Last year, I gave up on Cannonball Read in February. I kept reading, but the pressure to review got to be too much, and I ended up too far behind. This year, I’m not going for quantity, but instead am aiming to tackle all the books that I’ve bought over the years that for one reason or another have sat unread on my shelves. The first of these books is The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham, which I bought several years ago at Hatchard’s because […]
Poor Orpheus woke up with a start / all amongst the rotting dead
I read this maybe a month ago, and was in the midst of a reading malaise that suppressed not only my interest in what I was reading, but made reviewing almost impossible. I just couldn’t transfer my thoughts into a coherent description of the book. I don’t know. I think I’m still in a reviewing funk, but I’m trying to get them posted before I get too far behind. What Dreams May Come is an epistolary paean to one man’s love for his wife; a wife […]
Gangs of Wonderland
First time Cannonballer (LOL, “baller”), long time Pajiban. I decided to take the plunge and do a half Cannonball this year. So, first review is Alice. And I’m going to trigger warning the hell out of this because it’s difficult to even review it without touching on some nasty stuff. Have you ever finished a book and gone full Kurtz? Have you ever wished you could read a story about Discworld’s Ankh-Morpork, but without all that annoying wit, sharply observed satire and compelling characterisation? Have you ever wanted to read a […]
Freedom is Only the Beginning
Once upon a time, in a far-off land, I was kidnapped by a gang of fearless yet terrified young men with so much impossible hope beating inside their bodies it burned their very skin and strengthened their will right through their bones. They held me captive for thirteen days. They wanted to break me. It was not personal. I was not broken. This is what I tell myself. I know it’s a little early in the year, but I can’t see how An Untamed State […]