I am a weirdo who watches the films first if there’s a film of a book. Because I’m either going to want to watch it anyway if I like the book, or someone is going to “make me” watch it. By make me, I of course mean enthusiastically encourage me enough that I feel guilty if I don’t and/or adds it to the our Netflix queue so that I watch out of desire for snuggles. Also, if I read the book first, there’s little chance […]
Curiosity Should’ve Killed The Cat… Tris
The main theme to Divergent is that there are two sides to every coin. Or, in this case, every faction. Humanity has been divided into five factions: Abnegation (selflessness), Amnity (kindness), Candor (honesty), Dauntless (bravery), and Erudite (knowledge). Each believed, on inception, that theirs was the way to prevent future war, and at age 16 the children of this world must choose which they believe. Each faction has their own headquarters and initiation, and if you choose a faction that is not the one you […]
Not As Expected
How do you review books that are basically someone else’s life narrative? Fat Girl Walking is Brittany Gibbon’s story, and her owning her story. I respect that, and feel no desire to take it to task. In fact, the writing is crisp and the humor sarcastic. There is little I can point to as flawed other than a few instances of casual ableism. I just didn’t like it. And since I rate by the Goodreads system, that means this book gets a single star. Perhaps […]
The Daylight Gate is Dark
Jeanette Winterson’s work is known for postmodernist lyrical prose. She has never flinched away from darkness and gore, exploring various aspects of being human, and the human past. However, this novella is not lyrical; there is no beauty in the writing to alleviate the heaviness in the lives of the characters. It’s not that the writing is poor, only that it is straightforward. In this piece historical fiction, Winterson weaves the aftermath of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot into the 1612 Pendle witch trials, with brief […]
Embrace Your Weird Self (And Other Weird Selves, Too)
I always find it difficult to review an anthology. Do you review each and every story, or just the work as a whole? The Secret Loves of Geek Girls is 288 pages of 51 diverse anecdotes, essays, comics, and some bits that seem a mix of everything (and more). Some are more expertly done than others, and some fall flat altogether. But there are some wonderful stories and graphic representations of good relationships, failed relationships, and a lot of near relationships. Even more than the […]