I thoroughly enjoyed Straub’s debut novel, Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures, and feel we should gloss over the embarrassingly long time it took me to clock that she is daughter of Peter Straub. So when The Vacationers came along and seemed to be setting itself up to be everything Seating Arrangements should have been but wasn’t, I was sold. The blurb tells you it’s “an irresistible, deftly observed novel about the secrets, joys, and jealousies that rise to the surface over the course of an American family’s two-week stay in Mallorca” […]
Kind of Meh
Three Stars (two for the book and one for the premise) As we made our way to the gate before a two-hour flight home last night, we spotted this book. I knew it had come out recently, and realized that the format (ostensibly a ‘choose your own adventure’-style autobiography) would probably lend itself better to a physical book. I picked it up and read it continuously, from waiting in line to board the plane until we caught a shuttle to our car back home. I […]
I feel like this series is tired.
First Among Sequels is the fifth Thursday Next book, a book series which is impossibly to accurately sum up, because it’s so weird, and stubbornly resists classification (on purpose). I suppose in theory you could start reading the series with this book (after all, I had largely forgotten most of the details of the previous four when I started it and it turned out fine for me), but you’d really lose appreciation for the little details if you did that, and a lot of the […]
Ridiculously fun fairy-tale, murder-mystery spoofing nonsense.
I’m not sure whether it’s the book, or whether I was just in the perfect mood for it, but regardless, the result is the same. The Fourth Bear is my favorite of the seven Jasper Fforde novels I’ve read. The first five Thursday Next Novels are fun but can be a bit overwhelming, and sometimes downright confusing, and the first Nursery Crime book, The Big Over Easy, does a little bit too much work setting up the Nursery Crime world to really enjoy its premise. But […]
So endeth these Star Wars.
I apologize in advance for this review. Not only did I forget that I read this, and hence forget to rate it on Goodreads for almost two months, I read it so long ago I barely remember anything I wanted to say about it AND ALSO I didn’t take any notes. (Please refer to my reviews of the first and second books in the series for actual quality review material.) Here’s what I remember: This was my least favorite of the three adaptations. Of course, […]
Satire that works
“Writing a novel is pathetic and boring. Anyone sensible hates it. It’s all you can do to not play Snood all afternoon.” (100) How I Became A Famous Novelist (2009) by Steve Hely is a fun satire about the publishing industry and the kinds of books that receive the most acclaim. The main character, Pete Tarslaw, is in his early twenties, out of college and without motivation or direction. In fact, he reminded me a lot of Rob Fleming in High Fidelity. Still hung up […]
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