Lately I’ve been into non-fiction. Some of them have been uplifting and given me renewed hope in humanity–would that there were more Dr. Mutters in the world, right? How amazing that we can treat things with antibiotics! However, some of them, although well written and fascinating, make me despair for humanity. The Devil in the White City‘s psychopathic murderer bummed me out, and I’m currently reading King Leopold’s Ghost, which is very good and also seriously so depressing. At the 50% mark, I needed a break. The public library […]
Mindbending
So I finally read Alif the Unseen. Wow — what a genre-bender. So many questions about belief, ideology, loyalty, technology, humanity, and identity are explored across multiple metaphysical planes and in achingly familiar real-world contexts. To back up to a plot summary, which I’ll ape from Goodreads: “In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients—dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups—from surveillance and tries to stay out of trouble. He goes by Alif—the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and […]
Because There’s Enough Reality Already
Short stories have never been my cup of tea. It takes so much effort to get into the groove of a story that it seems pointless to have it end so quickly. After a friend suggested short stories via audiobook, I’m starting to change my mind. In audio form, short stories become podcast-like and I adore podcasts. Kelly Link’s Get In Trouble was a great starter collection. All of the stories could be classified as magical realism (which I love already) and are extremely well-written. […]
A very satisfying sequel to a book I really love
Disclaimer! St. Martin’s Press gave me an ARC of this through NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review. Ten years have passed since the events of Garden Spells. Claire Waverly has put her catering business on hold and branched out with boiled candy. The lemon verbena can soothe any throat or heartache, the rose candies can make you recall lost love and the lavender makes you calm and happy. After a feature article in a high-profile magazine made demand for her candy explode, […]
Love is the greatest demon.
I read One Hundred Years of Solitude when I was 19, because it was on the Oprah list, and I was still fairly new to adult fiction (true story). Becoming an English major unleashed me in college, and though I was not quite “mature” enough to really grasp the book, it’s stayed with me in the last eleven years. So I was delighted when A’s husband B choose Of Love and Other Demons as our February selection for my book club. We tend to read […]
He kissed her like he was drawing a perfectly straight line. He kissed her in India ink.
I don’t actually have the words to properly summarise the plot for this book, because I have so many feelings about it. Formulating them is going to be difficult enough. So I’m going to take the easy way out, and rely on the blurb: Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply – but that almost seems beside the point now. Maybe that was […]