The thing that is striking about Ted Chiang’s work is how well thought out everything is. His are not stories that blossom from a singular thought. His are not suppositions of a singular event spun out a different way. When reading his stories, you get a strong sense that the ideas and the characters areContinue reading “‘Exhalation’ is a Breath of Fresh Air”
Tag Archives: Would read again
Summer’s Over but ‘Beach Read’ Still Sizzles
I have mentioned before how I’m not usually drawn to romance novels (and Kath, if you’re reading, I’m sorry for being a disappointment). It’s not that I hate love, I just struggle with several aspects of the genre. Namely, the heavy reliance on miscommunications and deus ex machina to provide a happy ending, as wellContinue reading “Summer’s Over but ‘Beach Read’ Still Sizzles”
‘Don’t Want to Die’ Isn’t Poor on Prose
If there’s one thing Michael Arceneaux isn’t, it’s coy. His second collection of essays, I Don’t Want to Die Poor, minces no words as he talks about the dire financial straits he found himself in after college and the various ways debt has made his life harder. Through that lens, he talks in about sexContinue reading “‘Don’t Want to Die’ Isn’t Poor on Prose”
More Nightmare than Dream in ‘House’
I’ve been recommending Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House to people for months. To the classmate trying to find a way of writing a memoir of her time in the Air Force without resurrecting her past too much. To the colleague arguing that Choose Your Own Adventures weren’t an effective form of storytelling. To theContinue reading “More Nightmare than Dream in ‘House’”
The Sea Witch Enchants in ‘Circe’
It’s been a long time since I raced to get back to a book not to find out what happens next but instead to return to the world found only within its pages. I remember feeling that way about the Chronicles of Narnia series as a kid, for example, or Alice in Wonderland. But IContinue reading “The Sea Witch Enchants in ‘Circe’”
Silence is Deafening in ‘Girls’
Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls is another one that I knew going in I was going to love but didn’t quite anticipate how hard I would fall for it. Was it the language so rich I wanted to plunge my hands in it? Was it the sadness and hope and defeat and angerContinue reading “Silence is Deafening in ‘Girls’”
Fantastic and Realistic Blend Well in ‘What It Means’
A few years ago, I was mesmerized by a story from LeVar Burton Reads, “What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky” by Lesley Nneka Arimah. It wasn’t just LeVar Burton’s performance, though that’s enough to make any writing magical (if you’re a writer in a rut, try imagining him narrating your proseContinue reading “Fantastic and Realistic Blend Well in ‘What It Means’”
‘Crawdads’ is as Lovely as its Marshland
For the last year or two, it seems like I’ve been seeing Where The Crawdads Sing EVERYWHERE. On all the best-of and bestseller lists. In the “popular” section of libraries (ah, remember libraries?) and in every airport gift shop (and airports!). Reading the short blurb about it, about a girl growing up on her ownContinue reading “‘Crawdads’ is as Lovely as its Marshland”
Wilderness, Human Nature Bring Danger in ‘Alone’
In the Alaskan wilderness, you can make one mistake, warn the residents of the fictional Alaskan town Kaneq. It’s the second mistake that will kill you. But that threat of the natural world is secondary to the danger the main characters face indoors in Kristin Hannah’s novel The Great Alone. And both sets of danger,Continue reading “Wilderness, Human Nature Bring Danger in ‘Alone’”
All’s Fair in Love and ‘War’
I’m not usually one for romances (feelings are just so…touchy-feely) but I am one for science fiction and games of cat and mouse. This is How You Lose the Time War has both—and manages to write about time travel in a way that didn’t create massive plot holes or leave the reader hopelessly confused. HereContinue reading “All’s Fair in Love and ‘War’”
Ring Reads 