I feel unsure what to say of this book. Toru Okada’s cat runs away and then he meets a bunch of people. That’s it. We cook spaghetti and we listen to his phone calls and lots and lots of people tell stories to him that we are subjected to listen to, never knowing whether this story will tie into the overall arch of finding the cat. His wife leaves him, but Toru Okada does little more than take the train and sit on a bench. […]
Not Your Average Dandy
I received this book from Siege as part of the Pajiba gift exchange, and it really was the perfect read for me – I’m quite a fan of mysteries, especially ones set in the past, including the Mistress of the Art of Death series, and Stefanie Pintoff’s works. This novel is actually came before many of the ones I’ve read recently, and is the first of a four part series starring Julian Kestrel. I will definitely be picking up the next three at some point […]
Fever in the morning, fever all through the night
Fever tells a fictionalized story of Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary for being identified as one of the first carriers of typhoid fever. I’m a little wary of most historical fiction, but I was interested enough to learn more of her story (even fictionalized) that I picked it up. It really is a fascinating story – Mary worked as a cook for several years for several families and eventually the health department identified her as the cause for concurrent typhoid outbreaks at her […]
A treasure chest for those who like conspiracy theories
Seventeenth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. What could one want from a historical yet fictional novel? That it be accurate when it is talking of history and that it be filled with spectacular fictional tales. In Foucalt’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco delivers on both counts. This is a book that is full of historical facts and some amazing conspiracy theories. There are so many of them, that every other line has a reference to some obscure cult or secret organization with events that […]
Life-long friends fall in love while hunting for spies
This is the second book in The Pink Carnation series, with events following on pretty much directly from the end of The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. If you want to avoid spoilers for the first book, you should probably skip this review for now. Eloise Kelly has discovered the secret identity of the elusive British spy known as the Pink Carnation, but wants to discover more about the gentleman spies of the Napoleonic era. She goes with Colin Selwick to his country house, to search through the […]
Metaphorical poetry masquerading as prose
Sixteenth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. This is a feeler’s book. While you’re reading this book, you don’t think through the story, you feel your way through it. You are taken on an epic journey through a century of existence – subdued passions, resigned fates, a grudging surrender to the onslaught of time that is made inevitable by the mere act of existing. You will feel the layers of time peel away and color your senses with their distinctive hues, as seen […]
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