I’m a pretty big horror fan. I graduated from Christopher Pike novels to Stephen King before I hit my teens. Naturally, I’m pretty familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft. So when I came across an author who Lovecraft named as a major influence on his work, I naturally had to give it a read. The similarities are apparent from page one. It has many of the ingredients of classic Lovecraft: cosmic horror, strange locals, unnamed horrors. It’s a must read for anyone who […]
20 years late to the party. I’m surprisingly out of place.
The Giver (1993) – reviewed 4 times previously (3.75 avg) I love dystopian fiction. Give me a zombie apocalypse or oppressive regime, and I’m happy. Unless we’re talking about really having to live under those circumstances, in which case you can count me out. So The Giver should be right up my alley. Only….well, it’s written for 14 year olds. It’s not that this isn’t a good book, I’m just 20 years too old for it. This book is trimmed of any excess. There’s a […]
Magical Babysitter-Check, Clueless Parent-Check, Crazy Adventures-Check
This recently re-issued classic children’s book is damn delightful. John, Janey and Pete are children growing up in 1950’s midwest. Their babysitter, Mr. Pudgins, has a magical pipe, a flying car and a pet Dodo. The children have a series of magical adventures, until Mr. Pudgins has to leave to share his magic with a new group of siblings. This book was re-issued as part of the Nancy Pearl’s Book Crush series for NPR. It’s a really sweet book with only a few issues. […]
The Truest of True Crime, predecessor to everything
I had heard of In Cold Blood because of its resonance in popular culture, as it is considered to be a true crime masterpiece, if not THE best true crime book ever written. My favorite podcast “Literary Disco” did an episode on some Capote stories, which jogged my memory that I had never tackled this classic, and I decided to make this one a goal for the year. I “read” this via audiobook, and I highly recommend both that format, and the book. In 1959 a well known […]
When I say “Nazis,” you say “No thank you!”
It’s 1962. The Allies lost World War II. Slavery is legal. The United States has been divided by its conquerors, with the Japanese ruling the West, and the Germans in the East, with a small No Man’s Land in the Rocky Mountains. The Nazis have exterminated Africans, drained the Mediterranean to make space for farmland, and developed and used the hydrogen bomb. Not content to only take over the world, they’ve started colonizing space. Meanwhile, there’s a book. It’s not banned, but it’s […]
A pleasant surprise
I know I’ve seen My Fair Lady at least once before, but it was ages ago and probably when I was still in high school. My response to it was middling. The costumes and musical numbers left an impression, the story itself didn’t. I probably would never have picked up Pygmalion if it hadn’t been something easy to get my hands on and worked for a book challenge I’ve been doing with a friend this year. For plays, I prefer reading along with dramatized audio […]
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