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 […]
Be the Change You Wish to See in the World
The Parable of the Sower, by the brilliant Octavia Butler (author of Kindred), is a piece of dystopian fiction set in California in the 2020s. It’s not clear precisely what happened, but rule of law and access to utilities, education, and basic necessities have been severely curtailed. Our narrator is Lauren Olamina, a teenager who lives inside one of the remaining walled communities on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Lauren is a “sharer” or “feeler,” i.e., a person who has a condition called hyper empathy […]
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 […]
Finding your way out of the books and into the real world
Disclaimer! I got this from NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review. Samantha Moore has spent most of her life in foster care. Having tried to hold down a job on her own, she reluctantly accepts a scholarship offered by an anonymous benefactor, to Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. The scholarship will only be available as long as she completes her degree, and writes about her progress to the foundation, care of the CEO, who hides behind the name Mr. Knightley. […]
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 […]
Thank you, Mr. Pratchett, for all the joy you have brought me
Susan Sto Helit goes to a boarding school, and for the lessons she’s less interested in, she has a tendency to fade into the woodwork – literally. Susan has the ability to fade away, should she so wish it. Turns out, this is because her grandfather is none other than Death, and when he goes missing, Susan, as his closest relative, is required to take over his duties for a while. Being deeply pragmatic and rational, thanks to her first rate education, it takes Susan […]
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