The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
CBR14Bingo – New — This is both a newish book and an author new to me. We begin with Jacob Finch Bonner, a character we are told early on who decided that he wanted to be a great writer long before he knew anything about voice or writing or books or anything. The Finch in his name is an affectation, taken from his love for To Kill a Mockingbird. Now 10 years into his writing career, he’s published two novels, one moderately successfully, and […]
Heartstopper, Volume 2 by Alice Oseman
Heartstopper, Volume 3 by Alice Oseman
Heartstopper really is just a warm hug of a series. Even when I know where things are going already, having seen the television show already, I’m not about to turn down that comforting, familiar squeeze. Volume two continues the trend of having most of the same beats as the show, but gone is a lot of what the show added in to heighten the drama. Basically, it’s fewer anxious moments and a faster happy ending, which I see nothing wrong with. Perhaps some of those […]
The Country Girls: Three Novels and an Epilogue by Edna O'Brien
CBR14 Bingo: Scandal “But we want young men. Romance. Love and things,” I said, despondently. Edna O’Brien is kind of a giant in Irish fiction, so it was kind of embarrassing, really, that I hadn’t read any of her work before this summer. (Yes, this is another installment in my Summer of Irish Fiction.) She’s now in her nineties and only recently retired, and she’s published steadily ever since her first novel, Country Girl (included in this volume), which came out in 1960 and immediately scandalized […]
City of Stone and Silence: The Wells of Sorcery Book Two by Django Wexler
CBR14 Bingo: “Monster” – Tori begins a slippery slope of abusing her mental powers and starts self-describing as a monster. The first book in the Wells of Sorcery trilogy, Ship of Smoke and Steel, was exclusively from Isoka’s point of view. City of Stone and Silence switches things up by alternating between Isoka and her younger sister Tori. Having survived the voyage aboard Soliton, Isoka faces new challenges. All aboard the ship have been forced off of it by the angel enforcers onto a mysterious island. The […]
Wild: Or So I Was Born To Be by Cristian Castelo
cbr14bingo Scandal Level 3 (the scandalous behavior) This first volume of “the Wild” series, is set in the late 1970s and is a coming of age on the roller derby track. Do not worry about winning, just try to stay alive, as you hallucinate, dreams and the rival teams after you. The ketchup, mustard and hamburger colors show in minimalist format, the gruesome ugliness of it all (and the spaghetti eating contest wall of shame). Cristian Castelo has a warp self of self. They made […]
Books Aren’t for Eating by Carlie Sorosiak
cbr14bingo Birds Level 2 (see the lady with the feathers and adorable birds around her. It’s my favorite image) Leopold is a goat who loves reading books (after learning not to eat them) and like any good bookstore owner, he knows the stock at his bookstore, able to find the perfect book for each person who enters. Of course, when another goat arrives, he eats the books and nothing Leopold does will stop him! Or is there a way to get the book to the […]
