helene wecker – Cannonball Read 17

“Of all the myriad races of thinking creatures in the world, the two that most delight in telling stories are the flesh-and-blood humans and the long-lived, fiery jinn.”

The Hidden Palace (The Golem & The Jinni, #2) by Helene Wecker

September 16, 2021 by narfna Leave a Comment

I’m having a hard time reviewing this one, mostly because I had a hard time deciding what I thought about it. But I’m on the verge of getting hopelessly behind in reviews again, so it’s time to buckle down and figure it out. I was thinking about the book this morning and I think I’ve finally formed some solid opinions, so here we go. This is a book about change in all its forms: death (and grief), destruction, creation, evolution, the way a person changes […]

A book I loved years ago is still great on re-read.

The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1) by Helene Wecker

September 1, 2021 by narfna Leave a Comment

This was just as good the second time. Not going to do a whole huge review because I’m tired, and I’d rather be reading the sequel instead of writing things. I still think this is an absolutely lovely portrayal of the immigrant experience, both in the way it portrays actual historical immigrant communities (particularly Little Syria and the Jewish communities in NYC) and in the way that Wecker uses the outsized fantastical experiences of the golem and the jinni (Chava and Ahmad, as they become […]

Drop-kick That Magic Lamp into Mount Doom

The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin (editors)

January 17, 2019 by allisonata 1 Comment

Short story collections are like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: you have to gnaw some nuts and chews to eventually find that chocolate truffle. That said, The Djinn Falls in Love is phenomenal. Six of the twenty-one stories are among the best short stories I have read. Ever. (Jhumpa Lahiri, I’m sorry to report that you’ve been bumped.) The editors’s international ensemble of authors clearly did their research, populating their confident tales with every manner of djinn, jinn, and genie. Some lie in wait in […]

Episode 1-31: Just the Beasts Under Your Bed, In Your Closet, In Your Head

August 26, 2018 by prisco Leave a Comment

https://killingmykindle.com/2018/08/27/episode-1-31-just-the-beasts-under-your-bed-in-your-closet-in-your-head/ Wherein I review: 119. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker 120. Serpentine (Anita Blake #26) by Laurell K. Hamilton 121. The Sellout by Paul Beatty 122. Turtles All The Way Down by John Green 123. Sweet Lamb of Heaven by Lydia Millet 124. Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames 125. The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp Helene Wecker gives us a historical love story between two servant myths. Laurell K. Hamilton comes back and sets Anita Blake against […]

How to not annoy while moralizing with folklore

May 17, 2018 by CoffeeShopReader 1 Comment

I’d seen this book around, and I knew it had gotten some good reviews and won some awards. I wasn’t in much of a rush to get to it, but then I realized it would be a good fit for a final project in a Myth and Folklore in Literature class that I have coming up, starting in about a week, and I’m not about to put a book on a list of options for a final project unless I’ve read it myself. Reading project […]

Strangers in a Strange Land

January 17, 2014 by Fofo Leave a Comment

There

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Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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