andtheIToldYouSos – Page 40 – Cannonball Read 17

Laugh so Loud at the Coffee Shop that the Guy Next in Line Spills His Drink (CBR11 Bingo: The Collection)

Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg

August 18, 2019 by andtheIToldYouSos 2 Comments

The bizarre come home to roost in Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory. Fleeting daydreams turn into years long stunted relationships, science goes too far into US history, dogs navigate the meaning of “good” and “bad”, entire stories are told in the span of half-sentences, and a Minions watch holds new and aching power. The wordplay, absurdity, and bone-deep ennui of Bob-Waksberg’s previous creation, Bojack Horseman, are ever present and ready to build you up and tear you back down to the ground. […]

Oh Margaret. You can do so many things, but rapping is not one of them. (CBR 11 Bingo: Remix)

Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold by Margaret Atwood

August 17, 2019 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

I love a good Shakespearean remix. I devour everything Margaret Atwood has to offer. I was delighted to come across Hag-Seed, as I am still haunted by her addition to the Canongate Myth Series (Penelopiad) 14 years after reading. Atwood sets her storm in the “summer-stock” theater world of world of far flung Canada. Our Prospero is a wrongfully toppled director of a prestigious theater; toppled by schemes, toppled by loss, and toppled by grief. His island takes the form of a prison, where he rises once […]

DO NOT READ THE BOOK JACKET! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

The Witch Elm by Tana French

August 17, 2019 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

If you are in the least bit interested in this story- as an avid reader of Tana French or a curious newcomer- then heed the warning and DO NOT be tempted by the book jacket! The inciting action is described- in detail- right on the open flap of the cover, but you will spend a good 250 pages wandering around in wait. It will ruin one of the many surprises, and lend an unnecessary element of additional suspense to something that is already full of […]

A Tom Robbins-esque Interstellar Freak-out

Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore

August 16, 2019 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

This is the story of a man named Milo. Well, frequently a man, but sometimes a woman, a rabbit, a tree, a fish, a bug- any number of things. Sometimes he’s on earth: the Midwest, Japan, Africa, a top-secret lab in the great plains- and sometimes he’s in space. He’s always in love, but usually in love with Death. Not dying- just one of the many personifications of Death. She’s usually a woman named Suzy, but sometimes she’s a witch, or a candle maker, or […]

things that weren’t yours to lose

Arcadia by Lauren Groff

March 14, 2019 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

I felt the air being knocked out of my chest on more than one occasion while sinking into Arcadia. Lauren Groff’s prose is sparse and beautiful, and there’s no way for me to accurately describe it without further muddying it into oblivion. She tells only what needs to be told; moments are fleeting, endings are organic, and jumps through time are poignant and crushing. I felt the ache of nostalgia for things that I have never experienced. I felt long-gone youthful optimism harden and calcify into […]

telling over showing: the novel

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

March 10, 2019 by andtheIToldYouSos 9 Comments

This novel is the literary embodiment of the kid who sat in the front row of your lecture course and had a long-winded comment to add to every. single. statement. made by your instructor. Not only do we go on a botanical exploration in the late 1700s- we go with CAPTAIN COOK! Not only do we supply pharmaceuticals to explorers- we sell to LEWIS AND CLARKE THEMSELVES! Not only did we happen upon the theory of evolution, but we BEAT DARWIN TO IT! These aren’t […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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