blauracke – Page 18 – Cannonball Read 17

What Makes a Woman

The Pearl that Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi

December 30, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

The stories of two women living a hundred years apart in Afghanistan are intertwined in this book and demonstrate clearly that progress is not linear, and that tradition is often so pervasive and destructive that it can seem impossible to overturn. These women suffer terrible hardships due to the society that they are born into, and their only respite is the time they, for different reasons, spend as men. What I appreciated was the insight into the traditional Afghan culture and society, and the bits […]

A Small Town With Some Big Secrets

The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg

December 27, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In a picturesque little town in Sweden, a woman’s body is found frozen in a bath tub, her wrists slit. Her childhood friend Erica, a writer who is struggling after the death of her parents, and policeman Patrik try to solve the murder. The review of this book could be whittled down to two words, and they would be unfocused and immature. Unfocused, because there are so many tangents the book goes on that are then abandoned without a true resolution, like the story of […]

Wounds Laid Bare

Drifting House by Krys Lee

December 22, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

A collection of short stories, this book takes a look at Korea in the last 70 years, by exploring the impact of events like the Korean War and its aftermath, the dictatorship of Park Chung-hee, the famine in North Korea, or the IMF Crisis. Lee does this by examining the plight of ordinary people whose lives are inescapably governed by circumstances mostly out of their control. Some of the stories are pretty heavy stuff in that the protagonists find themselves in horrific situations where their […]

Bigger Is Not Always Better

Victim 2117 by Jussi Adler-Olsen

December 20, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

A body on a beach in Cyprus is registered as the 2117th death of a refugee in the Mediterranean Sea. The cause of death, however, is not drowning but murder. Detective Carl Mørck from the Department Q in Copenhagen becomes involved because his assistant Assad recognizes the dead woman. This is the 8th entry in the Department Q series and the first one I wish I had skipped. The previous books were operating on a much smaller scale in that they were concerned with events […]

Still Waters Run Deep

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

December 19, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy businessman to find his wife who supposedly eloped to Mexico with a lover. While investigating the couple’s isolated vacation home, a body is found in the nearby lake but it’s apparently not the missing woman’s. This is a rather classic noir with all elements present: a femme fatale, corrupt policemen, infidelity, drugs, and, of course, murder. The L.A. heat is unbearable, and people’s emotions run as high as the temperature while trying to hide all sorts of secrets. […]

“A life spent in the routine of science need not destroy the attractive human element of a woman’s nature.”

The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel

December 18, 2019 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In the middle of the 19th century, the Harvard Observatory began to employ women as ‘human computers’ who did the tedious but crucial work of interpreting stellar images captured on glass plates. Over time, more and more women with degrees were employed who then began to truly study the stars and soon made groundbreaking and invaluable contributions to our understanding of the universe. I had high expectations for this book but in the end, it was a bit of a disappointing read. It is weirdly […]

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.

About blauracke