I follow a lot of authors on twitter. Every once in a while a bunch of writers will start talking about one book. A couple of months ago, that book was Jane Doe. Authors, all women but from several genres, were reveling in Jane’s darkness and her passion for revenge. Jane has diagnosed herself as a psychopath. She doesn’t feel emotions the way normal people feel them. It makes her good at business but bad at relationships, with one exception. Steven hurt the only person Jane […]
Laundry and Ghosts are Currently Tied for First
This was the last book from the pile of books I checked out from my college’s library right before break and it’s fitting that I finished it now—two days before I kick the semester into high gear. My community college library has a fantastic graphic novel collection—thanks to some awesome librarians and one of my fellow English faculty—and this one caught my eye. In Sheets, Brenna Thummler tells the story of two young people having a rough time. One of them is Marjorie Glatt, a […]
“There are new monsters now”
This novel sneaks up on you. You’re lulled into comfort with descriptions of old video rental places, suburban living rooms, and the polite peace of the Midwest before being startled awake by sudden glances of violence and fear. These shocks originate from movies. Movies within movies. Were they intended for you to see? Why are they here? Who spliced an almost still image of heavy breathing and a woman with a bag over her head into She’s All That? Uncertainty creeps around every corner- breeding fear, […]
Hell Hath No Fury
Widows the movie was perhaps my favorite film of 2018. A crackling crime thriller with polished dialogue and sharp social commentary, it’s the best crime movie I’ve seen in recent years. I didn’t know until after seeing it that it was based on an English time show created by famed auteur Lynda La Plante. The book is a tie-in to the show. La Plante’s Prime Suspect was one of my least favorite reads in 2018. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but the writing felt static. I later […]