Reviews
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” ‘…When a man becomes a writer, he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed.’” “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. As a fan of the few Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. books I have read so far, I was extremely pleased to find an old, endearingly battered copy…
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” ‘No. It’s not very important. High school isn’t a very important place.’ “ “Carrie” by Stephen King. Continuing my trend of finally getting around to reading some of those iconic books that should be in my repertoire, (and just in time for a remake of the classic movie I already know and love, no…
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“…for nothing contributes so much to tranquillise [sic] the mind as a steady purpose–a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley Considering how much of an avid reader I am and that my degree encompasses a Literature focus, it’s a little staggering how few of the ‘Classics’ I’ve…
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“Poor lumpy Maudette, with her bitten thighs, was more interesting in death than she’d ever been in life.” “Dead Until Dark: Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries Book One” by Charlaine Harris The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris have been on my To-Be-Read list ever since the HBO show based on the books, True Blood, came…
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“And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky It has been a very, very long time (too long?) since a book has affected me in the way that The Perks of Being a Wallflower has. I’m talking…
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“What else was there in any life–human or artifact, mortal or immortal–besides a useful existence?” “Magic: The Gathering – Bloodlines – Artifacts Cycle Book VI” by Loren L. Coleman With the completion of Bloodlines, I have officially read through an entire Magic: the Gathering book cycle. Now, I’m not much of a player of the…
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“…it is, indeed, the art of ellipsis, or of suggestion,–the incredible technique of impressing the inexpressible by non-expression of an impression.” “Renaissance in Japan: A Cultural Survey of the Seventeenth Century, Japan’s Literary Giants: Basho, Saikaku, Chikamatsu” by Kenneth P. Kirkwood Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a bibliophile. I can’t borrow books, because…
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” ‘Eileen,’ Mary Helen said bluntly, ‘every murderer is someone somebody knows.’” “A Novena for Murder: A Sister Mary Helen Mystery” by Sister Carol Anne O’Marie” In my train station here in the Chicago suburbs is one of the greatest things ever: the Book Cart. Passengers on the BNSF line can leave books, borrow books,…
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“I believe the costuming of today’s Japanese young women reveals, in a powerful way, how for many young Japanese females, Japan is a hard place to become a grown-up woman.” “Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women are Changing their Nation” by Veronica Chambers For me, Japan has always been an interesting country, and part of…
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“Not one, she realized with a chill, was staring at her as though she had gone mad. They were all staring at her as though she was going to tell them what to do next.” “Paladin of Souls” by Lois McMaster Bujold God-tainted, mad-touched, recently isolated, the main character of Lois McMaster Bujold’s fantasy yarn…
L.S. Engler 