Book Review: 2 Irish Short Story Collections

Antarctica by Claire Keegan and The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy are two short story collections by female Irish writers. Since I read them back to back, it was hard not to compare them as I was reading and I felt it made a sort of sense to… Continue reading Book Review: 2 Irish Short Story Collections

What I Read: February 2024

Read: The End of the World is a Cul de Sac - Louise Kennedy (Riverhead Books, 2023) (289 pages) Antarctica - Claire Keegan (Grove Press, 1999) (201 pages) The Flanders Road - Claude Simon (New York Review Books, 2022) (translated from the French by Richard Howard) (193 pages) The Secret Adversary - Agatha Chrsitie (Blackstone… Continue reading What I Read: February 2024

Book Review: Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville

A thought took her by surprise: I should have been born a man. But that wasn't it. She didn't want to be a man. She just wanted to be a woman with the same freedom to choose as a man had. Kate Grenville, Restless Dolly Maunder Dolly Maunder is sharp, smart, and ambitious. Born in… Continue reading Book Review: Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville

(Audio) Book Review: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders (Random House, 2017) As you can see, this isn't a strict audio book review in that I read this book in a combination of audio and on the page. I started it on audio but then got a copy out of the library because I was having trouble… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

What I Read: January 2024

Read: Monsters - Claire Dederer (Alfred A. Knopf, 2023) (273 pages) What You are Looking for is in the Library - Michiko Aoyama (Harlequin Audio, 2023) (translated from the Japanese by Alison Watts) (8 hours, 22 minutes/304 pages) The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers - Sarah Tomlinson (Flatiron Books) (304 pages) Lincoln in the… Continue reading What I Read: January 2024

Quotes of the Week (vol. 3) and Some Snow Day Pictures

Everything nonsense now. Those mourners came up. Hands extended. Sons intact. Wearing on their faces enforced sadness-masks to hide any sign of their happiness, which --went on. They could not hide how alive they yet were with it, with their happiness at the potential of their still-living sons. Until lately I was one of them.… Continue reading Quotes of the Week (vol. 3) and Some Snow Day Pictures

Book Review: The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers

I received an Advance e-copy of this book thanks to the publisher. All opinions are my own. The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers will be on sale 13 February 2024. Mari Hawthorne is a ghost writer. She is the unnamed voice behind several celebrity memoirs. She is the one who comes in, gets to… Continue reading Book Review: The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers

Quotes of the Week (vol. 2)

The apostles returned to Jesus, and told Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away on the boat to a… Continue reading Quotes of the Week (vol. 2)

(Audio) Book Review: What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama

This is a book for book lovers and particular those of us who love our local libraries. It is, of sorts, a love letter to libraries and librarians. What You Are Looking for is in the Library consists of 5 unique sections, all linked by a library located in a community house in Tokyo. Each… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama