A woman revisits the detention center where she and other Muslim/Arab-Americans were interned to retrieve her dead brother's property in Omar El Akkad's "Riverbed." A contemporary bruja carves out a new society with her lover in Mexico, one where brainwashed American soldiers may find respite from the atrocities they've committed, in Lizz Huerta's "The Wall." … Continue reading Beyond Dystopia
Contemporary Fiction
The Wheelhouse Project: Significant Jumps in Time—Brit Bennett’s ‘The Vanishing Half’
*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’
The Wheelhouse Project: Character
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
Trust Exercise
Before reading Susan Choi's National Book Award winning I novel I had heard tell of an effed up twist partway through the book. As I dove into the first half of Trust Exercise I found the initial content unsettling enough and semi-dreaded the coming twist. And then the twist twisted my expectations. Instead of abuse … Continue reading Trust Exercise
Weird Sisters: Atwood, Le Guin, Butler
How many other appreciators have lumped together the ineffable Margaret Atwood, Ursula Le Guin, and Octavia Butler? Combined they may be up there with poems to spring or love in terms of clichéd subjects. But I'm going to do it anyway because these three transcend easy comparison about "women writing speculative fiction." They are prophets … Continue reading Weird Sisters: Atwood, Le Guin, Butler
Magic and Change, Octavia Butler and J. K. Rowling
Friends, I am in a bisected emotional space, feeling contentment and frustration, happiness and sadness, fear and hope, grief and delight. I can conjure many reasons for this state but more important, I think, than understanding is sitting with it, soaking in it, letting it be what it is. Intriguingly, the universe has given me … Continue reading Magic and Change, Octavia Butler and J. K. Rowling
Notions, Autumn 2019 edition
October feels a bit like a cackling murder of crows, sort of delightful but then it won't frickin' shut up already. So here are some bits and bobs from the season. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware is a deliciously spooky novel straddling that line between mystery and haunted house tale. My favorite … Continue reading Notions, Autumn 2019 edition
Raincheck
Reading Friends: I had family in town this weekend so did not find time to get a post together. Briefly though, I want to recommend a remarkable novel that I loved: Normal People by Sally Rooney. This story of young lovers showcases the bonehead ways that people often act when figuring out how to be … Continue reading Raincheck
Jazz Age + Mayan Mythology = Awesome: Review of Gods of Jade and Shadows
A friend got me a Book of the Month subscription for my birthday and I often struggle to choose between each month's options. July, however, was a no-brainer. As I texted my mom (who also has a subscription), "So obviously my pick is Jazz Age + Mayan mythology." Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia … Continue reading Jazz Age + Mayan Mythology = Awesome: Review of Gods of Jade and Shadows
When Books are Just Fine
I've read several books this year that were fine. Serviceable. Some even contained elements to admire. I wasn't mad at them. They were fine. But I don't read to read books that are fine. I read to be moved, to be entertained, to be inspired, to be impressed, to be wound around unexpected corners of … Continue reading When Books are Just Fine
