Whether you read The Iliad in the original Greek, in an academic translation, or watched Brad Pitt and Eric Bana glisten as they warred on a sandy beach what everyone knows of the Trojan War is the men. And why not? It’s a story of men told by men. Author Pat Barker is having none of that. Instead, she’s looks at the war that lasted nine years and was set off by one man’s pride ... Read More...
Last Bit of Summer: Mini-Reviews
This week is it—the last bit of summer. At least, the traditional vacation aspects of it, because who knows how much longer summer-like weather will last? Either way, I’m ready for it. The past two weeks have been unpleasant, with an air quality rating in Seattle worse than Beijing’s thanks to wildfires in Canada and eastern Washington. Enough about the weather! Time to jump ... Read More...
Millennial vs. Millennial: Mini-Reviews
Once upon a time (oh-so many decades ago), Baby Boomers captured the attention of writers. That time is waning as the next fascination generation crowds at their aging heels. But if Boomers seemed to be a relatively homogenous group, Millennials are not so easily pegged. Recently, I read two novels that staked their ground at opposite ends of the field, with one going ... Read More...
I Was Anastasia: A Novel
I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon achieves quite a feat—taking a subject about which there is no longer any mystery and making it mysterious. Thanks to DNA testing, it is now known that Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia died with the rest of her family in the summer of 1918, slaughtered by the Communists in the basement of a house in the town of Ekaterinburg. But, for ... Read More...
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
I wasn’t planning on making this my week of impressive, but painful, tragic books but here we are. Reading Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad is like watching 12 Years a Slave—both are extremely important, but neither are entertaining or enjoyable. They're too real for that. Cora is a slave who decides to escape from the brutal Georgia plantation that is the only home ... Read More...
Fitness Junkie: A Novel
There are many things that make being a booklover wonderful, but one that makes me positively giddy is when a book finds me when I need it most. That feeling of a book that knows what you need and provides it. No point in prolonging the suspense, I’m talking about Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza’s new novel, Fitness Junkie. DON’T. RUN. AWAY! It’s not a non-fiction workout ... Read More...
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