Oh, this book. I have hearts in my eyes over this book. It’s so odd that 2/3 of my CBR8 books so far are anthologies, but here we go. If you have any affection at all for anthologies, this one is like sliding into a warm bubble bath with a glass of dry red wine. I’ll get to summaries of each story shortly, but first, can we talk about Schappell’s treatment of her female characters? It’s implicit in the title that this might be a […]
Kids — Keep Your Dirty Hands Off ’em
This is another graphic novel for tweens and older, but unlike Marzi, a memoir, War Brothers is a fictionalized account of real events that have occurred in contemporary Uganda. War Brothers is about the fates of four friends as they fall under the domination of Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA fills its ranks with kidnapped children who are tortured and traumatized until they either die or become child soldiers for Kony, who thinks of himself as some sort of anointed representative […]
The sea will tell, if it can get a word in edgewise
Vincent Bugliosi sure did think a lot of himself. And he had every right to–he’s the guy who put Charles Manson away. He won almost every case he tried, whether as prosecutor or defense attorney. He wrote Helter Skelter, a fantastic book that enthralled and terrified me in equal measure. And the Sea Will Tell, however, is a bit of a different story. Covering the Palmyra murders case, the book starts off promisingly enough with the tale of two couples sailing separately to the distant island of Palmyra, both hoping […]
This ain’t no disco. This ain’t no fooling around.
We’re back, bitches. Now new and improved with the PattyKates tag instead of appearing mixed in with Katie’s solo reviews. And, to get us off to an interesting start, Patty has selected King by T.M. Frazier. Patty: King is the story of a homeless amnesiac named Doe (as in, Jane Doe) and the questionable love story between her and a criminal named King. We’ll get to the part where Katie messaged me with “What fresh hell is this?!” in a bit. […]
When I’m Missing My Dad, I Read This
Everything about my dad was big. Even without an arm, leg and three fingers (Vietnam injuries), he rode a motorcycle (modified of course), was part of a biker gang, had curse words tattooed on his arm(! that went over well in private school, believe me!!!) and everyone who has ever met him has had a story about him. He was an imposing man, with a giant beard and a very loud voice (also probably due to becoming a bit hard of hearing in Vietnam). He […]
Perfect with a cup of tea and some Cadbury chocolates.
The other day, while finishing a book on Kindle, and wondering what I was going to read next, I read a review from Ellepkay about a book I hadn’t heard of, but seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. Thanks, Ellepkay. I really enjoyed this one. Richard Troy is the greatest stage actor of his generation, hailed as the second coming of Olivier. He’s currently starring in a West End drama, but because of his off-stage antics (temper tantrums and the like), ticket sales are […]