This collection of short stories by Helen Oyeyemi is a mix of fairy tale and the modern world, of the fanciful and the dark, with a generous portion of sexuality thrown in. In some ways, it reminds me of Angela Carter’s work, but Oyeyemi’s stories, while dealing with heavy themes such as betrayal, abandonment and disappointment, maintain a lightness. Her characters demonstrate a quality that’s not exactly optimism, but a willingness to carry on, a good natured fatalism that tempers the darkness. The nine stories […]
David Tennant makes everything better.
Here’s something strange: last week I picked up two books at the library without really knowing what they were about. I just knew I heard “about” them and figured they would be a good way to pass a cold, rainy April weekend. What’s weird is that were pretty much the same story…just that one was way, way better than the other. Spoiler/trigger warning Both of these books deal with the rape of a high school student and the repercussions that follow. First lets get the […]
Needs more wine.
Kyle Davis is a powerful CEO, who lost his entire family in the Boxing Day tsunami. He was sleeping off a bender and blames himself for their deaths. Jordan Hastings is a vintner, who recently broke off her engagement, when her fiance stole her credit for an award-winning wine. This particular Christmas, they are forced by circumstance to spend a week together in Kyle’s secluded property in Margaret River (for non-West Australians, “Margs” used to be cheap and populated by hippies and surfers, but is […]
Should be required reading for everyone
Arnold “Junior” Spirit doesn’t exactly have an easy time of it. Born poor and hydrocephalic, it’s pretty much a miracle that he survived infancy. Suffering from stuttering, his over-large head, bad eyesight and frequent seizures, he’s routinely picked on by both children and adults on the Spokane reservation, finding solace in basketball, his drawing and his best friend Rowdy. When Junior transfers away from the school on the reservation to get a chance at a real education, Rowdy feels deeply betrayed, like Junior’s sold out […]
Oh, just grow up, Marianne!
4.5 stars After their father dies and leaves pretty much everything to their older half-brother, the three Misses Dashwood and their widowed mother have to find a new place to live, which isn’t exactly easy with the meagre income they have. After some searching, a cousin of Mrs. Dashwood’s offer them lodging in a little cottage on his estate in Devon. The eldest daughter, Elinor, admonishes them to make the best of it, but the middle sister, Marianne, is determined to be miserable. Then she […]
In which Fat Charlie answers the door and Spider encounters flamingos.
This was a superfun experiment in re-reading a book and its sequel in the correct order for the first time. As I mentioned in my “American Gods” re-read review, the first time around, I read “Anansi Boys” first, and it was nevertheless a totally delicious ride untainted by any sort of tyrannical adherence to an orderly timeline. I think Gaiman would approve. This time around, I read them in order, although I’m keeping with this personal tradition by learning too late that there’s a short […]
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