Books I Want To Read Before The Summer’s Over

It’s nearly the end of August but Summer’s not over yet, despite what the Halloween candy in the grocery store has been screaming at me. (If I, an autumn-obsessed witch, say it’s too early… it’s way too early.) I was reading a stack of New York Times Book Reviews from the past few weeks, and

Audiobook review: There’s A Word For That by Sloane Tanen

Star Ratings: Story: 4/5 Writing: 3/5 Characters: 5/5 Audio recording: 4/5 Overall: 4 out of 5 stars I listened to There’s A Word For That via Libro.fm, which I recommend enthusiastically. A percentage of all purchases helps out indie bookshops! Please go check them out. This was very much an impulse download; I needed something

Book Review: You Can’t Win by Jack Black

Star Ratings for Nonfiction Writing: *****  (5 stars) Narrative: **** (4 stars) Interesting Subject: ***** (5 stars) Objectivity and research: **** (4 stars. This is a memoir.) Overall: ***** (5 stars) Age range recommendation: 14 and up. The gents at my favorite coffee shop are on a roll with the book recommendations, lately.  You Can’t

Book Review: Widow Basquiat by Jennifer Clement

Star Ratings for Nonfiction Writing: ****  (4 stars) Narrative: **** (4 stars) Interesting Subject: ***** (5 stars) Objectivity and research: *** (3 stars) Overall: **** (4 stars) (I read an ARC of Widow Basquiat so a few details may have changed since publication.) Widow Basquiat gives a very personal and poetic account of Basquiat’s journey

Book Review: The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates

    Characters: **** (4 stars) Character Development: **** (4 stars) Plot: *** (3 stars) Writing: **** (4 stars) Overall: *** 1/2 (3 1/2 stars)   This is the sort of big, clever, historical, dry book I really like. But, as a fairly obvious warning: it’s big, clever, historical, and dry. It won’t be the