What Moves the Dead has totally lived up to its hype. A retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher with a heavy dose of fungi, it's the first book inWhat Moves the Dead has totally lived up to its hype. A retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher with a heavy dose of fungi, it's the first book in a long time to truly creep me out. Ms. Kingfisher's reworking of the classic Poe story is atmospheric and dark and gloomy, and all of the other adjectives that a good gothic novel should be.
Everything James Herriot wrote is pure gold and this book is no exception. If you've read any of his previous works, you know what you'll find inside Everything James Herriot wrote is pure gold and this book is no exception. If you've read any of his previous works, you know what you'll find inside - lots of heartwarming (and often humorous) short stories about his work as a country vet in the Yorkshire Dales. Every Living Thing is the final book in his All Creatures Great and Small series, and while I think I enjoyed the earlier books ever so slightly more (his young and inexperienced days are simply the best), these stories set during his more established years are also cozy and delightful reads. James Herriot has been one of my favorite authors since I was a kid, and I highly recommend this book (or any of his other works) to any animal lovers out there....more
This book was a three-star read for me. I found it to be a fairly engaging and entertaining story overall, but there were a couple of gaping plot holeThis book was a three-star read for me. I found it to be a fairly engaging and entertaining story overall, but there were a couple of gaping plot holes that Crichton never even attempted to explain away. There were also eighty bazillion characters that I just couldn't keep straight no matter how hard I tried.
HOWEVER. I'm giving a four-star rating just to do my part to counter-balance the "AboRtIOn iS MuRDer!" pro-birthers in the reviews. Reading this book in a post-Roe world is actually rather alarming knowing that real-life women are needlessly going to die just like Karen Randall did even though it's the bloody twenty-first century and we shouldn't be dealing with this shit all over again.
Ahem. So, yeah, four stars it is. Sorry not sorry....more
This is probably my favorite Agatha Christie book so far. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough Hercule Poirot in this one - he doesn't reallyThis is probably my favorite Agatha Christie book so far. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough Hercule Poirot in this one - he doesn't really make an appearance until around the 40% mark. It's a solid mystery with great characters.
As an aside, I read this book up to 68% and then went to bed for the night. Being a horrible insomniac, I had a small piece of a specially-infused chocolate bar (wink wink) to help me sleep. Instead of sleeping, however, I could not stop thinking about this book. Over the course of two hours, I came up with two different conclusions as to who the murderer could be, as well as the whys and hows. I was super worried that I was going to forget these Very Deep Thoughts™ (because my mind is like Swiss cheese when edibles are involved) so I kept sending myself emails with my observations in the subject line. You know, "the butler did it in the pantry with the candlestick" and all of that. I woke up this morning to about ten of these emails and quickly finished the book ... only to realize that every single one of my late-night theories had been completely wrong. So, yeah. I'm not sure what the moral of this little vignette is, other than that edibles and Agatha Christie mysteries don't mix (in my head, at least).
Ahem, anyway. Great book, 5 stars. Hercule Poirot might just be my favorite literary detective of all time....more
Wonderland Avenue was my favorite book as a teenager and I really, really wanted to be the Gen X version of Danny Sugerman, a goal I never came anywheWonderland Avenue was my favorite book as a teenager and I really, really wanted to be the Gen X version of Danny Sugerman, a goal I never came anywhere close to achieving because I was a geeky poor kid from Appalachian Ohio.
Present day me, having long since given up my quest to become The Lizard Queen, re-read this book for a “book you wish you could read for the first time again” reading challenge prompt. It'd been two decades since I'd last read Wonderland Avenue and I was really afraid that the magic of Sugerman's memoir wouldn't hold up for me now that I'm on the other side of 40. But … it kind of mostly did?
I mean, yeah, now that I'm a middle aged woman I can look back and see that idolizing Sugerman was kind of silly. After all, this memoir is pretty much a cautionary tale as to why you shouldn't idolize rebellious drug addicts. And I was absolutely horrified by all of the statutory rape that Sugerman committed. And I mostly skimmed over Morrison's philosophical ramblings. And I noticed all of the racist language for the first time. And I cringed every time someone drove while intoxicated. And, really, Sugerman was kind of just an ass to everyone he claimed to care about.
But still. This is a really good memoir, even if it's not exactly a happy one. Sugerman did a fantastic job of chronicling his descent into addiction. And if you're at all interested in The Doors and/or the rock n' roll lifestyle of the 60s and 70s, this is one of the best accounts out there.
And now for the end-of-review public service announcement:
"Shooting speed isn't that smart. Shooting speed kills geese. If you shoot a goose full of speed that goose is gonna swim in circles forever." - Jim Morrison (in No One Here Gets Out Alive, another great book by Sugerman)...more
This isn't my favorite Poirot novel (too much moaning about "kids these days" and released mental patients) but it has its interesting moments. This isn't my favorite Poirot novel (too much moaning about "kids these days" and released mental patients) but it has its interesting moments. ...more
I liked this book far more than I expected to, although I can't say that it was exactly an enjoyable read. Set in Ethiopia during the Second Italo-EthI liked this book far more than I expected to, although I can't say that it was exactly an enjoyable read. Set in Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, it's filled with graphic scenes of violence, killing, death, and rape. Many of the characters are terrible people who do awful things, and this includes the "heroes" of the story. At the same time, however, the writing is lyrical and the reader is instantly transported to Ethiopia of the 1930s. It's a decently long read (around 450 pages or so) but went quickly because I was so invested in finding out how things turned out for the characters Hirut and Ettore. Also, the format of this book is fairly unusual (it uses traditional chapters as well as interludes, choruses, and descriptions of photos to tell its story) and I thought it worked really well. Mengiste did an excellent job of showing the horrors of war and the fallibility of those who are considered heroes, as well as the often invisible contributions of women during wartime.
This book was *almost* a five-star read for me but there were a couple of things that bugged me. First, this book could have been shorter. In my opinion, approximately one-quarter of the text could have been cut without negatively affecting the story. While it certainly drove home the brutality of war, there were a bunch of scenes that revolved around the same terrible people doing the same terrible things over and over. Secondly, the situation with Emperor Selassie got really weird there at the end and I found it all a bit confusing (and, honestly, not all that interesting). These are minor complaints, however, and they didn't detract much from what I thought was an otherwise excellent book.
Overall, I'd give The Shadow King 4.5 stars and will definitely be reading more by Maaza Mengiste in the future....more
I've been sending my husband texts based on a certain Carly Rae Jepsen song all night (I find it way more hilarious than he does, to be honest), so I I've been sending my husband texts based on a certain Carly Rae Jepsen song all night (I find it way more hilarious than he does, to be honest), so I went ahead and wrote a review of this book in the same manner. Here you go:
Hey I read this book And it was fat-shame-y I found it rather “meh” But you'll like it maybe?
Thank you, Thank you. I'll be here all week....more
I really wasn't expecting this to be such a fun read. There's quite a bit of humor and the two main characters make a delightful "Holmes and Watson." I really wasn't expecting this to be such a fun read. There's quite a bit of humor and the two main characters make a delightful "Holmes and Watson." I'm sad that this was A.A. Milne's only mystery novel - a series featuring Antony and Bill would have been especially fantastic....more
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