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Why show when you can just tell?

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

February 24, 2022 by scootsa1000 5 Comments

Have you seen Mare of Eastown? This is a lot like that. But without coffee from Wawa. And without Jean Smart. And without good writing or realistic characters. If you’ve seen that, no need to read this. Really, no need to read this at all. I had the mystery solved before the first chapter had ended and tortured myself to finish to prove I was right. Chloe Davis is an amazingly brilliant and wonderful young psychologist living in Baton Rouge. We know she is amazingly […]

“Mum spent a lot of time in my formative years gently reminding me that people don’t think about us nearly as much as we think they do, because they’re all busy worrying what people are thinking about them.”

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

December 9, 2021 by scootsa1000 5 Comments

Imagine a high school that has zero teachers or staff, just students trying to learn and advance. When you show up the first day of freshman year you don’t leave until graduation day senior year. All you have with you is what you had in your pockets or even in your mouth — No suitcases or trunks. It’s a school of magic, but not like Hogwarts or Watford. And that school is actively trying to kill you. This is the world that our “heroine,” El […]

“Why, oh, why did you have to give birth to a son who hasn’t given us a moment’s peace since the day he was born?”

The Great Brain by John D Fitzgerald

More Adventures of the Great Brain by John D Fitzgerald

Me and My Little Brain by John D Fitzgerald

The Great Brain at the Academy by John D Fitzgerald

The Great Brain Reforms by John D Fitzgerald

December 5, 2021 by scootsa1000 1 Comment

I know I have written about this magical place before, but I need to reiterate that for a kid who loved to read, there was no greater place on earth than The New England Mobile Book Fair. It was a huge wholesale book warehouse in my hometown, and my mom’s favorite place to go. While she browsed the aisles looking for paperbacks by Ngaio Marsh, Barbara Pym, Dorothy Sayers, and MC Beaton, I would sit on the concrete floor, way in the back corner of […]

What the Smuck?

Lisey's Story by Stephen King

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

December 2, 2021 by scootsa1000 3 Comments

While I have been COVID telecommuting, I have tried to get out in the early afternoon for a nice 45 minute walk. I’ve been listening to a bit of Stephen King while I walk — I’ve already read all of his books, so listening (even to the scary stuff) is somewhat easy and comforting. If I lose my train of thought, no big deal. The story just goes on. This year, I listened to two books I had previously read, Lisey’s Story and ‘Salem’s Lot. […]

Sometimes a short story is just enough, but sometimes it leaves you wanting. CBR13 Reviews 7-9

The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman

If the Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell

November 24, 2021 by scootsa1000 2 Comments

I have been a very bad reviewer in 2021. I have been an amazing reader, with a list longer than any year I can remember. But sitting down to review has not been easy for me. I thought maybe I would try writing “bundles” of reviews, putting similar items together and knocking a few paragraphs out. Lets see how that goes. In order of least liked, to most: The Prince and the Troll. Blurb: It’s fate when a man accidentally drops his phone off the […]

This is not the Deadspin writing I was expecting, and I am a million percent ok with that.

How Lucky by Will Leitch

July 4, 2021 by scootsa1000 1 Comment

CBR13Bingo: Rep Daniel lives in Athens, Georgia. He has a job working in customer service for a regional airline, which lets him work at home and set his own hours. He likes his routine: visits with his best friend, football tailgates, and nice mornings out on his porch before work starts for the day. Early one morning, while out on his porch, Daniel sees something strange. He sees a young woman — he assumes she is a student — who doesn’t seem sure about where […]

narfna on And now, jump back hundreds and hundreds of years…#BlameMalin on this one for me, too, because she literally sent me a copy.
narfna on “And that very same evening—that very same evening—Lord Edgware dies. Good title that, by the way. Lord Edgware Dies. Look well on a book stall.”That's gotta be the new headcanon.
drmllz on “And that very same evening—that very same evening—Lord Edgware dies. Good title that, by the way. Lord Edgware Dies. Look well on a book stall.”I like to think the wife packs Hastings off to England to hang out with Poirot and enjoys having a whole ranch to herself...
Emmalita on And now, jump back hundreds and hundreds of years…Oh yay! Another #BlameMalin victim. That was an expensive miscommunication. I'm glad your grandmother is ok.
Emmalita on I liked this more as an exercise in boundary pushing for meI have to admit, I really liked this one. But Anita Kelly's whole vibe just works for me. I do have a couple of non...

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