Imagine a world where suddenly and inexplicably the sick and injured begin to emit light. Open wounds shine like flash lights, acne sparkles like glitter, leukemia patients shimmer and glow, and muscle tension can be seen “twisting like algae in an underwater current.” This is the stunning phenomenon that drives Kevin Brockmeier’s The Illumination. Though labeled a novel, … Continue reading The Illumination, a review
I’ve heard it said that Russian novels are so long because Russian winters are so cold! What better way to spend time inside than reading a book? In Iceland I hear there’s a tradition of gifting family and friends with books and chocolate so they may take to their beds cozy and satisfied for a long … Continue reading Celebrating Books
We’ve all been “sheltering” now, to one degree or another, for seven and a half months. Initially I was both alarmed and secretly pleased—because suddenly I could be my introvert self without apology. My biggest fear was that the whole thing would end too soon—before I completed the half-finished novel I’d been sitting on for the past … Continue reading Sheltering, Part 4
Goodreads had a Facebook post a week or so ago asking readers to “describe the book you’re currently reading in one word.” I’m generally too verbose to succeed with such restrictions, but this time it was easy. The Earthseed Series by the late African American science fiction writer Octavia Butler is like nothing else out there—and … Continue reading Earthseed, a review
Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald is a larger than life story, a convoluted tale of family secrets and lies. At least three times in the novel the action occurs in clumps, and over the course of a few days or even a single night, there is more family melodrama than all of Shakespeare’s … Continue reading Fall On Your Knees, a book review
Written with my Thursday night writing group (now meeting on Zoom!) with the prompts: one red shoe and oh, dear. Madelaine wore one red shoe and one green shoe because it was Christmas and she was in a wild holiday mood. She wondered, do cats see color?—because it was only the cats who would see … Continue reading How Madelaine Survives Quarantine
I can’t remember the number of times I’ve read Little Women. I’m pretty sure I read it at least twice when I was a kid, but perhaps it was three times or more. I read it again in my late 20s/early 30s when the book group I’d formed with friends decided to read it—or I … Continue reading Little Women, a consideration
Hey, it's getting cold and rainy here: perfect time to take refuge in books! Enjoy! My edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God had plenty of literary and historical notes both fore and aft, but I’ll admit I got impatient and just started in on the novel itself. I will tell you that the editors … Continue reading Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Here in California it remains unseasonably warm, so it's hard to believe that the holidays are right abound the corner. I want to let you know that all the paperback novels in my Avian Series are currently on sale at Amazon for 15% off. They all have beautiful new covers designed by graphic artist Karen … Continue reading Book News!
Varina is a beautiful book, because Charles Frazier writes some of the most beautiful, lyrical sentences of any author writing prose today. His words force the reader to slow down and savor every lovely description, to open oneself to the metaphors and allegories hidden within. And yet, the book made me uncomfortable. I don’t know … Continue reading Varina by Charles Frazier, a review
