I borrowed this one from the library because I’ve seen it on tons of “best of” lists lately (I think Goodreads was the final push for me). While I can see how this could develop into a successful series a la Hunger Games (and isn’t that every YA author’s dream right now?), it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. “In the fairy tales, the poor girl smiles when she becomes a princess. Right now, I don’t know if I’ll ever smile again.” Mare Barrow is a Red […]
Not even Sarah Vowell could spice up the Puritans for me
I was not quite as enamored with this one as I was with Assassination Vacation. I don’t blame Vowell — she does her best here, and quite a few lines made me laugh out loud — it was just not a gripping subject for me. “I’m always disappointed when I see the word ‘Puritan’ tossed around as shorthand for a bunch of generic, boring, stupid, judgmental killjoys. Because to me, they are very specific, fascinating, sometimes brilliant, judgmental killjoys who rarely agreed on anything except that […]
How well can you ever really know another person?
I really liked Kubica’s The Good Girl, so I downloaded the audiobook of Pretty Baby from my library. I think this thriller might even be better than The Good Girl — it certainly kept me on my toes! “Momma used to say, “We don’t have much, but at least we have each other.” And then one day, we didn’t even have that much.” Pretty Baby is told from three viewpoints: Heidi, a married woman working for a nonprofit in Chicago; her businessman husband, Chris; and Willow, a homeless […]
How did I get so behind??
I have five books to review today. Bear with me, please, as I flood the front page. This is one of the few Sophie Hannah (Spilling CID) books that I didn’t outright love. Her plots are usually bit far-fetched — the twisty secrets behind the murder as well as Simon’s various leaps to the truth — but this one in particular seemed…overwrought. A famous, antagonistic writer named Damon has been found murdered in his home, suffocated by a knife taped to his mouth. The killer painted […]