(No copy of the cover for this one – so a picture of the author will have to do.) I have a small affection for North Carolina authors – especially when their stories are set in my backyard. There’s something about reading a work of fiction and fully understanding the small town dynamics, the connectionsContinue reading “Tall Houses in Winter – Doris Betts”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova
How is it that I had not heard of one of America’s most bestselling female authors in the literary genre and only stumbled across her first novel by accident when perusing the bargain bin at Borders? I suppose I was too deeply entrenched in my thesis in 2005 to do much outside reading. Whatever theContinue reading “The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova”
Child of My Heart — Alice McDermott
Alice McDermott is known for crafting her stories in simple but powerful ways. Her novels are void of bells, whistles, and pretty packaging. Her prose is strong, sure and intense in its brevity; literary tricks and fancy poeticism are not necessary to carry her work. She’s a remarkable writer, one America should be quite proudContinue reading “Child of My Heart — Alice McDermott”
The God of Animals – Aryn Kyle
There are some books that just surprise you. I’m finding more and more that this happens with the novice author and their first novel; when I finish the book, close its pages and stroke the spine, I wonder how the author can possibly top it. Zadie Smith left me with that feeling – as didContinue reading “The God of Animals – Aryn Kyle”
Lost on Planet China — J. Marteen Troost
This may prove difficult for me to write as I have been in love with this author, and I am a little disappointed in him at the moment. He let me down. I’ve written about J. Maarten Troost’s first two novels with passion and excitement. I urged the masses to run to the nearest bookstoreContinue reading “Lost on Planet China — J. Marteen Troost”
Your resident bookslut may not be available in the month of November as she has decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month. We shall see if she can stick with it.
Chang-rae Lee — ALOFT
Chang-rae Lee is a first generation Korean American. He graduated from Yale and teaches at Princeton. (ohhh fancy pants Ivy Leaguer.) His first novel, Native Speaker (1995) won the PEN/Hemingway award. The publication of A Gesture Life in 1999 seemed to secure his position as an Asian American author whose beautiful prose appropriately painted theContinue reading “Chang-rae Lee — ALOFT”
No hat trick for Coetzee
Sad. But the winner looks like it might be a pleasantly lovely read.http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1291
It’s official….
your resident bookslut is sick. Could be the piggy flu. *weeps* She feels horrible – too horrible to even read. And she’s currently reading a great book by Chang-rae Lee that will prompt a fantastic multicultural response on “the other” writing from the POV of the white man. Be patient… your bookslut has not forsakenContinue reading “It’s official….”
Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
Published in 1963, Where the Wild Things Are quickly earned a permanent place in the BEST BOOKS EVER. Maurice Sendak has said that the monsters were originally horses but he couldn’t draw horses but that he could draw a “thing” – he even modeled his things after relatives. It is and always has been aContinue reading “Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak”
A Girl Named Tommi 