Barbara Krasnoff's The History of Soul 2065
This novel is really a series of interconnected short stories, about two interconnected families, starting with the improbable meeting of two little Jewish girls in 1920 and following their descendants. There are fantastic elements and sci-fi elements, and some of it made me cheer and a lot of it made me cry. It’s suffused with Jewish folklore and history and I loved it. Weird but great. A.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
2019 book 77
Jane Austen's Persuasion
I wanted to reread this because I’m involved in an Austen-themed RPG and needed to refresh my references! I mean, it's also a great book and an enjoyable read. Nothing I can say about this book will be fresh or new, so I will conclude by just saying YAY.
I wanted to reread this because I’m involved in an Austen-themed RPG and needed to refresh my references! I mean, it's also a great book and an enjoyable read. Nothing I can say about this book will be fresh or new, so I will conclude by just saying YAY.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
2019 book 76
Mona Awad's Bunny
I thought Awad's 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl was GREAT, so was looking forward to her latest, which seems to be getting a lot of buzz. And it had me totally enthralled. It centers on an MFA student, who feels like an outsider, partly for class reasons, and partly because the other four girls in her program are a weird clique who all call each other "Bunny" and spend all their time together. And then they invite her to one of their gatherings, and things start getting . . . weird. Whenever I was reading this, I had to force myself to put it down--it's just totally gripping writing, and dark and funny and creepy. I loved it. A.
I thought Awad's 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl was GREAT, so was looking forward to her latest, which seems to be getting a lot of buzz. And it had me totally enthralled. It centers on an MFA student, who feels like an outsider, partly for class reasons, and partly because the other four girls in her program are a weird clique who all call each other "Bunny" and spend all their time together. And then they invite her to one of their gatherings, and things start getting . . . weird. Whenever I was reading this, I had to force myself to put it down--it's just totally gripping writing, and dark and funny and creepy. I loved it. A.
Sunday, June 16, 2019
2019 book 75
Lisa Lutz's The Swallows
There are certainly plenty of books out there already about boarding schools full of intrigue and drama (among both the students and the staff), but Lutz's entry into the genre is FIRE EMOJI. She uses multiple POV characters—a new teacher at school with an interesting past; your typical dude teacher writing a thinly veiled novel; and various students trying to bring down a secret website where the male students rate the girls on their blow jobs (!!!)—which keeps things moving along. And of course Lutz is always great with plotting and dark humor; I was totally wrapped up in this, and cheering the building fellowship of angry girls, and hoping for happy endings for all of them. But the first pages warn the readers that things aren’t going to end well. I did think the end maybe veered tooooo much into melodrama, but I couldn’t put it down. A/A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in August.
There are certainly plenty of books out there already about boarding schools full of intrigue and drama (among both the students and the staff), but Lutz's entry into the genre is FIRE EMOJI. She uses multiple POV characters—a new teacher at school with an interesting past; your typical dude teacher writing a thinly veiled novel; and various students trying to bring down a secret website where the male students rate the girls on their blow jobs (!!!)—which keeps things moving along. And of course Lutz is always great with plotting and dark humor; I was totally wrapped up in this, and cheering the building fellowship of angry girls, and hoping for happy endings for all of them. But the first pages warn the readers that things aren’t going to end well. I did think the end maybe veered tooooo much into melodrama, but I couldn’t put it down. A/A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in August.
Friday, June 14, 2019
2019 book 74
Laurie J. Marks' Air Logic
The final chapter of Marks' Logic series is finally here, and she just tosses the reader right back into the pool. After three lengthy books, there are a lot of characters to remember, and I struggled for the first few chapters to remember all their backstories. Eventually I caught on, or realized it didn’t really matter, because this whole series is sort of about the journey. I mean it is also about love (of all kinds, but also there are a lot of queer ppl and it’s nice), and found families, and working through issues, and magic, but also the journey. Maybe that makes it sound dull, but wholemit may not be action-packed, it’s certainly engrossing. Great characters and worldbuilding as always; I will definitely have to reread this from the beginning soon. A/A-.
