And what I’ve learned about Chilean history from Isabel Allende tends to be very sad indeed. Portrait in Sepia, like any of Allende’s books, is beautiful and sad and wonderful. I loved it and couldn’t put it down. “Each of us chooses the tone for telling his or her own story. I would like to choose the durable clarity of a platinum print, but nothing in my destiny possesses the luminosity. I live among diffuse shadings, veiled mysteries, uncertainties; the tone of telling my life is […]
These books better start improving, and stat
The third installment of Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas series, Brother Odd, is the dullest book referencing nuns driving monster trucks that I’ve ever read. “Moving the kids was not a good idea, but I sure wanted to see nuns in monster trucks plowing their way through a blizzard.” Yeah, me too, Odd. Instead, I got 500 pages of musings on good and evil, while a crazy Russian dude cracked jokes about being a librarian in the background. Okay, so in this book, Odd has left Pico Mundo […]
That Woman
I read The King’s Speech at the beginning of the year (which was really not that great — see the movie) and my interest in Wallis Simpson was piqued. Wallis’s romance with Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (who had previously ruled as King George VII) caused the Prince to abdicate his throne. As a result, his younger brother Bertie becomes king, forcing him to overcome his speech impediment and incredible shyness. I wanted to find out more about this woman, who inspired a king to give up his […]
Well-written and sad
Oh, this was a rough book. It’s good, really really good, but difficult to read because you’re basically in the mind of a highly intelligent woman as she begins to slowly lose that mind. She’s aware of everything most of the time, and can’t do anything to stop it. It’s also scary to consider that this could happen not only to you, but to your loved ones as well. I spent a lot of time reading this and thinking, what if? “Her ability to use […]