A friend of mine, whenever she encounters a problem, reminds herself of the Scale of Aleppo, wherein she compares her misfortunes to those of the people trapped in the vicious civil war in Syria. Husband running late? Barely a one on the Scale of Aleppo. Boss being an asshole? A three, at most. It’s an admirable strategy. It’s also something which, I feel, it would behoove the protagonists of The Royal We to try. Twenty year old Rebecca Porter, on a gap year from studying […]
you will falsely remember being told about Melmoth by your grandmother’s mother when you were very small
There is something immediately nauseating – hear me out- about this book. You can be nauseous when you feel ill, when you ride a roller coaster, when you are nervous, or when you eat too many sweets. There is a feeling of hopeful dread that climbs over you (and all of the characters within) before you have finished reading the first page. There is a feeling that you have been here – in a cafe in Prague, under an overpass in Manila, in a field […]
I have no heart; I hate the song Jolene (thanks, fam.)
I really rather wish this book had been written back when I was in my late teens, so the girl-I-was could have been reassured that she wasn’t alone.
Ringing in the New Year with Inspector Gamache <3
Well, CBR10 was an epic disaster for me (I think I reviewed one book? maybe?), but we’re going to give ‘er another go this year. And what better way to kick things off than with the latest instalment in the Inspector Gamache series. There are very few books that I pre-order and am willing to pay full price for the hardcover immediate release. This series is one of those exceptions. This is the 14th book to date, and I can’t stress enough that you should […]