I’m not the hugest Joyce Carol Oates fan – I’m sure I’ve read a book or two of hers, but I couldn’t tell you which ones. Clearly they didn’t make much of an impression on me. I picked this up on a Kindle deal around Halloween (scary good deals!). I think it was $1.99, and I’m still not sure it was worth the price. Oates was inspired by Jeffrey Dahmer, who I think even other serial killers thought was gross. In this story, Quentin P. […]
Halloweenie
Hercule Poirot’s novelist friend Ariadne Oliver is visiting a friend in the country, and helping out with a Halloween mystery party for the local children. The party appears to be going well, until a young girl is murdered in the apple-bobbing tub. Who could possibly have killed an innocent child? Turns out the kid wasn’t very well liked, she was a big fibber. Even the morning of the party, she was telling stories about having witnessed a murder. Mrs. Oliver calls in Hercule Poirot to […]
The Happiest Hooker
Late, as ever, to the party when it comes to zeitgeist-type books. But since Michael Faber has a new book out, he’s been all over NPR, and I’ve been hearing about all of his books, so I figured it would be better to start with the most famous one. At least I think this one was the most famous. There was a mini-series, after all. William Rackham is your typical layabout semi-dandy who fancies himself a misunderstood genius. He’s married to Clara, who’s looney tunes […]
In Which I Read my First Steampunk Book (& kinda like it)
OK, so it’s 1916. King George has decided he wants America back. The kind has Albert Einstein building long-range zeppelins that can drop bombs. Nasty bombs that will help the invading English force re-conquer the U.S. In the States, everyone knows that war is coming, and Nicola Tesla is building something that he believes will end all wars – meaning to him that there will be no more war, or at least no more human cost. Not everyone sees the weapon that way, of course. […]