The Trivia Night by Ali Lowe
“My dear husband, I am at the place we used to come to, when we loved one another.” Oh boy. I got this book as a recommendation after reading the novel “The Slap” which I thought was going to be a fun little romp through suburban Australian after the fallout from a scene of violence at a cookout. It was not, but it ended up being a good novel (that a lot of people hate, fair warning) anyway. This novel also looks to be about […]
A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley
“Two months after her husband died on November 12, 1851, Eliza Ripple stopped writing letters to her mother back in Kalamazoo.” This is the newest novel by Jane Smiley, who has now written a million of them. She’s not Joyce Carol Oates, but she’s been publishing for more than 40 years now, and has been pretty prolific. In general, I liked this novel, but it felt a little thin at times, but more so a little underdeveloped. I don’t mean the writing is bad at […]
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
3.75 stars Nuri and Afra are Syrian refugees trying to make their way to England, where Nuri’s cousin, who also fled Syria, awaits them. They’ve suffered a loss that’s left Afra blind and functionally paralyzed with grief. This grief is like a tangible thing Nuri has to negotiate while at the same time trying to persuade her to leave, and also to keep from her as much as possible the level of danger they’re in by staying. Their PTSD, despair, and loss of hope have […]
Wyldwood: Book One by Tava Baird
I confess, when I was offered the chance at a free copy of Tava Baird’s Wyldwood: Book One in exchange for a fair review, I may have rolled my eyes a bit at the description. I TAKE IT BACK, OKAY? I take it back. It is a beautiful book, obviously a true labor of love. Love of history, love of magic, love of romance, love of culture. My default comparison to Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Saga was not at all a fair one. Understandable maybe, but […]
I am starting 2023 out, not with a review, but with a thank you!!! I was heading out the door when the Amazon delivery man dropped off these awesome gifts–A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers and a really cool “I Love Science” discovery journal. The pens and the sticky notes were an added bonus! Thanks to Aviva for these thoughtful gifts. I read A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet a few years back precisely because so many CBR folks were […]
Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
“When he decided to leave New York, he chose Arizona because of some drone footage he’d seen.” Lydia Millet most previous novel A Children’s Bible was a much more explicit rendering of an apocalyptic future in which climate change had forever taken its toll on humanity, and all that was left was the shouting (mostly pillaging and murder). It was also a kind of retelling of A High Wind in Jamaica. This novel more or less addresses the same basic question: what’s to become of us? The difference […]
