24
Aug
2010
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
In Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s debut novel, Wench, Lizzie, Sweet, Reenie, and Mawu are all brought to the Tawawa resort in southern Ohio for the summer by their masters. Perkins-Valdez researched the real retreat where it was common for Southern gentlemen to bring their slave-mistresses. Of course, being in a free state has a certain lure, and for the first time, their eyes are open to real possibilities of living free. An edifying friendship forms, one that none of the women have ever been able to have with other slaves, due to their status as the master’s mistress.
29
Jul
2010
31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan
I really enjoyed Ellen Horan’s debut novel, 31 Bond Street. Centering on a murder in 1850’s New York City, it is more about a lawyer, dedicated to defending the accused, than the who dunnit you might expect.
26
Apr
2010
Fables vol 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham
Ah, Love. I don’t read about you that much, but I’m a sucker for you, when I do (and O.K., sometimes your friend lust, too).
8
Mar
2010
The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran
I really wanted to love this book. But I just couldn’t. It needs a couple of more drafts before really getting there.
23
Jan
2010
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I’m a bit behind in reviews…for instance, I read this one some time last month. Part of this is procrastination on my part. But part of this is also that I wanted to let it digest in my brain.
30
Dec
2009
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler was…a decent story just adequately written.
24
Nov
2009
Spiritual but Not Religious by Robert C. Fuller
Have I told you guys about the second and last time I ever went to confession? The first of course, was when I made more first reconciliation in 4th grade. The second time, I was in 10th grade, on a field trip to Washington D.C. We were visiting the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and I felt like going to confession.
15
Nov
2009
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
It’s possible that Jane Austen’s wit is at its height in Northanger Abbey. Those biting little sentences that describe characters, and their quips to one another ring throughout the walls of bath and the great house Northanger Abbey.
13
Nov
2009
The Jane Austen Trilogy
I give this three DVD set a solid meh. I espied it at the library and thought I’d give it a whirl for the Everything Austen Challenge. Having watched all 180 minutes of it last night, I want at least 120 of those minutes back.
4
Nov
2009
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
The Country of the Pointed Firs, written in the 1890’s, captures the customs and dialects that were dying out in Maine at the time. Sarah Orne Jewett tried to preserve as much as she could in her fiction before it was forgotten.
