This one was on my “classics” bookshelf and I felt the need to be a little literary. As an honor’s English student in high school and an English major in college, I am no stranger to Shelley’s story but wanted to dust it off and give it another look. I figured it would be interesting to compare how far modern adaptations have strayed from the original, and I was not disappointed though I would maybe like to push Dr. Frankenstein down a flight of stairs. […]
Great vampire premise, bad vampire execution
This was the second selection of my brunch book club, not my usual fair, but I was excited to read a bit of Young Adult fiction because my life as of late has been busy so at least I could get another book read under my belt. I’m a big vampire fan so I went into this cautiously optimistic. So many vampire tales have let me down tremendously (I’m looking at you, Twilight) so I didn’t get my hopes up, but went into this looking […]
Character development and tension weave together a great mystery
This is yet another novel recommendation that I took from my favorite podcast, Literary Disco. They reviewed this one and after listening to the episode I was intrigued. Thankfully they do a wonderful job of curiosity whetting without spoiling, and my aim is to do the same. Larry Ott is a man of a simple existence. He has lived in the same small town his whole life and spends his adult days reading, feeding his chickens, and waiting for customers at his mechanic repair shop. […]
A prayer for Owen is a prayer for us all
In a similar vein as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I was on the fence about John Irving, though swayed a bit more in his favor. The World According to Garp is one of my favorite books of all time, but I have tried to read Ciderhouse Rules three or four times and just couldn’t get in to it. I had heard amazing things bout “A Prayer for Owen Meany” and was pushed to tackle it after a friend a few states away said she was starting […]
Marquez: a good cup of tea, just not my cup of tea
This is my third adventure with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read “Love in the the Time of Cholera” and really enjoyed it, but read “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and by the end of it felt as if I myself had lived through one hundred years of solitude: it was a chore. Thus, for me, “Of Love and Other Demons” would serve as the tiebreaker. The novel begins with a short introduction by Marquez about his inspiration for this novel, coming across the remains of […]
Hindsight is bittersweet, but the facts are hard
I rarely read non-fiction and even more rarely read memoirs so I went into this read with few expectations. It was the pick for my book club, so I picked it up dutifully, much like I would tackle required reading in school. I’m hesitant to say I enjoyed this book, because the subject matter was difficult and heart-wrenching, but I am glad that I read it. Alysia Abbott is the daughter of two free spirited parents in the 70s, in a non-traditional configuration. Her parents […]