Tales of Burning Love by Louise Erdrich
Once upon a time, I signed up for my first CBR. I had a lofty plan of reading all of Louise Erdrich’s books in order. Why did I feel like I needed a theme? Who knows. All I know is that I fell down on book one, and it took me until last year to get back up. My recollection was that I was reading Tales of Burning Love at the time, and my stumble was going back to the beginning of her bibliography. I […]
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
First off this is obviously all my fault. I was warned, I was given an explanation, and nevertheless, I persisted in reading Angels & Demons. Folks, what can I say: my affection for The Da Vinci Code is pure and genuine, see here. Angels & Demons, however, is genuinely the best sleep aid on the market. How boring is it? It’s so boring that despite the fact that this is pretty easy prose, in a small paperback format, I’m barely able to digest 10 pages […]
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Before I begin, know that there is a special place in my heart for not-good movies. I don’t know if it comes from watching Sunday afternoon disaster films like the Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno with my sister when we were little, but I’d almost prefer to watch a movie I can laugh at than one I laugh with. It’s just a good time. Perhaps this helps you understand where I’m coming from when I say that I absolutely LOVE the Da Vinci Code […]
Purity by Jonathan Franzen
While others were off working on sourdough starters, I spent quarantine somewhat obsessively reading all of Jonathan Franzen’s books (yes, even his admittedly dreadful first effort, The 27th City). Purity is his most recent novel, and probably his best reviewed, but for me it failed to stick the landing. Franzen divides his books into sections told from different characters’ points of view. Big, long sections. When you’re with Andreas Wolf, you don’t care about anybody else, but then the section ends and then BAM, you […]
Now I Can Die in Peace by Bill Simmons
I want to begin by acknowledging that I am writing a review of a book whose appeal starts out extremely limited to a specific region and demographic, and only becomes more so due to the incredible untimeliness of when I finally got around to reading it. Yes, in the waning days of that black hole we called 2020, I finally got around to reading Now I Can Die in Peace, a collection of sports (specifically, New England Sports, and more specifically, Red Sox baseball) essays, […]
