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
Contemporary Fiction
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
On ‘Lost and Wanted’
I wasn't sure, at first, how I was feeling about Nell Freudenberger's Lost and Wanted. It seemed like a textbook case of why teachers give the advice to "show don't tell." But I found myself identifying with the structured, reserved, cerebral narrator and drawn in by the topical structure—astrophysics—for which I have a novice's fascination. … Continue reading On ‘Lost and Wanted’
History and its Aftershocks: There There by Tommy Orange
In There There Tommy Orange uses individual human vignettes to represent the way that history reverberates into the present. The aftershocks of settler colonialism tear through the lives of indigenous people today, even those living in urban environments far from traditional geographies and ways of life. Orange's novel depicts a specifically Native American experience, yet … Continue reading History and its Aftershocks: There There by Tommy Orange
Accidentally Complementary, or when the universe hands you a literary gift
Listening to: Garbage, Garbage. Drinking: Red table wine Sometimes chance gives you a cluster of works (books, songs, shows, movies, podcast) that create an intriguing juxtaposition or a complementary meshing. I first noticed this phenomenon in college, when classes chosen for schedule (or the texts assigned in them) created an unexpected, unintended harmony. When such a thing … Continue reading Accidentally Complementary, or when the universe hands you a literary gift
Dogs, Coffee, & Books 