“Setting” is the last of the four “Doorways to Reading” for us to discuss, the doorways being librarian Nancy Pearl’s break-down of what draws readers into a book. In books with a vibrant setting doorway, readers feel taken in and entranced by the world of the book itself, whether that be a mining freighter in … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Setting
I know I promised some hot Jane Austen content. I planned for this focus because I’m currently working my way through a history of five female abstract impressionist painters that, while mesmerizing, is a 700-page beast of a book. But last weekend I took a break from the behemoth because a slim, YA fantasy needed … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project – New Addition! – Tantalizing Taste Books
Go here for an introduction to the Wheelhouse Project. Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline may at first glance seem like an odd pick for the “language” wheelhouse. This novel focuses on Joan, a First Nations Métis woman, whose husband Victor stormed out of the house after a fight a year ago and disappeared. Joan has been … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Language
*Light spoilers for The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett* When done well, I love a novel that jumps forward significantly in time with each chapter, often giving us a different characters’ perspective as it goes along. This technique functions as a way to look at the novel’s facets from different angles, turning the characters and … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Significant Jumps in Time—Brit Bennett’s ‘The Vanishing Half’
So far, entries into the Wheelhouse Project have focused on Nancy Pearl’s Four Doorways to reading. But the actual “wheelhouse” refers to attributes of a book that make it highly likely I will pick it up. This week we focus on “retellings of myths and fairy tales, bonus points for feminism, anti-racism, and/or realistic depictions … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Retellings of Myths and Fairy Tales — ‘Till We Have Faces’ & ‘Circe’
Go here for an introduction to the Wheelhouse Project. This post contains spoilers for Daphne de Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca and minor spoilers for Karen Thompson Walker’s The Dreamers (2019). Character may be the widest story doorway for me. We’ve already clarified that Story/Plot moves me less than the others. And while I often enjoy books heavy … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Character
Go here for an introduction to the Wheelhouse Project. I read a lot and fairly widely. I really like books. Which means that when thinking about which of Nancy Pearl’s four Doorways to reading—Story, Character, Setting, Language—I react more with, “Yes, those,” rather than identifying with one alone. That said, I find one of these … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Story
The Reading Glasses podcast introduced me to the idea of the four “doorways,” those entry points that get us into a book. The doorways were created by Nancy Pearl as a more productive way for librarians and others to get readers to a new book they’d be more likely to enjoy. The doorways represent experiential … Continue reading Introducing – The Wheelhouse Project
It seems to be a perennial question but one focused on a future we anticipate and aren’t sure yet what to do with: what is humanity’s ethical obligation to the consciousnesses we make? We see this question in the replicants of Blade Runner to the clones of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go to the … Continue reading But They’re Not Really People—Clones and Artificial Friends, Oh My!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that everyone is the protagonist of their own story. (And also that any writing about Pride and Prejudice must re-create a version of its famous first line.) Shortly after writing my post of “unanswerable questions” and “roguish speculations” about Pride and Prejudice, wherein I shared my sympathy for poor, … Continue reading In Praise of the Try-Hards: ‘The Other Bennet Sister’
Dogs, Coffee, & Books 