Category Archives: fiction

You Feel it Just Below the Ribs (Cranor / Matthewson)
This discussion of You Feel it Just Below the Ribs is full of spoilers. If you haven’t read the book yet, read that first. 🙂

You Feel it Just Below the Ribs (Cranor / Matthewson)
This discussion of You Feel it Just Below the Ribs is full of spoilers. If you haven’t read the book yet, read that first. 🙂

Saturday (Ian McEwan)
Ian McEwan’s novel Saturday explores a single day in the life of London neurosurgeon Henry Perowne.

Saturday (Ian McEwan)
Ian McEwan’s novel Saturday explores a single day in the life of London neurosurgeon Henry Perowne.

Rose Tremain’s Sacred Country
This novel is very much about the questions, What do I want from life? Who am I? When we first meet Mary, she is six and standing in a field with her family trying to hold a two minute silence for the King.

Rose Tremain’s Sacred Country
This novel is very much about the questions, What do I want from life? Who am I? When we first meet Mary, she is six and standing in a field with her family trying to hold a two minute silence for the King.

The Children Act / Ian McEwan
I recently picked up Ian McEwan’s The Children Act, mainly because I remembered how much I enjoyed Machines Like Me, and I must say that the book did not disappoint.

The Children Act / Ian McEwan
I recently picked up Ian McEwan’s The Children Act, mainly because I remembered how much I enjoyed Machines Like Me, and I must say that the book did not disappoint.

Is Evaristo’s Mr. Loverman a Gentleman?
Folk used to tell me I looked like a young Sidney Poitier. Now they say I resemble a (slightly) older Denzel Washington. Who am I to argue? The facts is the facts. (6) Barry turns heads. He is a handsome

Is Evaristo’s Mr. Loverman a Gentleman?
Folk used to tell me I looked like a young Sidney Poitier. Now they say I resemble a (slightly) older Denzel Washington. Who am I to argue? The facts is the facts. (6) Barry turns heads. He is a handsome

The Magic and Danger of Books: Librarians Assemble!
This summer, I’ve read two books with librarians as central characters, so it’s time for a librarian-themed post! The books are: The Night Bookmobile (by Audrey Niffenegger) and The Invisible Library (by Genevieve Cogman). The books are quite different from

The Magic and Danger of Books: Librarians Assemble!
This summer, I’ve read two books with librarians as central characters, so it’s time for a librarian-themed post! The books are: The Night Bookmobile (by Audrey Niffenegger) and The Invisible Library (by Genevieve Cogman). The books are quite different from

Rocket Science (3): Black Future Month
I left N.K. Jemisin‘s book for last in this set of 3 sci-fi themed posts, because it feels the most contemporary / visionary and also because it simply is a hard act to follow.

Rocket Science (3): Black Future Month
I left N.K. Jemisin‘s book for last in this set of 3 sci-fi themed posts, because it feels the most contemporary / visionary and also because it simply is a hard act to follow.

Rocket Science (2): Loneliest Girl (Lauren James)
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is a young adult (YA) novel by Lauren James, first published in England in 2017. It’s a quick read and tells the story of, well, the loneliest (human) teenager in the universe, Romy Silvers,

Rocket Science (2): Loneliest Girl (Lauren James)
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is a young adult (YA) novel by Lauren James, first published in England in 2017. It’s a quick read and tells the story of, well, the loneliest (human) teenager in the universe, Romy Silvers,

Rocket Science (1): Best SF (1969)
I’ve been reading a good lot of science fiction lately, so let’s talk rocket science! Full disclosure, I have a soft spot for vintage sci-fi magazines. When I came across Faber’s Best SF (ed. Edmund Crispin), I knew I wanted

Rocket Science (1): Best SF (1969)
I’ve been reading a good lot of science fiction lately, so let’s talk rocket science! Full disclosure, I have a soft spot for vintage sci-fi magazines. When I came across Faber’s Best SF (ed. Edmund Crispin), I knew I wanted

Meet A. J. Fikry, Bookseller
Time for another little free library find! The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin, is an adventure of a book and should make the book-lover in your life very happy. Each section starts with Fikry’s synopsis / critique

Meet A. J. Fikry, Bookseller
Time for another little free library find! The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin, is an adventure of a book and should make the book-lover in your life very happy. Each section starts with Fikry’s synopsis / critique

Don’t Judge: A Very Angry Baby
I’ll be honest – one reason it’s taken me a long time to get to this anthology is what I expected it to be about: babies, mommies, dads, the experience of young nuclear and maybe post-nuclear families. While I have

Don’t Judge: A Very Angry Baby
I’ll be honest – one reason it’s taken me a long time to get to this anthology is what I expected it to be about: babies, mommies, dads, the experience of young nuclear and maybe post-nuclear families. While I have

Her Ladyship Makes a Lovely Corpse
I just finished reading Vita Sackville-West‘s All Passion Spent, and must say I am absolutely in love with this book. Or rather, with its central character, Lady Slane. On the surface, the story is quite simple: After the death of her politically

Her Ladyship Makes a Lovely Corpse
I just finished reading Vita Sackville-West‘s All Passion Spent, and must say I am absolutely in love with this book. Or rather, with its central character, Lady Slane. On the surface, the story is quite simple: After the death of her politically