Phoenixville Rising has three intertwined stories spanning different time periods. We’ve got the central story of Tara, Boo and Sketch, teenagers in the ’80’s living in the small town of Phoenixville “where nothing really ever happens”. We have the story of Rebecca Wilton from the Civil War time period growing up as Phoenixville is just starting to grow (her father is responsible for that growth); and then we have the story of Sketch, present day, returning to Phoenixville for the first time in many, many […]
Would you open Pandora’s Box?
Poor, poor Pandora. Zeus sends her off to Epimetheus, a not especially bright man she’s never even met, along with a mysterious covered jar. Nobody tells Pandora a word about the jar. Nobody tells her not to open the jar. Naturally, she opens the jar. Falling somewhere between What Alice Forgot and Big Little Lies, the Husband’s Secret was leaps and bounds better than the Hypnotist’s Love Story. The secret is pretty predictable but that’s not why you’re reading, you’re reading to see how Moriarty […]
Ugh, this could have been so.much.better.
Oh, this book had such a cool set up, but just couldn’t seem to live up to it! Set about 150 years in the future, The Dead Lands focuses on a society built among the ruins of St. Louis. This community, known as the Sanctuary, is all that remains of the United States after a super flu, and then nuclear war, wipes everyone out. Or so they’ve been led to believe. Then one day, a slightly-mutant girl (Gawea, as in Saca-) shows up at the Sanctuary, […]
So Much Potential, So Much Letdown
I feel really bad about DNFing this book, but when you start finding anything and everything to avoid reading a book, it’s a sign. I REALLY wanted to like it based off the book jacket description. It had everything I should love. A historically based plot, a young protagonist, and a story completely about a musician and the playing of music. And it had all those things….they were just sort of not actually the real plot. I should have DNFed it at the 40% mark, […]
On Child Abuse and Redemption
I wouldn’t call this the best novel Toni Morrison has ever written, but given how high she has set the bar, God Help The Child is still a powerful read that I would highly recommend. It is about the abuse of children, and about damaged adults. It is full of Morrison’s characteristically spare but lyrical prose and disconcerting magical realism. It is full of pain and rage, but also redemption and resolution. Her main character is a little girl named Mary Lou, born with “blue-black” skin […]
He didn’t want the magic to go away
Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes, is a book of stories featuring Per Petterson’s recurring character Arvid Jansen as a young boy. Published in 1987, it wasn’t translated into English until 2013. I’ve eagerly followed Mr. Petterson’s career since reading Out Stealing Horses almost fifteen years ago. While these stories have some of the same simple beauty as his later works, it is clear from the outset that this work is that of a writer learning his craft. Some of the stories, there are ten in all, nearly […]