Yes, that is a House Of Pain lyric in the title but I have been out of the Cannonball Read for over a year, and if it makes sense to reference House of Pain in any review, it might be Kushiel’s Dart with its protagonist. Just when I had decided that a full back tattoo really wouldn’t make sense for me given my fashion choices and my preference to be able to cover up tattoos, I read Kushiel’s Dart, and am now back to thinking, […]
Insider Trading, Maths Competitions, and One Big Hairy Dog
I read Me Before You for CBR7 and enjoyed it, so I thought I’d start 2016 with another Jojo Moyes novel, One Plus One. Moyes is good at throwing you into a story and making you care about her characters—even if you suspect you know how it will all turn out. As in Me Before You, the novel is set in England and there is a class difference between the main characters–Jess Thomas, a single mom of two, actually cleans the beach house of Ed […]
A Tingle-y triceratops encounter
It’s said, mainly by politicians, that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. But fuck it; I started my very first CBR with a Chuck Tingle book, so I am determined to start my 2nd CBR with a Chuck Tingle book. One time counts as age-old tradition, right? (This decision brought to you by Wine! – helping you make bad decisions since 8000 B.C.) Dr. Tingle (no, really) is apparently known for 4 types of erotica: dinosaurs, unicorns, bigfeet and […]
The Art and Poetry of War
I teach British Literature to 17 and 18 year olds of various levels and degrees of interest (in different classes). Something that I’ve noticed over the years is that just about all my students feel something when we read World War I poetry. I don’t know if it’s because it’s visceral, perhaps they appreciate the simple plain language, or maybe they can relate to the poems where the young authors express regret and naivete about their involvement in the war. Because come on, I remember […]