Okay, I’m back. I haven’t lost my mind, or my grip on reality. Everything’s fine. It took me a long time to read this final installment of “The Dark Tower” series. Sure, it’s super long, but it’s shorter than a few of the other installments. I just truly didn’t want it to end, so I stretched it out, found distractions and procrastinations, and delayed the inevitable. This final chapter is less full of revelation, and doesn’t so closely ressemble a conspiracy theorist’s corkboard with pushpins […]
A different sort of fantasy – I wanted to like it more than I did
The former Chinese colony of Malaya (current day Malaysia) is now under British rule, but the Chinese population there still try their best to stick to their ancient customs. Li Lan’s family was once wealthy, but after her mother died from chickenpox, her father tried to cover his grief by taking opium and now they are nearly bankrupt, with very few promising marriage prospects for Li Lan. One day, however, her father claims that the wealthy and influential Lim family have offered her a ghost […]
Constant Craving
This novel was translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes and was the winner of an English Pen Translates award This is Women In Translation month #WIT Umami is a novel about loss, grief and craving told from 5 narrative points of view over 5 years. From the beginning we know certain facts: Ana is planting a milpa or garden instead of going to camp; it is the third anniversary of the drowning death of her little sister Luz; Pina’s mother, who had been absent for […]
Redeeming a (not so) notorious lady
I’ve read and enjoyed many a Lorraine Heath book, but this latest one wasn’t all that great. It tells the tale of Alistair Mabry, Marquess of Rexton, son of a duke and a bookkeeper. He is the typical marriage shy rake, who is determined to wait for the perfect (proper) woman to come along to avoid scandal. His childhood had been rather difficult due to his parent’s unconventional marriage and he doesn’t intend to make that mistake. But then he is asked to pretend to […]