The Strange Library combines two things that I love dearly: libraries and strange supernatural occurrences. The story begins with a boy returning his books to the library. When he asks the librarian for help finding more books, she directs him to a confined room in the basement where a small old man helps him locate three gigantic volumes on tax collection in the Ottoman Empire. However, when he tries to check the books out, he is told that he must instead read the books there, […]
A Feminist Fairy Tale
I recently saw a review of this novel on NPR’s web site which compared it to Beauty and the Beast. Frankly, I don’t see it, but that’s okay because it’s so much better than a retelling of any known fairy tale. Novik combines elements of Slavic fairy tales, magic, and even some Tolkienesque flourishes (she admits to being a fan and it comes through in the work) to create a complex story about powerful women and friendship, the merits and difficulties of collaboration, and finding […]
A re-read of Dragons.
On my second time through this book, I have lots and lots of thoughts. Be warned, this is not so much a review as a series of reactions, mostly broken up by character, so spoilers ahoy. Ye’ve been warned, matey. (I have no idea why I’m suddenly a pirate.) Back when I first read this book in 2011, I came to it fresh off my first re-read of the first four books, which I had devoured in the space of about a month. I was also super […]
Darcy & Lizzie – Not a Pride & Prejudice Fanfic
I wasn’t expecting such a clever, enjoyable read. Westerfeld has his cake and eats it with two stories happening simultaneously in alternating chapters. Darcy Patel is a very young (just out of high school) writer who puts off going to college and moves to New York City after she lands a major book deal. Her début novel is about a girl named Lizzie who survives a terrorist attack by pretending to be dead and slipping into the afterworld. In the afterworld, Lizzie meets a mysterious […]
The Definition of Comfort Reading
This book is the literary equivalent of fuzzy slippers, a soft sweater, and the best cup of hot chocolate. It is pure comfort and takes me to a happy place every time I reread it. Actually, I feel that way about most of the Harry Potter books (not you Chamber of Secrets, not you), but Half-Blood Prince is my favorite of the series. I’m not going to bother giving a synopsis and there will be spoilers ahoy, just warning you. I’ll assume most cannonballers have […]
So Disappointing
I had such high hopes for this sequel after having so much fun reading the first book in the Shades of London series, but I can’t pretend this was anything other than a massive disappointment. Everything I loved about the first book (the coherent plot, fun cast of characters, Rory’s personality, great setting) was absent from The Madness Underneath. I wish I had stopped reading after the first book. In The Madness Underneath, Rory is recovering from the events of the first book under her […]
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