The subject of this book, Leroy Robert Ripley of “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!”, was very interesting. He was a strange, strange man who came up with an incredible concept and made quite a name for himself, although he remained unhappy for most of him life. The writing, however, left something to be desired. Thompson’s style is weirdly informal and relaxed, and comes off like he didn’t do his research (which I’m sure he did!) — more like he’s just making stuff up on the fly. The […]
“Peculiar” Is Right
What a strange book. The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman had its moments — usually bizarre to the point of being hilarious moments — but overall it seemed intentionally confusing and strange. Set in 1950s, The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman stars a young man named, of course, Thomas Penman. His household is quite bizarre: his parents are locked in some unspoken war that he can’t quite figure out, but it involves their multitude of dogs being allowed to shit all over the house. His grandfather is slowly […]
The Drunken Botanist
I have this book to thank for my newfound love of Strega. My liver may not thank me, but I also now have a very long list of liquors that I want (need?) to try. What’s Strega, you ask? It’s an Italian liqueur, named after the witches of Benevento, a town south of Naples (where my great-grandparents are from). According to the book, there are 70 ingredients in Strega, including cinnamon, iris, juniper, mint, citrus, cloves, anise, and myrrh. It’s herbal based, and can be […]
I really wish she hadn’t kept addressing her letters to “Daddy”
3.5 stars Jerusha “Judy” Abbott is a Canadian orphan, who at 17 is still living in the orphanage, mainly because they are using her as free help. She is frequently told that she needs to keep her strong opinions and overactive imagination to herself, or nothing will come of her. She dreams of becoming a famous author and when a wealthy benefactor of the orphanage offers to send her to college on a scholarship, she is closer to achieving said dream. She doesn’t know who […]
Kestrel gets in way over her head
Disclaimer! I was granted an ARC of this book through NetGalley in return for a fair and objective review. The book is available now. This review will contain some spoilers for The Winner’s Curse. I will try to be vague, but it’s pretty much impossible to review this without mentioning some of the important stuff that happened in the second half of the first book. You have been warned. You still here? On your own head be it. Kestrel is now firmly settled in the […]
There’s gold in that there swamp!
Picked this one up on a whim from Half Price Books, and it turned out to be a pretty good read. The Outcasts is set in Texas in the 1800s, and I really enjoyed the aspects involving across the state (I live in Dallas, so it was fun recognizing some of the landscape). “Dr. Tom had said that Texas was the only place he had ever found that, when it killed you, it didn’t forget about you.” The Outcasts focuses on two sets of characters. Lucinda works […]
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