I think it was earlier this year I read a modern take on Pride & Prejudice and mentioned there were a slew of authors of different genres who’d taken on Austen’s work. Alexander McCall Smith, known to me as the writer behind The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, took a stab at Emma, my second favorite Austen book. I was a little worried about a man taking on Austen’s work; part of her appeal when I was younger was her subtle (and not so) jabs […]
Jackson Brodie, P.I.
I love British crime novels, I love Jason Isaacs, and the one time I’ve read anything by her, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Kate Atkinson’s work – so, when Case Histories was a deal of the day for Kindle not long ago, I jumped on it. Case Histories introduces the world to Jackson Brodie, a former soldier and police inspector turned private detective. I first came across this in either Masterpiece Mystery or some Netflix perusal, as it was made a series starring Jason Isaacs as Jackson […]
Teenage Angst in the Future
I love throwing short, easy-to-read books in my rotation, especially after the doozy that was Ann Rule’s Ted Bundy biography. My young adult book club had the solution – Mary E. Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Jenna Fox has awoken from a really long coma with no memory of who she is or the accident that caused it. Her parents are incredibly attentive and protective. Her grandmother is oddly distant. And Jenna is incredibly isolated and alone. She begins to wonder what happened to […]
Don’t Go Hitchhiking
In the last few months I’ve been binging episodes of the My Favorite Murder podcast (which is super great if you like true crime and enjoy gabbing with girlfriends about it). In one of the earliest episodes the hosts mentioned Ann Rule’s book about Ted Bundy, The Stranger Beside Me, and I was immediately intrigued. Ted Bundy is one of those serial killers I know a little about and can actually remember related news stories and his execution. But I was 10 at the time […]
Not Any Great Things
I’ve never read anything by Jodi Picoult. Her stuff always seemed a little cheesy to me. But, one of my book clubs is reading Small Great Things this month so I gave it a go. I was right. I hate read this in its entirety and you’ll enjoy my rambling, disconnected diatribe on why it sucked. Small Great Things is the story of Ruth Jefferson, a 40-something African-American nurse in New Haven, CT; she is a 20-year veteran of the L&D ward and quite good […]