Posted March 01, 2023in Book Review
‘Stateless’ I don’t read much historical fiction, especially when it’s set in the last hundred years or so. I like my fiction ancient. Yet, I make an exception for Elizabeth Wein books. There’s just something about her carefully plotted, always thrilling stories that leaves me smiling. Her newest book is
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Posted February 02, 2023in Book Review
David Moscow was the kid who played the Tom Hanks role in “Big” before he got so. Jon is his dad, an ethics expert and asylum facilitator. This is no strange couple. David is as charming as his youthful persona, and Jon is a drop-dead smart writer. Both are completely
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Posted February 01, 2023in Book Review
‘Pandora’ This cozy and atmospheric delight was just what I needed for a post-holiday mental vacation. Rich with historical details, copious references to Greek mythology and effervescent characters, this sweet story left me with the kind of light-hearted feeling that’s hard to find in the middle of dreary winter. Pandora
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Posted January 04, 2023in Book Review
‘The Light Pirate’ Change is an incredible, inevitable, potent beast, and I don’t think I’ve ever read a piece of fiction that more aptly illustrates that point. This is an incredibly sad story that somehow manages to feel timeless and almost fairy-tale-like in its melancholy. Wanda is named in the
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Posted November 30, 2022in Book Review
‘Drawn to Birds: A Naturalist’s Sketchbook’ I’m a fan of pretty books. Yes, the story is the draw, but give me a book with gorgeous pictures and passionate writing, and I will come back to it again and again — even if the topic is outside my usual, like birds.
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Posted November 02, 2022in Book Review
‘Kaikeyi’ Retellings of epic tales have become a genre of their own, and I am here for it. In this sparkling, sad, brilliant debut novel, Vaishnavi Patel takes on the ancient Hindu story, The Ramayana, and all its magical twists and cosmic turns, and builds a unique, powerful take on
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Posted October 05, 2022in Book Review
‘Ithaca’ “The Odyssey” is an ancient tale with a mountain of scholarship and retellings to its name, yet there are still threads left to be pulled, new variations to explore, and exciting new stories to uncover. Claire North takes on the task of fleshing out the shadows in the bright,
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Posted August 31, 2022in Book Review
‘Lute’ Americans becoming European aristocrats is not a new trope; it’s been done throughout literature in a number of different ways. In this lovely, spooky, beautifully written debut, that common plot is twisted and filled with a delicious foreboding. Nina is an American who falls in love with a British
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Posted August 03, 2022in Book Review
‘Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution’ R. F. Kuang’s Poppy War Trilogy lives rent-free in my head years after I read it, so I picked up her newest book with buckets of anticipation and high expectations. Lucky for me, “Babel” more than met
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Posted July 06, 2022in Book Review
‘Ordinary Monsters’ This one is a beauty of melancholy and the painful parts of humanity. It is atmospheric and seething with tension and grit with just enough heart to claw its way into your brain. I’ve been thinking about this book daily since I finished it months ago. I think
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