All My Puny Sorrows is a poignant novel about sisters, creativity, depression and suicide. Toews touches on a number of big themes in her story but questions of control– by outside forces, over one’s life, creativity and even death– are the center of the narrative. We tend to admire and support the person who resists oppressive control from outside forces such as patriarchy and religion, the person whose creative force and innovation set her apart. But what if that person also resists more conventional societal […]
Get mad, then get involved
I try to space out my political reading, especially during an election year. I often find it equal parts enraging and frustrating and I wind up in a funk for several days after reading. What’s great about Naomi Wolf’s book is that it doesn’t just make you mad, it tells you how and where to channel that anger into something constructive. Give Me Liberty is exactly what its title suggests it is. But it is also a guide for us as citizens to re-involve […]
Pants Waits for Next Book in Series
I’m fairly picky about which mystery series I follow. They are formulaic by design so if there aren’t engaging characters and interesting stories, I tend to lose interest pretty quickly. The story of Constance Kopp and her sisters: Norma and Fleurette caught my interest immediately and is that start of what I hope will be a fun, somewhat historically factual mystery series. The story takes place in 1914 New Jersey. On a rare outing into town, the somewhat reclusive sisters’ buggy is run down by […]
Its essence is a mathematical construct, a self-referencing tautology, consecrated in the plane of regret.
A salute to the Cannonball Read and the Readers, for bringing this book into my brain. Holy crap, you guys. So good. Honestly, I had been expecting (and bracing myself for) something super duper effed up, based on the reviews that I had skimmed (to avoid spoilers). And yeah, it’s dark and horrifying and confusing and complex, but still really fricking readable. Here’s what I texted about 20 of my closest friends when I was halfway through and couldn’t stop reading last night: “It’s as […]
Fearsome Women
It’s hard to miss the stories in the news these days involving men sexually assaulting or abusing women, getting a slap on the wrist, and then the women being put through hell for speaking up about their assault. The women get blamed — she was drunk, she was known to sleep around, why was she with that/those guy(s) anyway, she’s a gold digger, etc. We’ve also seen many stories over the years about married men having affairs, being contrite and then the other woman being […]
“Who on earth could feel comfortable enough to sleep in a room with no books?”
My Lady Jane is a cute reimagining of the story of Lady Jane Grey. This version involves a war not over religion but over shapeshifters. E∂ians possess an ancient magic that allows them to change into the form of an animal, while certain people believe E∂ians are an abomination and should be destroyed. It’s very funny and there are silly anachronistic asides throughout the book. There’s also a healthy dose of romance between Jane and her arranged husband. I really enjoyed reading this, and it […]
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