I have discovered that what I like in a biography is lots and lots and lots of quotations. When I was reading Julie Phillips’s excellent biography of Alice Sheldon, I kept reading bits of it out loud to Mumsy, and Mumsy said, “This is an autobiography?” It’s not, but Julie Phillips has brilliantly pulled together a multiplicity of letters, journals, and papers to create a wonderfully vivid picture of Sheldon’s life. To step back slightly: James Tiptree, Jr. was the pseudonym of science fiction writer Alice Sheldon, a woman who wrote fantastically creepy sci-fi stories about sex and death and…
11 CommentsReading the End Posts
This week on the Reading the End Bookcast, we talk about music and the role it plays in books, and we review Jennifer Egan’s greatly beloved A Visit from the Goon Squad (affiliate links: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository). Then we play a game of matching similes to the authors who wrote them, and wrap up by answering some listener mail. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly here to take with you on the go. Episode 13 Or if you wish, you can find us on iTunes (and if you enjoy…
3 CommentsAs you have probably heard by now, Jim Kay has been commissioned to give the Harry Potter books “a full colour makeover in a complete set of new editions.” The team that decided who would do this included J. K. Rowling, and Jim Kay is the brilliant genius who illustrated A Monster Calls. Below is his rendering of Hogwarts. Look, I know. How cool is that tunnel-staircase-pathway-thing that terminates in a creature mouth? My question now for the illustrated Harry Potter people is, What does full color mean exactly? I am so excited by the idea that it might mean…
17 CommentsThis week we talk about some things that can go terribly, terribly wrong when an author tries to write a love story. Then we review Eleanor & Park (affiliate links: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository), a love story in which the author goes right every time. We were going to play a game as well, about lovers in fiction, but we talked about Eleanor and Park too long and too animatedly, and we ran out of time. We will do the lovers in fiction game another time. It’s a good one. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player…
3 CommentsJust a notification for you, lovely bloggy friends: I’m moving and starting a new job within the next few weeks, so I will not be posting as much until probably after Thanksgiving. I’ll still be reading and commenting, but I just won’t be reading anything new. I am sticking to a strict diet of books I have read before, and I’m not going to lie: It will be overwhelmingly Elizabeth Peters. I’m reading Sunshine right now (still awesome), but then it’s going to be all mysteries and thrillers written by the lady who has read all the same trashy early-twentieth-century…
29 CommentsNote: We each received a copy of this ebook from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. This week we talk about what makes a good criminal in fiction before reviewing Donna Tartt’s new book The Goldfinch. We then play a game involving jailed authors. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly here to take with you on the go. Episode 11 Or if you wish, you can find us on iTunes (and if you enjoy the podcast, give us a good rating! We will appreciate it very…
9 CommentsThe beginning: A group of humans — including two who should not have ended up there, and seem to be (but are they?) furious about the mistake (if it is one) — gather on the planet Dameim to witness the passing of a star whose explosion many years ago destroyed an entire race of aliens. Focused closely on the logistics of such a large group, the three guardians stationed on the planet do not act decisively enough to prevent a murderous plan from being set in motion. Tiptree’s writing is admirably clear and entertaining, considering that so many of the…
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