I have heard of Speak before — it’s been out since 2001 — but I never really knew what it was about. I happened to buy the 10 year anniversary edition at a used book sale. There’s a note from the author at the beginning, talking about what a huge response she’s received over the years from her readers about this book. She puts together a collection of lines from readers’ letters, and I swear, the damn thing had me in tears. That’s a powerful book, to move me […]
New vocab word: cruciverbalist
My city has a big book sale every year that benefits the library. I look forward to it eagerly — trade paperbacks for $1, mass market for a quarter? Sign me up! I think my favorite part thing about it is that there’s almost no risk — you can pick up some random book because it looks vaguely interesting and if it sucks, who cares? It was a dollar or less. This was my reasoning behind 1) purchasing 55 books this weekend and 2) picking up a […]
This book made me HUNGRY
I read this whole book in the bathtub and made myself very hungry reading the recipes. I seriously need some Mexican food right now! “Tita knew through her own flesh how fire transforms the elements, how a lump of corn flour is changed into a tortilla, how a soul that hasn’t been warmed by the fire of love is lifeless, like a useless ball of corn flour.” Like Water for Chocolate tells the story of Tita and Pedro. They fell instantly in love when their […]
Good book with a rather random title
Sometimes random eBooks from the library turn out to be pretty damn good. I really liked The Precious One, and managed to find another book by Marisa de los Santos this weekend at a book fair, so hopefully it’s just as good as this sweet little story. Eustacia “Taisy” Cleary and her twin brother have been estranged from their father for about 18 years — ever since he kicked them (and their mother) out when they were teenagers. Now the old man might be dying, and Taisy gets roped into […]
2 Stars for Odd, 4 for Edie
I’m not sure if I have suffered some sort of brain injury, or if the combination of Koontz’s preaching and Odd Thomas’s self-deprecating way of saving the world has finally broken me, but so help me God, I love the quirky old lady in the six Odd Thomas book, Deeply Odd. Usually I injure myself rolling my eyes at some of the ever helpful but mysterious people in these books — I cannot stand Annamarie — but Edie Fischer has warmed my black heart. The rest of the […]
I bet Lisa Genova’s a lot of fun at parties
While Genova’s Still Alice stars Alzheimer’s disease, Inside the O’Briens gives the reader an intimate view of what Huntington’s Disease does to a body — and a family. It’s a sad book — while Huntington’s affects only a fraction of the number of people affected by Alzheimer’s, it’s still a wretched disease and one that’s not particularly well-known or understood. I’ve heard of it, but I also watch a lot of medical dramas. Huntington’s is also 1000% fatal, usually within about 10 years of diagnosis. “As they lurch […]
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