This is one more reason why comic books are now called graphic novels or "sequential art". And why I despair for the future of mankind. Advice to writers: WRITE BELOW THE 8th-GRADE LEVEL. Some writers worry that this may insult their readers' intelligence. In reality, no one complains that something is too easy to understand. Studies show that writing below the 8th-grade ... Read More...
Suite Française
There are novels that come with a backstory so complex and heartrending the book itself can be overwhelmed. Irène Némirovsky, was a Ukrainian Jew living in Paris with her husband and two young daughters. She was a successful author and had written the first two parts of Suite Française in Paris during the German occupation. In 1942 at age 39 she would be sent to her death ... Read More...
Age of Desire
There are two stories of love in Age of Desire. One is Edith Wharton’s affair with a young journalist and the other is the more enduring constant love between friends. In 1907, Wharton resides in Paris for the winter with her husband, Teddy, and assistant, Anna. Her marriage to Teddy is in name only: he is much older and they have nothing in common. As Edith describes herself ... Read More...
Sugarhouse: Turning the Neighborhood Crack House into Our Home Sweet Home
“When looking for a house, you’re not looking for mere lumber and plumbing but rather for spirit and community. You’re not looking for a location but a locus, a place that will be your center.” Before I begin this review I need to issue a disclaimer. I don’t know Matthew Batt but as one non-Mormon living in Salt Lake City, UT, to another, I do. In fact, we lived there at the ... Read More...
Gossip
I’m fairly certain that Tolstoy spent less time on War & Peace then I have spent trying to review Gossip. My problem is this: on the surface you have a cool-toned, witty look at three women living in the upper echelon of New York society. They are each interesting, diverse women, wearing fabulous clothes, and if that’s all you need from a book, then stop right here and go ... Read More...
Tigers in Red Weather
In Tigers in Red Weather It’s 1945 and in a small apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts cousins Nick and Helena prepare to celebrate the end of the war and the beginning of their lives. Helena is leaving to be with her new husband, Avery, an insurance salesman in Hollywood and Nick is heading to Florida to rejoin her husband, returning naval officer, Hughes. As the years pass ... Read More...
