A little over a year ago I left the balmy southern United States for the snowy Midwest, Chicago suburbs to be specific, so, this book quickly climbed to the top of my “to read” pile. How could I live here and not tackle Larson’s fantastic telling of such a pivotal point in the city’s history? I knew I had made the correct choice when I found no less than seven copies at my local library. Definite move toward further acclimation to my new home, though […]
The snoring, the rain, and Mama’s hair that smells like bread.
I feel incredibly robbed not to have found this book when I was mid-adolescence, when I would have reveled in empathy with Esperanza, the beautiful, awkward, sad, scared, bold, shy, lonely, social narrator who is coming-of-age through the course of the year during which The House on Mango Street takes place. Cisneros writes this book as an extended series of short vignettes: portraits of people, places, and things in Esperanza’s life; all the things that make up the tapestry of her youth. With these vignettes, […]
More Harry Magic
I read the first in Jim Butcher’s new series and kinda liked it, so I figured I’d check out his other stuff. I read the first Dresden novel, and though it was only ok. Then I saw that multiple people were saying that the Dresden series only gets good after about book 4. My local library does not have the entire series thus far, and the branch near me does not have all of the book in the order I might want them (chronologically). So […]
Pleasant but forgettable
Julie James is an author I always enjoy, but never rave about. I picked this one up on sale a while ago, and it probably would have languished on my TBR longer, but Ms. James was speaking at a local bookshop, so I wanted a fresh book in my mind. By the time I’m writing this review, it’s been a couple of weeks since I finished the book and I know why I never rave – the book was totally enjoyable AND completely forgettable. This […]