This new YA novel has the makings of another multi-book blockbuster like Harry Potter or Hunger Games, but it’s not derivative or formulaic. Sabaa Tahir makes beautiful use of her cultural background (the child of Pakistani immigrants in the Mojave Desert, an outsider who did not feel particularly brave growing up) and vivid imagination to create a world that is dominated by dark spirits and a powerful militaristic elite. The Martials (who remind me of the Spartans) have ruled ruthlessly for 500 years; they’ve enslaved […]
The Birth of the Bimbo
… kissing your hand may make you feel very good but a diamond and safire bracelet lasts forever. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was one of the most popular books of its day. First serialized in Harper’s Bazaar in 1924 (published as a book in 1925), it was an immediate hit among the general public and was widely acclaimed among writers such as George Santayana, H.L. Mencken, William Faulkner, and Edith Wharton. Gentlemen seems to have been the inspiration for the “dumb blonde” trope, immortalized by Marilyn […]
It’s about more than the sinking of the Titanic
This novel, published in 1996 and winner of the Whitbread Prize (shortlisted for the Booker), is set on the Titanic’s fateful voyage, and it is about loss, but not just the loss of those who set sail. Every Man for Himself is about the loss of love, the passing of an old world, and the painful birth of the new one as exemplified by our 22-year-old narrator. Morgan has known both deprivation and privilege, having had a foot in both worlds. Yet, he is not […]
Jane Austen Meets Harry Potter
Being the Correspondence of two Young Ladies of Quality regarding various Magical Scandals in London and the Country This delightful novel, the first of a series, predates the Harry Potter novels by over 10 years. Wrede and Stevermer wrote and published Sorcery and Cecilia in 1986. I would have been in college at that time, which might explain why I completely missed out on this series, geared toward young readers (early teens-ish). Still, as with HP, a well written story attracts readers of all ages, […]
Be the Change You Wish to See in the World
The Parable of the Sower, by the brilliant Octavia Butler (author of Kindred), is a piece of dystopian fiction set in California in the 2020s. It’s not clear precisely what happened, but rule of law and access to utilities, education, and basic necessities have been severely curtailed. Our narrator is Lauren Olamina, a teenager who lives inside one of the remaining walled communities on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Lauren is a “sharer” or “feeler,” i.e., a person who has a condition called hyper empathy […]
…like a fish needs a bicycle
The Summer House Trilogy was originally published as three separate pieces in 1987, 1988, and 1990. Putting all three together is not just convenient for the reader but a boon for seeing Ellis’s overall picture of her female characters’ friendships, romantic relationships, and independent thinking. Each story is a perspective on the same event: the weeks leading up to the wedding of very young and reserved Margaret to neighbor Syl, who is old enough to be her father. In fact, Syl has known Margaret’s mother […]
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