Hello, lovely readers! I’m sorry for my absence at the end of July but a whole lot of life—some of it very happy, some of it not so much—got in the way of my reading and reviewing. The happy was a family wedding and the not-fun was experiencing COVID for the first time. Wow. Even being fully vaccinated I’ve been laid low. You know it’s bad when even reading is beyond me. ... Read More...
8 Beautiful Backlist Books to Read Now
After a little digression on Friday, it’s back to books! Reading may be your escape during quarantine, but for many the economic issues caused by the pandemic means buying the newest releases isn’t a great idea. So, today I’ve got eight beautiful backlist books I read and loved years ago. Several I’ve never talked about because I read them before I started this blog. Even ... Read More...
Small Books, Quick Thoughts
This post may include Amazon links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I was going to call this post Short and Sweet, but the title is not quite right for these three novels. Sweet implies a bit of passivity and isn’t often a trait I like in my fiction. Instead, each of these small books belied their size with the force of their stories. Because they’re ... Read More...
December Library Checkout
Happy last day of 2016! Suffice it to say I’m ready to wash my hands of this year. Actually, not the entire year. I had some great personal experiences earlier in 2016 but the second half has been draining and difficult. Like so many people I know, the election results have made staying positive challenging. The bad news seems to keep coming with no respite in sight. Complete ... Read More...
The Mare: A Novel
The Mare by Mary Gaitskill begins when Velvet, a Dominican girl living in NYC, is eleven and ends when she thirteen, but her life experiences go far beyond her age. Through the Fresh Air Fund, she gets to go to upstate NY for a summer and stays with Ginger (“this blond lady…her face full of niceness with pain around the edges”) and her husband Paul. They live near a ... Read More...
How to Set a Fire and Why
You may be wondering why I am giving you this account. Well, I don’t know really. A bunch of things happened and I’m just putting them in order. I’m doing it for myself. You are just a construction—you’re helping me to put things in order. You are my fictional audience and as such, I appreciate you very much. I figure when I finish, I will throw this out. Lucia Stanford ... Read More...
