The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is the most delightful mashup of the game Clue (Mrs. Drudge in the kitchen, Lord Ravencourt in the library, anyone?), the movie Groundhog Day, and the book Life After Life. If that sounds like a hot mess, and you’re backing away, trust me, it’s not. It’s dark, dangerous, and delicious. Set on a decaying estate, it takes place over a long ... Read More...
The Only Woman in the Room
For those of you who aren’t old movie buffs…why not?! Old black and white movies with all their stylized glamour are one of the best escapes out there. But I digress. If you’re not aware of Hollywood in the 1930s then you won’t recognize the subject of Marie Benedict’s new novel The Only Woman in the Room. It’s Hedy Lamarr, who at the peak of her career, was known as one of the ... Read More...
April Reading Recap
Don't faint, but I'm not going to complain about my reading this month! Nope. Suffice it to say, April was a month of more highs than lows. It was also one for the record books. I read more non-fiction this month than I have all year. Thanks to super recommendations from bloggers I trust and the Seattle Public Library’s Peak Picks program (every branch has limited copies of ... Read More...
The Other Einstein
Much is known about Albert Einstein, from his theory of relativity to his philosophical musings on peace, logic and the universe. There is less known about his first wife, Mileva Marić, but Marie Benedict opens the door to her life and her marriage to Einstein in her new novel, The Other Einstein. Mileva was Serbian and despite being born at a time when girls were not even ... Read More...
The Oracle Glass
A young girl with a particular, peculiar gift—the ability to read the future in a bowl of water, or, as it was known at the time, an oracle glass. Geneviève is not blessed in any of the ways important to girls in 17th century Paris. She has a club foot and a twisted spine so her mother sends her away shortly after her birth. It is only when her father discovers he has a ... Read More...
The Ruins of Lace
Sometimes the past has the power to devour the future. Sometimes, as the days grow shorter and more dreary, the only anecdote is a book that takes you far away and holds you there until the very last page. Ruins of Lace is just such a book. In the 1600s King Louis XIII banned the wearing of lace, making it the most desirable and dangerous commodity in the kingdom. The ... Read More...
