heist

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Art Is Power

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

January 10, 2023 by Owlizabeth 5 Comments

I’m not sure I can discuss this book coherently. I’ve started and stopped and rewritten this review so many times I’m starting to feel dizzy. How do I convey the perfect writing, the depth of emotion, the complex characters, the history and meaning and joy and sorrow Grace D. Li has managed? In a freaking heist novel??!? The audacity! Let’s start with the basic plot: steal back the five bronze zodiac animal heads that were looted after the burning of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace and are […]

The Books of Greenwich Village

Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mob Boss Chin Gigante by Larry McShane

69 Barrow Street/Strange Embrace by Lawrence Block

The Pope of Greenwich Village by Vincent Patrick

May 11, 2022 by Jake Leave a Comment

Unintentionally so, I read three consecutive books set in Greenwich Village (well, I guess technically three out of four as one of the books is a two-for-one and the second story isn’t set in the Village). I decided to cobble together one review of the stories since they shared this similarity… Chin *** When I’d first heard of Chin Gigante, I was more fascinated with the idea that the mob had a thriving operation in Greenwich Village, an area I’ve always associated with Bohemians and the […]

What if computers were actually kind of magic and programmers only half understood binary?

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

April 23, 2022 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

In Foundryside, what starts out as a heist caper gone horribly wrong becomes a heist caper tale to save the world in which a band on unlikely companions must put aside differences to stop someone from achieving immortality in a destructive way. Sancia is the thief and the main perspective for much of the story, but she’s pretty one note; she’s had to survive a lot and her past is traumatic, although when she finally faces some of it, the memories do sort of help […]

Extra Reading March 2022

Batman: The Killing Joke by Christa Faust and Gary Phillips

The Big East: Inside the Most Entertaining and Influential Conference in College Basketball History by Dana O'Neil

In The Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero

The Banks by Roxane Gay, Ming Doyle (Illustrator)

One Night, New York by Lara Thompson

The Secret Lives of Married Women by Elissa Wald

Lost and Found in Harlem by Delia C. Pitts

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Scandal in Babylon by Barbara Hambly

Sadie by Courtney Summers

April 1, 2022 by Jake Leave a Comment

These are the books I finished in the month of March in which I didn’t have time or words to elaborate on… Batman: The Killing Joke *** Two of my favorites team up for a Batman prose novel? Yes! But the end result is just okay. Interestingly enough, I think both writers do a better job with the random Gothamites than they do with the Caped Crusader and his primary nemesis. You’re fine just reading Alan Moore’s legendary graphic novel. The Big East: Inside the […]

“Strivers grasped for something better – maybe it existed, maybe it didn’t – and crooks schemed…”

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

March 12, 2022 by ardaigle Leave a Comment

In one word: Meandering This book was the January/February selection for my work Book Club, of which I am now the unofficial president. Having been at my company for only three months I am stoked about this turn of events and was eager to discuss it with coworkers. This was a GREAT book club book, lots to discuss. I was familiar with Colson Whitehead, having read one of his Pulitzer winners, The Nickel Boys (which tore my heart out) so I was excited to dive […]

The Importance of the Library

Deal With the Devil by Kit Rocha

September 5, 2021 by CoffeeShopReader 1 Comment

Bingo 18: Shelfie I knew there was going to be some romance going into Deal with the Devil, but I was really hoping the series title “Mercenary Librarians” would be more the focus. Sadly for me, this was definitely more romance than librarian-ness. Set in a somewhat generic dystopic US potentially within my lifetime (maybe, assuming I get close to the triple digit age) after humanity has been devastated by some massive solar flare activity (I liked how this was put in; not a big […]

MsWas on I was right to kidnap this book.That is a hilarious and inventive way to give that book. I will have to keep that in mind.
Emmalita on I was right to kidnap this book.Ok, but your gift giving game is excellent!
Emmalita on OK, I Need to Talk About These BooksThere are some books that are addictive even when they make us feel bad about ourselves after reading them. I can see how these books...
Malin on “One doesn’t need magic if one knows enough stories.”I really want to read this, I'm just worried that it being set in a fictional version of Norway is going to push some peeve...
Michellers66 on I was right to kidnap this book.I am not familiar with Benjamin Stevenson and delighted to try one of his books, think I will start with Either Side of Midnight per...

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