Despite my lukewarm feelings about the first book, I read the next two volumes in Juliet Blackwell’s Witchcraft Mystery series, A Cast-Off Coven and Hexes and Hemlines. I know that people hate-watch TV shows, but do they hate-read? It takes a fair amount of time and energy to read a full-length novel (even if you sort of skim parts of it), so why do I keep coming back these books when they aren’t particularly good? Is it because I realized that Lily Ivory (why not […]
Basic Witch
The first in Juliet Blackwell’s Witchcraft Mystery series, Secondhand Spirits reminded me a lot of a cluttered antique shop–appropriate since the main character runs a vintage clothing store in San Francisco. There were a few quality pieces, a couple of unexpected treasures, and a whole lot of random crap that it made it difficult to find what I was looking for. What’s it about? Lily Ivory (I just can’t with that name) is a powerful witch with a troubled and lonely past. After years of […]
10% Useful
10% Happier is, like Shonda Rhimes’ Year of Yes or Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, part self-help book and part memoir. In fact, the first 80+ are essentially a chronicle of Dan Harris’s life as he rises through the ranks of broadcast journalism, becomes addicted to cocaine and ecstasy, and eventually has a panic attack on live television. It’s mildly entertaining, behind-the-curtain stuff, and it serves to frame his journey toward mindfulness and meditation, but it’s not especially useful if you’re hoping, as the extremely long […]
Pride and Prejudice and Practical Magic
When I first discovered historical fantasy (or mannerpunk, or whatever you want to call it), I felt the way I imagine a person does when stumbling upon a hitherto unknown sexual kink. Oh wow, I did not know this was a thing, but I LIKE it! Marissa Doyle’s debut novel, Bewitching Season, is a light and frothy confection that (if I’m being honest) wasn’t quite as good as I remember it. This book and its sequel, both published in 2009, follow the stories of the […]
The Queen of All She Surveys
At times, as I was reading Shonda Rhimes’ memoir/self-help book Year of Yes, I found myself getting very annoyed with her. Grey’s Anatomy isn’t even that good, I’d think. She so extra. It’s the Shonda Show 24/7 with this one. Doesn’t she know how conceited she sounds? I wanted her to be more humble, more quiet. When she mentioned how she owns Thursday nights for the umpteenth time, I wanted her to apologize for her success instead of brag about it. Which is kind of […]
The World Seemed to Burn
Lish McBride’s debut novel, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, is as funny and twisted as the title implies. Firebug (Henry Holt, 2014) is set in the same fictional universe, populated by a hidden society of supernatural beings like vampires and werewolves, but features a brand-new cast of characters. McBride writes like Joss Whedon on amphetamines, peppering every page with quips and puns, so if you like your teen angst with a heaping side of snark, you’ll probably enjoy Firebug. What’s it about? Ava Halloway is a […]