The final chapter of Marks' Logic series is finally here, and she just tosses the reader right back into the pool. After three lengthy books, there are a lot of characters to remember, and I struggled for the first few chapters to remember all their backstories. Eventually I caught on, or realized it didn’t really matter, because this whole series is sort of about the journey. I mean it is also about love (of all kinds, but also there are a lot of queer ppl and it’s nice), and found families, and working through issues, and magic, but also the journey. Maybe that makes it sound dull, but wholemit may not be action-packed, it’s certainly engrossing. Great characters and worldbuilding as always; I will definitely have to reread this from the beginning soon. A/A-.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
2019 book 73
Kate Racculia's Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
I loved both of Racculia's previous books, and honestly have spent the several years since Bellweather Rhapsody periodically googling to see when she might have a new one out. And now she does, and it's DELIGHTFUL. I had to keep putting it down so I wouldn't just tear through it. It centers on the titular Tuesday Mooney, a prospect researcher (this means nothing to most of you, but I have several friends in the field) who--along with her only friend, and a very clever neighbor kid, and a handsome and very wealthy young man, and a cast of other characters--gets sucked into a treasure hunt spurred by the eccentric will of a Boston billionaire. VERY shades of The Westing Game. Oh, also, she is maybe being haunted by her childhood best friend who disappeared mysteriously when they were teens. I loved everything about this book, big-time. I feel like I’m making it sound quirky-cute, but Racculia balances whimsy and realism really well, and there are some darker moments. Anyway, SO GOOD. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in October.
I loved both of Racculia's previous books, and honestly have spent the several years since Bellweather Rhapsody periodically googling to see when she might have a new one out. And now she does, and it's DELIGHTFUL. I had to keep putting it down so I wouldn't just tear through it. It centers on the titular Tuesday Mooney, a prospect researcher (this means nothing to most of you, but I have several friends in the field) who--along with her only friend, and a very clever neighbor kid, and a handsome and very wealthy young man, and a cast of other characters--gets sucked into a treasure hunt spurred by the eccentric will of a Boston billionaire. VERY shades of The Westing Game. Oh, also, she is maybe being haunted by her childhood best friend who disappeared mysteriously when they were teens. I loved everything about this book, big-time. I feel like I’m making it sound quirky-cute, but Racculia balances whimsy and realism really well, and there are some darker moments. Anyway, SO GOOD. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in October.
Saturday, June 08, 2019
2019 book 72
Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys
And Whitehead knocks it out of the park again. In his latest novel (following up the multiple-award-winning Underground Railroad), the focus is on a young black boy in the early 60s, whose promising future is derailed by bad luck and systemic racism. And then he’s sent to an ungodly reform school—loosely based on a real place—where, in the present day, a group of archaeologists have found a secret graveyard full of young boys. Much of the novel takes place in Tallahassee; it is always a little weird to read about a place where you’ve lived, but as far as I’m concerned, Whitehead nailed it. Obviously parts of the novel are beyond grim, but the writing and narrative voice made me eager to keep reading. I just thought this was excellent, in a gut-punch sort of way. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in July.
And Whitehead knocks it out of the park again. In his latest novel (following up the multiple-award-winning Underground Railroad), the focus is on a young black boy in the early 60s, whose promising future is derailed by bad luck and systemic racism. And then he’s sent to an ungodly reform school—loosely based on a real place—where, in the present day, a group of archaeologists have found a secret graveyard full of young boys. Much of the novel takes place in Tallahassee; it is always a little weird to read about a place where you’ve lived, but as far as I’m concerned, Whitehead nailed it. Obviously parts of the novel are beyond grim, but the writing and narrative voice made me eager to keep reading. I just thought this was excellent, in a gut-punch sort of way. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in July.
Sunday, June 02, 2019
2019 book 71
Season Butler's Cygnet
So this book is about a teen girl living on an island exclusively populated by the very elderly—she was left there with her grandmother for what was supposed to be just a couple weeks, but her parents have not come back in months. And some of the population is hostile, and all feel like she doesn’t belong. This is a beautifully written sort of coming of age story, but it kind of depressed me. There were some weirdly grisly scenes too (ie the butchering of a chicken). B/B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 25th.
So this book is about a teen girl living on an island exclusively populated by the very elderly—she was left there with her grandmother for what was supposed to be just a couple weeks, but her parents have not come back in months. And some of the population is hostile, and all feel like she doesn’t belong. This is a beautifully written sort of coming of age story, but it kind of depressed me. There were some weirdly grisly scenes too (ie the butchering of a chicken). B/B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 25th.
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