I wasn’t sure what this book was about, just that it was good. So I took a chance and was thrust into the interrogation of a Scottish World War II war prisoner for the Germans. The subject of the interrogation? Not your usual WWII prisoner, as it’s a female. And she seems especially…perky?…for being interrogated. Okay, maybe perky isn’t the best choice of words, but she’s definitely not short on wits, snark, or even a sense of humor. And who can resist someone who says […]
*Not ALL Americans*
I hate Americans. I hate the way they think they are (or ought to be) the greatest country in the world. I hate that they define Trump as the leader of the free world and I hate their self-righteousness as liberators of oppressed countries. Which is why I hate The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. We start off with the blandest of bland protagonist, cookie-cutter pretty girl with a scar and a shameful past. She’s also a baker, because she wants to bake all night to […]
Flirting over artifacts and forgeries
I’ve had Bound By Your Touch on my reading list for a long time, probably because at some point it was recommended by Malin or Mrs Julien or both. As per usual, a rec from these ladies turned out to be a pretty lovely romance. Heroine is Lydia Boyce, a spinster bluestocking (my favorite!) who works for her father in the trade of collectible Egyptian artifacts. Boyce Sr. is an academic archaeologist actively excavating, and Lydia is essentially his business manager back in Egypt. She […]
Murky and Dim
This Fritz Leiber novel, published in 1977, seems both of and outside of its time. It appeared after The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, and Carrie, three books that reinvigorated the genre, but it reaches back to earlier traditions. The slim but still overly long novel tells of Franz Westen, a San Francisco resident who catches sight, through his binoculars, of a strange form. After some scene-setting, he sets off to track the creature down. Looking back at his apartment through those same binoculars, he’s startled to […]
I will commence turning off my faucet of F**ks by not giving one about this book…
This was an odd choice that I randomly grabbed from the bestseller list. The title made me laugh. I didn’t totally hate it and there are a few useful ideas, but overall I found the writer to be an entitled bro whose brand of inspiration did not speak to me. The first chapter, entitled “Don’t Try” used the life of Charles Bukowski as its example. The central point was that Bukowski was a loser with low expectations, failed for 30 years, then took a chance […]
Just Add Glitter and The Fun Happens
Just Add Glitter has an interesting concept: do a craft project by adding glitter. Of course, it gets out of hand. The moral is that if you have too much of a good thing you cannot see the real things that sparkle. A big plus for me is that the child does clean up in the end. This is a nice touch. Usually the mess is left for someone else or never mentioned. I think, while books should be fun, be sneaky and put a […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- …
- 211
- Next Page »