I feel incredibly robbed not to have found this book when I was mid-adolescence, when I would have reveled in empathy with Esperanza, the beautiful, awkward, sad, scared, bold, shy, lonely, social narrator who is coming-of-age through the course of the year during which The House on Mango Street takes place. Cisneros writes this book as an extended series of short vignettes: portraits of people, places, and things in Esperanza’s life; all the things that make up the tapestry of her youth. With these vignettes, […]
More Harry Magic
I read the first in Jim Butcher’s new series and kinda liked it, so I figured I’d check out his other stuff. I read the first Dresden novel, and though it was only ok. Then I saw that multiple people were saying that the Dresden series only gets good after about book 4. My local library does not have the entire series thus far, and the branch near me does not have all of the book in the order I might want them (chronologically). So […]
Pleasant but forgettable
Julie James is an author I always enjoy, but never rave about. I picked this one up on sale a while ago, and it probably would have languished on my TBR longer, but Ms. James was speaking at a local bookshop, so I wanted a fresh book in my mind. By the time I’m writing this review, it’s been a couple of weeks since I finished the book and I know why I never rave – the book was totally enjoyable AND completely forgettable. This […]
I’ve spent an enjoyable 900 years with this book.
I don’t know if other people do this, but I usually have three books going that serve three different purposes. I have my reading in bed book, and it has to be interesting enough to keep me reading when the alternative is sleeping (Liane Moriarty is ideal for this). I have a book on the end table that’s light enough to read while my daughter plays (ex: home decor books). And I have spots for books that take a little discipline to get through, spots […]
A lot for Chicagoans to consider.
I’ve been focusing a lot on social justice these past few years, because the rhetoric/composition course I teach at one of my universities (ah, the joys of rootless adjuncting!) has integrated social justice and care for others as part of its Jesuit curriculum. This year, my theme is Art and Protest. I’ve read Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and other related books to expand my knowledge base, as well as that of my students’. Goodreads recommended The South Side to me when it saw […]
Women’s Work
The description for this novel, the first in a historical mystery series, caught my attention on NetGalley and I’m glad I requested it. Though it’s not perfect, there’s a lot to like here and I have hopes that the series will get more interesting and nuanced as the books continue. Also, it’s set in 1880’s Chicago and involves the Pinkerton Agency and how fun is that. Lilly Long is a young actress in the Pierced Rose Theater Troupe whose brief marriage to a con man […]
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