Of the four books I reviewed yesterday, two were awful, one was alright, and one was great. I did not really hold anything back in my reviews of the bad ones. Is it so hard to do a little research and avoid terrible tired clichés? Apparently, yes, yes it is. So I feel fully justified in getting my rant on. Also some swears. Consider yourself warned. Review 5: One Night of Danger, Clara Bayard; 3 stars; trigger warning for abusive relationships, discussion thereof. Review 6: […]
I’ll Take Two (or More)
Although the Mormon church officially gave up polygamy in 1890, the practice is still associated with it, sometimes through contemporary fundamentalist groups or historically. David Ebershoff takes on both a historic and a contemporary story in The 19th Wife. The first story is a fictionalization of the life of Ann Eliza Young, one of Brigham Young’s wives, who divorced him, and later wrote a book called Wife Number 19, became a public speaker and advocate against polygamy. The second story belongs to Jordan Scott, excommunicated […]
A good read, but a laborious one
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
My long dormant local book club is back in swing and this was our first read of the new year, and my submission. I happened upon this book at a used book sale and after seeing that it had won the Pulitzer and cost $1.50, adding it to my “to read” pile was sort of a no brainer. My book club has some tough cookies so I was a little anxious since it was basically a blind suggestion from me, but it turned out to […]
Ghost story? Metaphors? Say what now?
Oy. First thing: the third star of this rating is entirely for Jack Davenport, the narrator of the audiobook, whose voice is like sex. When he talks, my ovaries try to leap out of my body like that tiny alien in Alien. I try to explain to them this is counterproductive, but it continues to happen. Second, this book was incredibly frustrating and I hope writing this review will help me to sort out why. I read Setterfield’s debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale, several years ago, and […]
You, Too, May Strike It Rich
…The group is broken into teams of two unrelated “players,” and at the start each team is provided with an envelope containing several apparently random words and a check for $10,000. And that’s all. As the teams work together to solve the mystery (whatever it is), they must face disasters both natural and unnatural; personal crises — most of them turn out to have some connection with Westing, which they may or may not be willing to disclose, or in fact even realize; the vagaries […]
Our house is a very, very fine house
This book came highly recommended by a psychologist friend of mine. While it is fiction, it gives a very realistic look into the lives of a family affected by autism. Told in the first person, you get an intimate view of how autism feels. Livvie Owen is 14, and she has two sisters, one older, one younger, and a mom & dad. They’ve moved multiple times, a result of both life circumstances–they live in a dying small town–and Livvie’s disruptive behavior, which landlords find hard […]