This short novel is a delightful mix of fairy tale and tall tale, with a healthy sprinkling of both humor and the macabre in it. The cast of characters includes a doting father, a wicked stepmother, a lovely daughter, a dashing but deceitful suitor, Mike Fink, a band of thieves and a hick named Goat. If you enjoyed Helen Oyeyemi’s Boy, Snow, Bird or Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, The Robber Bridegroom should be on your reading list. The tale begins in antebellum Louisiana with […]
Spirituality is a Complicated Subject
One of the first readings in my new course of study focused on psychotherapy and spirituality, I embark upon a journey of discovering what exactly spirituality is, what it might entail, how it might be different in every individual person, and what exactly my own spirituality might be. The concept is complex, and reducing it down into a short little introductory book like Philip Sheldrake attempts is no easy feat. Does he succeed? Well… Maybe in some ways, but not entirely. My full (but also […]
Mrs. Dalloway
I’m on a quest this year to read 50 books by 50 women writers (in honor of my impending 50th birthday and #ReadWomen2014), and as I’ve never read anything by Virginia Woolf, this felt like the right time to get to it. Mrs. Dalloway is a short novel by Woolf that covers the span of one day, marked by the hourly tolling of the bells. I would characterize it as having stream-of-consciousness narration, with the narrators switching from one to the next as they encounter […]
KayKay #CRB6 Review #14 Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
An unlikely romance between a quirky first time caregiver and a quadriplegic. It made me smile, it made me cry. I give this book 3 stars. Here’s a breakdown…