Month: December 2015
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Top Five Reads of the Year
Here are my five favorite reads of the year, a nice mix of old classics and new discoveries. Please post your favorite reads of the year in the comments. (These are books read during the past year and enjoyed, but not necessarily published in 2015.) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (my essay on a kinder, gentler…
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Recommended Reading: The Bloody Chamber
I’m recommending a hidden classic this week: The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. Carter gives familiar fairy tales a feminist twist. The stories revolve around the theme of young women (and sometimes men) crossing the threshold into adulthood, generally through sexual experiences. Penguin has some beautiful editions, and this is one of them.
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Here they come, the best books of 2015…
I like NPR’s Book Concierge better than any other end-of-year roundups I’ve seen. It’s an elegant design that lets you hone in on just the types of books you’re most interested in. I already added several promising reads to my gigantic “to read” list. The Wall Street Journal just picks the best of the best-of lists here. And New York…
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Patricia Highsmith, misanthrope…
I explore my reactions to two of Highsmith’s thrillers and her cynical view of human nature in this essay.
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An appreciation of Jane Austen…
I recently completed reading all of Jane Austen’s finished novels, a pleasant and rewarding project. Although her body of work was not large, there is not a single clunker in the bunch. The same cannot be said for many other novelists. The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good…
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Rebecca Solnit, fast becoming my new hero
Rebecca Solnit on books no woman should read: “The list made me think there should be another, with some of the same books, called 80 Books No Woman Should Read, though of course I believe everyone should read anything they want. I just think some books are instructions on why women are dirt or hardly…
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Recommended Reading: Going Through the Change
Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel: Samantha is a friend, and this is her first published novel. It is about four menopausal women who gain superpowers, a nice twist on the usual superhero fantasy. I promise if you read the first chapter, it will definitely hook you! This is the first in a planned trilogy.
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Recommended Reading: Welcome to Night Vale
I have never heard the podcast Welcome to Night Vale; I just bought this book based on hearing an interview with the authors on NPR and then seeing it in the bookstore. I really enjoyed the parts about the imaginary town of Night Vale itself and “the voice of Night Vale” sections, which are probably…
Shannon Turlington 