After hearing someone on Book Riot say that Bellweather Rhapsody was influenced heavily by The Westing Game, I had to go out and get it that very day. As a kid I was OBSESSED with The Westing Game, a smart book that still holds up as an adult reader. While it’s easy to see TWG’s influence, Bellweather Rhapsody is firmly its own thing. If you like clever little mysteries with casts of interesting characters, this needs to go on your list. Every year the majestic, […]
Vampires should always be this sexy
I went on holiday last week and prepared my kindle with a bunch of interesting new books, several of which have been recommended by fellow Cannonballers. The first one I read, though, was one I bought a while ago in a Humble ebook bundle: New Amsterdam, by Elizabeth Bear. More of a collection of short stories than a novel per se, the book contains several mysteries which are investigated and solved by three connected people: the vampire Don Sebastien de Ulloa, the sorcerer Abigail […]
I was on board until the Squirrel People
This was my second Christopher Moore adventure via audiobook (the first being Sacre Bleu), and for the most part I was pleased. The things I loved about the other Moore book were all here – witty banter, random deep thoughts, gratuitous vulgarities. But then again, there were parts that I was not in love with. Our main character is Charlie Asher, the Beta Male proprietor of Asher’s Second Hand, a second-hand shop in San Francisco. But that is not his only job. Shortly after the […]
Reading Under the New Moon
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, […]
Not a cologne, not a songwriter
When trying to find this book on amazon.com to provide the review link, it was remarkably hard. Amazon.com wants me to buy cologne, to buy sheet music, ANYTHING. The first book example I could find was in French. This book won the 2010 Governor’s General Award, surely it couldn’t be that obscure? Poor Can Lit, still neglected by the rest of the world. Cool Water is set in a fictional Saskatchewan farming community, and takes place over the course of about a day. In the […]
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 […]
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