Many years ago, my sister had told me about the Way of Shadows, a fantasy novel and part of a trilogy that she had read. I was sufficiently intrigued and added it to my TBR. Two CBR Book Exchanges ago, Malin had graciously added it to my book haul and hoped that I would enjoy the reading experience. And, while I admit that this book was not my cup of tea, I am grateful for the experience and the diversity in reading material that she […]
A re-read that was worth the time
At the end of September, I presented a paper on P.D. James’s The Children of Men and technological anxieties. I used two academic metaphors: Michel Foucault’s reading of Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon model; and Donna Haraway’s cyborg. I argue that these examine male anxiety and female empowerment, particularly in an age of surveillance. That’s the sparknotes version, because I am fairly certain you don’t want to hear my presentation, but my thoughts on the book instead. Obviously, because I wrote about Children of Men, I had […]
A gorgeous and devastating read
I’m toying around with a New Orleans/hurricane themed course, whether in first-year writing or an upper-division humanities course. I’ve been trying to think about books that would be relevant, both fiction and nonfiction. Several people had already recommended Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones to me before, and with her new book garnering National Book Award buzz, I thought it might be time to give it a try. Esch is our protagonist. She’s fifteen, motherless, and pregnant. She is jockeying for family position amongst wild and […]
A too-soon farewell to a fun comic series.
My love for Catsy Walker, as she’s known in my house, is well-documented. I was surprised and a little disappointed to hear that Volume 3 (“Careless Whiskers,” and now I’m singing George Michael, thanks, you guys) was the final entry in this comic. Are you kidding me? Where am I going to get my fun and darling comics kick now??? Sigh. I was hoping that this would be a solid send-off for Patsy and her band, and this volume did not disappoint overall. Patsy has […]
Arabella’s second foray is not as successful as the first.
Last year (JUST KIDDING, CBR informed me it was actually February; OMG we have lived ten years since the election, you guys), I enjoyed David D. Levine’s Arabella of Mars, which was billed to me as Jane Austen meets Jules Verne. It’s an accurate comparison. I was excited to see a new adventure come out a mere year later. I immediately grabbed it from the library and read it on top of my unread-stack. Because this is a direct continuation of the first novel, I’ll […]
A book that has since passed its time
I worked for the linguistics professor and department chair at my undergraduate institution, so I heard a fair bit about Deborah Tannen. She also did her doctoral work with Tannen, which meant I and my fellow English majors heard a LOT about Tannen. J That’s how these things tend to go in academia. She’s done a lot for the subfield of sociolinguistics, and I’ve long wanted to read her work firsthand for myself. I bought You Just Don’t Understand! from a thrift store years ago […]
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