You know, I had a very lovely Tuesday planned that involved reading, possibly finishing, one of the four wonderful books I’m currently reading. And then the mail came with two books I pre-ordered, and those plans were shot to fuck. It seems that Jasmine Warga and her debut novel My Heart and Other Black Holes had vastly different ideas about how my day off would be spent. I can’t remember the last time I inhaled a book, cover to cover, within the span of an […]
Lots more Whacks
Lizzie Borden took an ax… Those of us familiar with Lizzie’s story (or just with the rhyme) believe we know what happened next. Cherie Priest, though, looked at the variety of facts available, asked herself the writer’s favorite question (“What if…?”), and came up with an almost entirely different story. Though father and (step-) mother still take their whacks.
In Which I Question My Sanity
I’m going to say the words that few book lovers ever utter. I completely understand if, from this moment on, no one ever trusts my judgement again. I can’t even trust my judgement anymore. But… *deep breath* The movie was better than the book. I know, I know! Blasphemy! But the fact still remains, the Wachowski siblings and Tykwer were able to pull it off where Mitchell mostly floundered. (Not that the movie was a cinematic masterpiece, but I feel like I “got” what they […]
It Was His Boat
Terry Southern predicted reality television. Guy Grand is (possibly) the wealthiest person alive. He amuses himself by pranking people. Sometimes they’re relatively harmless and the victim comes out of it slightly embarrassed but unharmed and (sometimes substantially) richer. Sometimes the pranks are vile or disturbing and Guy works to stir the crowds up, leading to riots or mass humiliation. A few are actually clever. “The Magic Christian” is his ultimate prank. He buys an ocean liner, has it redecorated, and installs a closed-circuit television system. […]
I like my coffee like I like my women
Page count: 344, I read the UK paperback edition Time taken: probably four hours This book is really hard to summarise. It’s a close third-person narrative about a honeybee, Flora 717. It’s a classic hero(ine)’s journey. It’s an investigation into the idea of free-will and determinism. It’s a novel about upheaval in a rigid caste-based state, drawing from classic dystopian literature. It’s a love story. It’s a survival story. It’s about the consequences of climate change in the insect world. It’s a nuanced and […]
I’ll Stick with Jelly Beans, If It’s All the Same to You
In a world that already has Terry Pratchett, I understand that it’s hard to reach the Terry Pratchett bar since it’s set so high up on the Terry Pratchett scale. So I feel for Robert Rankin on that front. But I also kind of think he picked up a pen and thought, “how hard can this be? Oh, I should put boobs in it too! Hehehehe, boobs. I’m a genius.” This book…happened. The plot had no idea where it was going, but it was going […]
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