The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale
Did Joe R. Lansdale have Peter Dinklage in mind when he wrote the character Shorty’s look, or was I projecting? Maybe a bit of one, a lot of the other. You see, the novel, The Thicket, only came to be on my TBR list because I had seen the movie starring Dinklage. I won’t go into that too much, but will say it is not a horrible movie as it had its moments, and I had fun picking apart those, “You did that?” scenes. But […]
Total THB, Volume 1 by Paul Pope
All I am going to say about Total THB, Volume 1 by Paul Pope is that each person has their own feelings on this combination of 1984, all other dystopian stories, Brave New World, cyberpunk, coming of age story. Okay, I lie…… I will say more. It had some WOW that’s awesome moments. And then some WTF ??????????????? moments (I mean there is a story arc where a Steinway piano is a sentient special agent assassin). And then Whaaaaaaaaat is going on moments and it […]
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
I’m a librarian, and I feel like I’m living in resistance to a patriarchal dystopia, so when I came across UPRIGHT WOMEN WANTED, a book that touts itself as a story of librarians working in resistance to a patriarchal dystopia but IN AN OLD WEST REVIVAL (derogatory), I decided it was both close enough and far away enough to merit a read. Esther is the daughter of a powerful political man, and has been raised to be a proper daughter of one: she’s betrothed to […]
The Crossing by Corman McCarthy
Fair warning here – about half the dialogue is in Spanish. But with just my many decades old Spanish classes from the dim past, it really wasn’t that hard to follow. It’s pretty simple, and most of it you can get from context. But. So you know. This is the second book from McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, after All the Pretty Horses. There is no connection between any of the characters, but the milieu is definitely the same. Billy and Boyd Parham are two brothers, sons […]
Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison
Are you in the mood for a Western with a lady protagonist? Are you a horse girl at heart? Do you love the sweeping vistas of Old Hollywood Westerns but wish there was a little more exploration of patriarchy? Do you love a fully realized girl character using her grit to get things done? Did you enjoy the movie Slow West? Whiskey When We’re Dry is the book for you. The story is told by Jessilyn Harney, who starts out with her brother and dad, […]
Tom's Crossing by Mark Z. Danielewski
To address the elephant in the room right off the bat, this is a 1200-page novel that is certainly not for everyone. Set in 1982 in the fictional Orvop, Utah (the town name anagrams to Provo), the plot is rather simple for a novel of that length. Two boys who both love horses hatch a plan to save two neglected animals from being slaughtered by the richest man in town. One of the boys, Tom Gatestone, is the son of one of the town’s leading […]
