21
Oct
2010
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The first half of this book is slow-paced and unlike the first book. The second half involves the Games and is fast-paced and much like the first book. Both of these are good things.
20
Oct
2010
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park. What can I say? I liked it far better than I thought I would. But it made me think about a lot of things, not least of which about Jane Austen herself.
5
Oct
2010
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! I am amazed not just by this book, but the fact that finally–finally!–a book–a YA book–has lived up to its hype.
30
Sep
2010
Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell
It is systematically impossible to review this book without comparing Shandi Mitchell to Willa Cather. Similarities include, but are not limited to: Eastern European immigrants to the harsh prairies of North America; suicide; vast landscapes; early 20th century; complex characters (particularly strong women).
28
Sep
2010
I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman
The last thing Eliza wants is to hear from the man that kidnapped her for a week when she was a teenager. But that’s exactly what happens when Walter sees her picture in a magazine (because, you know, he’d know her anywhere) and decides to contact her from death row.
9
Sep
2010
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The Bean Trees was Barbara Kingsolver’s debut novel, back in the ’80’s. One chapter in, and you can already see the foreshadows of the voices she would create over the next few decades.
5
Sep
2010
Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi
If I have anything to complain about this book, it’s that it’s too short. We’re transported into the world of Marjane Satrapi’s family for an afternoon, but left wanting more.
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.
10
Aug
2010
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Spoiler: the guy lives at the end. But you and I already knew that, considering that the sequel, Linger, is already out. I actually would have really enjoyed some delicious tragedy where he died and the next book could have been about some of the other werewolves, but this is YAPARANORMALROMANCE and that just isn’t going to happen. Thus I never felt any sense of urgency whatsoever, which might’ve brought the book up from “meh” to pretty ok.
6
Aug
2010
The Last War by Ana Menéndez
I really wanted to love this book, but it’s over-narration killed it for me. Never in recent memory has it taken me so long to get through a book so short (just over 200 pages).
