This does not belong in my regular to-read list, but I needed a book, and it was available. Turns out it's not that far from my kind of readings... I was surprised that it didn't contain much of specific sci-fi/fantasy jargon that was unfamiliar to me. Some stories did have some fantastical aspect to them, especially the first one, The Honeycrafters, by Carolyn Ives Gilman, and the last one, Gasoline Lake, by Marc Laidlaw. Still, they were easily readable to a non-sci-fi reader such as myself. I liked most of the stories. Even the one that was pretty intense, by Bradley Denton - Rerun Roy, Donna, and the Freak. [240 pp.]
Link to book.
Friday, March 13, 2015
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Tin House 34
Volume 9, Number 2
Favorites: Uncertainty, by Joshua Ferris, Going to Estonia, by Caitlin Horrocks, and Shawn Vestal's The First Several Hundred Years Following My Death. Also need to check out Charle's Baxter's The Soul Thief, as the excerpt is quite intriguing.
Link to website.
Favorites: Uncertainty, by Joshua Ferris, Going to Estonia, by Caitlin Horrocks, and Shawn Vestal's The First Several Hundred Years Following My Death. Also need to check out Charle's Baxter's The Soul Thief, as the excerpt is quite intriguing.
Link to website.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Tin House - 56
Volume 14, Number 4
Has a number of nice short stories and a wonderful essay (by Robert Boswell) on characterization. (224 pp.)
Link to publication
Has a number of nice short stories and a wonderful essay (by Robert Boswell) on characterization. (224 pp.)
Link to publication
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana
By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
This is the story of a real person, Kamila Sidiqi, who, with the rise of the Taliban and along with all other Kabul girls, was forced out of school and into taking care of their family. Without leaving the house, mind you. Not an easy task. Life during those 5-6 years of Taliban rule was not easy, but this girl and her sisters were extremely resourceful. It was nice reading a book that is not fiction, but which has such an amazing character and scene descriptions. Makes me think that I should also take a non-fiction writing class.
Link to book.
This is the story of a real person, Kamila Sidiqi, who, with the rise of the Taliban and along with all other Kabul girls, was forced out of school and into taking care of their family. Without leaving the house, mind you. Not an easy task. Life during those 5-6 years of Taliban rule was not easy, but this girl and her sisters were extremely resourceful. It was nice reading a book that is not fiction, but which has such an amazing character and scene descriptions. Makes me think that I should also take a non-fiction writing class.
Link to book.
Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
By Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
This book was much better than I expected. I love cats, but somehow, when I first saw the book in My Little Library (those neighborhood boxes where you can exchanged books), I thought "Wow, this looks interesting, and a little corny." It turned out to be quite good. I was especially impressed by the introduction, which I read long before I actually started the book. But as I kept reading, I fell more and more in love with the cat. He is simply adorable. Eventually I felt like I didn't want to reach the end, because that means Dewey dies. Yes, he indeed died, but it still is a wonderful story. Sometimes it felt like Vicki talks more about her life than Dewey, but somehow it still seemed appropriate. And Dewey (perhaps conciously, to avoid criticism such as this) was always brought back again when it felt like he's been out of the picture for a tad too long. My favorite Dewey picture is the one at the head of Chapter 17: Dewey and the Modern World. He's sitting on top of a computer monitor and the expression on his face is simply priceless.
Link to book
Link to a video about Dewey and Tom (another Iowa cat)
This book was much better than I expected. I love cats, but somehow, when I first saw the book in My Little Library (those neighborhood boxes where you can exchanged books), I thought "Wow, this looks interesting, and a little corny." It turned out to be quite good. I was especially impressed by the introduction, which I read long before I actually started the book. But as I kept reading, I fell more and more in love with the cat. He is simply adorable. Eventually I felt like I didn't want to reach the end, because that means Dewey dies. Yes, he indeed died, but it still is a wonderful story. Sometimes it felt like Vicki talks more about her life than Dewey, but somehow it still seemed appropriate. And Dewey (perhaps conciously, to avoid criticism such as this) was always brought back again when it felt like he's been out of the picture for a tad too long. My favorite Dewey picture is the one at the head of Chapter 17: Dewey and the Modern World. He's sitting on top of a computer monitor and the expression on his face is simply priceless.
Link to book
Link to a video about Dewey and Tom (another Iowa cat)
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Winesburg, Ohio
By Sherwood Anderson
A collection of short stories that form a sort of a novel. The stories are somewhat connected by one of the characters, but mostly they are connected by themes. Some of them are very nice, others I found a bit lacking.
book link here
A collection of short stories that form a sort of a novel. The stories are somewhat connected by one of the characters, but mostly they are connected by themes. Some of them are very nice, others I found a bit lacking.
book link here
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