High-Rise by J.G. Ballard
I first read this novel after I saw the initial trailer for the Tom Hiddleston movie version a few years back. I liked it fine. But since then, I’ve read a half dozen or more of Ballard’s novels, and all of his short fiction, and I think I have his wavelength (dear god, right?) quite a bit more now. I liked it a lot more the second time. The novel takes place in a all-inclusive high-rise replete with gyms, grocery stores, and other amenities. If […]
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
I read Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka months (months!) ago and absolutely loved it, to the point that I felt too overwhelmed to write a review for it at the time. So, I’ve now sabotaged myself because I don’t remember the book as well as I would like to, so I will likely be unable to do justice to this book that I found incredibly smart and moving. Notes on an Execution tells the story of a serial killer largely through the eyes […]
Love Marriage by Monica Ali
CW: our main character does realize parts of her upbringing veer into emotional abuse If we had to pin down why I have yet again gotten behind on my reviews, it would be here, with this novel, which brought up so very many Feelings that I found it difficult to start the review. And yet, here we are, trying to smash out 250 words so that I can make it past this book and into others. As an American expat currently living in London, I’ve […]
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
CBR Bingo Square: Camel/Adaptation “Poirot,” I said. “I have been thinking.” “An admirable exercise my friend. Continue it.” Alright, it’s not all just highfalutin’ theme reading over here (but the summer of Irish fiction rolls on), I am also cramming in books that are simply and purely for fun. Most of my Golden Age crime fiction reading for the past year or two has been working through Ngaio Marsh’s back catalog, but I’ve also been dabbling in some Christie here and there. And I really […]
Mister Miracle: The Great Escape by Varian Johnson
Recently I read a meme on Facebook that was talking about how if you call yourself a “geek” and like Superheroes/graphic novel/comics, but have a problem with Captain America being black, or Ms. Marvel Muslim, or Thor a woman, then you are not a “real geek” but a racist. Controversial statement to follow. I have a problem. Not because they are black or Muslim, or female, but because to me, it feels lazy. The “we need diversity” is good and we should make it happen, […]
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves: Stories by Karen Russell
I absolutely loved Karen Russell’s Vampires in the Lemon Grove short story collection, but was really disappointed in Swamplandia!, so when I saw she had another short story collection, I was so excited to read more of her short works. St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves was….not what I was expecting? Granted, Vampires was published in 2013, and St. Lucy’s is her first collection, published in 2006, so I may just be running into my usual issue of having read an author in reverse. But where a […]
