selfishness. Massoumeh, a bright student but overall normal teenage girl, growing up in pre-revolutionary Tehran with two older stalwartly traditional brothers, a younger […]
The downstairs gets their turn
As an Austen fan, reading Longbourne is almost inevitable. I’ve always wondered about the story from the perspective of the servants, and what it must have been like watching Mrs. Bennett furiously attempt to marry off her daughters so that they can avoid the poverty of the servantry. How awful it must feel to watch these wealthy people parade around, attempting to catch equal or wealthier mates to avoid winding up in your own shoes. And knowing that while your own lot in life was nothing to be desired […]
Like a comic… but a novel
The style and subject matter in Vicious inevitably lends itself to comic book comparisons. Dark, beautiful and featuring an alternative reality where extraordinary abilities are real, such comparisons are apt and hopefully the very talented V.E. Schwab sees it that way. In Vicious, Schwab developed the same style and tone that you get from a really good comic still. Beautifully rendered, the text actually feels visual. Schwab pulls the reader directly into the story and it stays with you long after the book is back on the shelf. […]
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