When I read non-speculative fiction, I like for there to be a Premise; for the book to be what they call high-concept. Like a girl was raised side by side with an ape, and here is what her life is like as an adult. Or a man’s personality completely changes following a traumatic brain injury. Or a British soldier assumes a secret identity to find his friend’s murderers. For me to pick up a book with a premise as quiet as Byrd‘s–a woman in her early thirties falls pregnant and gives the baby up for adoption–someone usually has to have…
11 CommentsReading the End Posts
Confession: Apart from the RIP Challenge, there’s nothing about Halloween that I enjoy. I don’t eat candy anymore, and having to put together a costume stresses me out horribly. So none of these links have anything to do with Halloween! Down with Halloween! Oh, except for this one: Lory of Emerald City Book Review is kicking off an awesome new blogging event, Witch Week! This year, we’re celebrating the inventor of Witch Week (the week between Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day) with a week-long appreciation of Diana Wynne Jones. Lory will be hosting guest posts from me and a number…
22 CommentsThis week, we welcome special guest star Robyn (my sister!!) to talk about the books we’d add or subtract from the canon of children’s literature. We review Jean Merrill’s wonderful book The Pushcart War on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, and we play a way-too-hard game about Newbery winners. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly to take with you on the go. Episode 31 Or if you wish, you can find us on iTunes (and if you enjoy the podcast, give us a good rating! We appreciate it very very…
4 CommentsNote: I received a copy of Horrorstör from the publisher, Quirk Books, for review consideration. I almost missed RIP once again this year! I always have the best of intentions about participating in R.I.P., but then I forget to read scary books, or I do read scary books but I forget to call them RIP reads or schedule them while RIP is running. Not this year! This year, I have squeaked one in under the wire! Horrorstör was acquired with the express intention of qualifying for Carl’s wondrous R.I.P. Challenge (now in its ninth year). Amy works at Orsk, an…
23 CommentsOh how I love a book that can speak unhysterically about the hysterical awfulness of living with a severe mental illness. Em and the Big Hoom (affiliate links: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository) is a son’s story of his manic depressive mother and his family’s life with her. Through conversations with his mother, Em, about how she met his father and the course of her mental illness, we see the toll that Em’s illness has taken on her and on her family. Hat tip to Shannon for the recommendation! Though the book is occasionally disorganized, as Pinto jumps around in time…
10 CommentsLindy West recently departed Jezebel for GQ, a move about which I said, “Huh.” But it all seems to be gold so far; here she is on the “BASICALLY SEX CHRISTMAS” represented by the new standards for consent in California colleges. JK Rowling, presumably missing the days when she got to fuck with us regularly, took some time out of her busy schedule to fuck with us last week with the following confusing tweet: Cry, foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My wand won’t tolerate this nonsense. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 6, 2014 I let the internet get on with…
22 CommentsWe welcome back special guest star Ashley to talk about authors we’d promote or demote from the Canon of Great Literature! Our book this week is Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel The Buccaneers, which is about rich American girls going to England to marry nobility, and Whiskey Jenny accordingly provided a game about the peerage to go along with! You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly to take with you on the go. Episode 30 An important note: Whiskey Jenny at one point mentions Roland Barthes’s book Camera Obscura, but she meant…
2 CommentsNote: I received an advance ebook copy from the publisher for review consideration, through Netgalley. I’ve read this collection for the past three years now, and every time, the editor has been careful to include science writing on a range of topics. If Deborah Blum’s collection is perhaps a trifle heavy on What Our Hubris Hath Wrought on the planet and its occupants (and a trifle light on SPACE and the things that happen IN SPACE), it’s very little surprise. At this point, the consensus is that global warming is at this point irreversible or close to it and we…
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