The Gospel of Loki is Norse Myth told from Loki’s point of view, and wow, is it entertaining. It’s not a romance since Loki pretty much shits on everyone who loves him and then is all “Why meeeeeeee?” But it’s relevant to our interests because even though it is NOT closely related to Loki as played by our beloved Tom Hiddleston, the two share a similar voice, and it’s pretty darn fun to picture this … Continue reading The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris →
A Town Like Alice is a classic romance (among other things), by Nevil Shute. It was published in 1950, and reflects the bias and prejudices of its time, but it’s also a powerful book about a smart, tough, resourceful young woman. If you really want to go into this spoiler free, don’t read the plot synopsis below – but I’m not telling you anything you can’t deduce from the front and back covers of the … Continue reading A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute →
Books That Cook: The Making of a Literary Meal is a delightful book that is meant to be savored. But not literally. You can’t actually eat it. Well, if you have the paper version, I guess you could, but I highly recommend that you read it instead. It’s an anthology with the premise that cookbooks are a form of literature, and it combines selections from cookbooks with passages from fiction, memoir, and poetry to create … Continue reading Books That Cook: The Making of a Literary Meal by Jennifer Cognard-Black and Melissa A. Goldwaite →
Miss Cayley’s Adventures, written in 1899, is so adorable that if it were a person I’d marry it. I loved this book so much, particularly the first half, which is pure delight. In the second half of the book, Miss Cayley’s travels bring us face to face with some racial issues which are treated somewhat progressively but fall far short of achieving a successful resolution. While the book is quite progressive in terms of race … Continue reading Miss Cayley’s Adventures by Grant Allen →
It is imperative that when you go see The Great Gatsby, you know these two things: 1. It's a Baz Luhrmann movie. Baz is not known for subtlety. If you want something restrained, something in which Leonardo DiCaprio isn't introduced by the sounds of Gershwin and the sight of fireworks, then look elsewhere. If you want lavish madness, then go see this – and see it in 3D. Both my friend and I saw it … Continue reading The Great Gatsby: Review and Romance Analysis →
This is one of the most charming and weird books I’ve ever read. It’s a whirl of short stories about sex, love, family, death and life, all told from the perspectives of a mind-boggling array of animals. Screw lions and tigers and bears—this book features, among other things, homicidal scorpions, lions in love with antelopes, freakishly intelligent lab rats, megalomaniacal ants, incestuous sponges, narcissistic snails and former-K9-unit-turned-Buddhist-monk dogs. But these animals are merely different incarnations … Continue reading Mini-Review: You’re An Animal, Viskovitz! by Alessandro Boffa →
Better Days Ahead is a 1950’s saga of several families whose misfortune leads them to California. Their lives begin in disparate settings and by the end of the novel are entwined in multiple ways, struggling with racism, violence, class differences, and the loss of their collective innocence. I found that throughout most of the book, the struggles overshadowed any moments of growth or contentedness for the characters, which made the novel increasingly difficult to read … Continue reading Better Days Ahead by Charlie Valentine →
I didn’t think I’d ever get into this book, despite a bookmark placed three-quarters of an inch into the text. In fact, I put another book in my bag, thinking I would give this one back to its owner with a “Thanks – it was good.” I rarely tell someone I didn’t like a book they let me borrow. Then, on the bus that morning, SLURP. I got sucked in, to the point where I … Continue reading The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant →
Oh my God. Never has a book sagged so much in the middle. I mean, seriously, it droops more than the bits ‘n pieces you’ll see in Bust a Nut in Grandma’s Butt. Pity, because it started out with so much promise. The Historian, I mean, not Bust a Nut in Grandma’s Butt. Warning: You know how annoying I am when I write reviews, what with talking in detail about the plot and all? Well, … Continue reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova →
Dude tries to stop some young thugs from beating up a sweet young thang on the tube. Dude gets the crap kicked out of him. Dude falls into a coma. Dude enters into an incredibly self-conscious reverie as he attempts to wake himself up from said coma. And there we have the entirety of Alex Garland’s The Coma. Not all stories with simple plots are brief or insubstantial, but both are true for this book. … Continue reading The Coma by Alex Garland →
