I don’t know if other people do this, but I usually have three books going that serve three different purposes. I have my reading in bed book, and it has to be interesting enough to keep me reading when the alternative is sleeping (Liane Moriarty is ideal for this). I have a book on the end table that’s light enough to read while my daughter plays (ex: home decor books). And I have spots for books that take a little discipline to get through, spots […]
A lot for Chicagoans to consider.
I’ve been focusing a lot on social justice these past few years, because the rhetoric/composition course I teach at one of my universities (ah, the joys of rootless adjuncting!) has integrated social justice and care for others as part of its Jesuit curriculum. This year, my theme is Art and Protest. I’ve read Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and other related books to expand my knowledge base, as well as that of my students’. Goodreads recommended The South Side to me when it saw […]
Women’s Work
The description for this novel, the first in a historical mystery series, caught my attention on NetGalley and I’m glad I requested it. Though it’s not perfect, there’s a lot to like here and I have hopes that the series will get more interesting and nuanced as the books continue. Also, it’s set in 1880’s Chicago and involves the Pinkerton Agency and how fun is that. Lilly Long is a young actress in the Pierced Rose Theater Troupe whose brief marriage to a con man […]
Cowboys can be detectives too
I first discovered Steve Hockensmith in my library with his Pride and Prejudice and Zombies books. While I am a big fan of the original Pride and Prejudice, I thoroughly enjoyed Hockensmith’s addition of the zombies and his humour, so looked for more of his books. Happily, my library has the Holmes on the Range mystery series as audiobooks, and I listened to the first four in quick succession. By the last one, The Crack in the Lens, it was getting a little repetitive and I […]