Switch by A.S. King
In the latest edition of "Travis doesn't quite get it," we have Switch by A.S. King. I kept waiting for some sort of lightbulb moment, but nothing ever flicked that switch (couldn't resist). Switch tells the story of a Tru Beck, a teenage girl from my home state of Pennsylvania, for whom time has … [Read more]
Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen : Reflections on Sixty and Beyond by Larry McMurtry
I have great affection for everything about this book: the Dairy Queen cover photo, the West Texas rumination, the author’s cherishing of books and words. What a delicious book. That DQ photo reminds me of the Dairy Queen I’d often stop at in Goldthwaite, Texas, at the intersection of Highway 183 … [Read more]
The Push by Ashley Audrain
For a little while now, I've sorta been the voracious reader I once was. Partly due to necessity, as I'd stupidly gone through all those pictures I'd snapped of book covers in places like Target of things for my to-read list and added all (that were available) of them to my library hold list. At any … [Read more]
Mortal Causes (Inspector Rebus #6) by Ian Rankin
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
Perfect Silence (DI Callanach #4) by Helen Fields
Vacationing with young children is hard work, people, even if you're on a campsite that has not one, but two trampolines ("mum, see what I can do!"). Nevertheless I managed to sneak in a couple of books as I hung about in the (beautiful and very hot) Alsatian countryside, so here goes. Mortal … [Read more]
Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti
Sometimes a flashy premise is a double-edged sword. The hook that catches the reader's attention, and indeed might be what got the book published in the first place, can also lead to the book's downfall if the author doesn't do a good enough job of selling it. Such is the case with Dava Shastri's … [Read more]
The Maker of Swans: A Novel by Paraic O’Donnell
Cbr14bingo bird On the face of it, this novel has a lot going for it: murder, a secret society, an English manor, a man servant who has seen it all. And yet the book was quite frustrating to read. On one hand, the prose is exquisite and the premise of the plot arresting. On the other hand, … [Read more]
