I am new to the tarot. Over the past few years, some of my friends and acquaintances have started to study / read the tarot, and my initial skepticism turned into curiosity as their approach showed me that it doesn’t have to be about “predicting the future.” You can take the tarot as seriously (or… Continue reading The Creative Tarot by Jessa Crispin
Tag: book review
Review: Rising Strong by Brené Brown
I’m going to start this post off with two confessions: I had never read anything by Brené Brown prior to deciding to pick up Rising Strong. I’d barely even heard of her. This now feels like an egregious oversight on my part. I hesitated before deciding to read Rising Strong. The title and description kind of made… Continue reading Review: Rising Strong by Brené Brown
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
“You will have only one story,” she had said. “You’ll write your one story many ways. Don’t ever worry about story. You have only one.” Elizabeth Strout is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the beautiful short story collection, Olive Kitteridge. Her latest novel is My Name is Lucy Barton, a short, moving novel about a… Continue reading My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt: Review & Giveaway
Sometimes reading diversely can simply be about reading books outside your normal reading comfort zone. Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt met that criteria for me. It lies somewhere within the mystery / supernatural / gothic ghost story spectrum, and those who’ve gotten to know my taste in books over the years here will probably know those… Continue reading Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt: Review & Giveaway
Polysyllabic Spree – October 2015
October was a good reading month, mostly because of the Readathon and audiobooks. Without the Readathon or audiobooks I would have finished only 4 books in October! Let’s not imagine such a bleak world, and instead rejoice in all the wonderful books that did get read. Books Read: 12 Already reviewed: The Martian by Andy… Continue reading Polysyllabic Spree – October 2015
The Dead Ladies Project by Jessa Crispin
It’s not often that I don’t want to finish a book. Even when I love a book, I’m usually satisfied with the conclusion and happy to check it off the list and start another (hopefully also wonderful) book. But I did not want to reach the last page of The Dead Ladies Project by Jessa Crispin.… Continue reading The Dead Ladies Project by Jessa Crispin
The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray
A lot of non-fiction books came out of the most recent financial crisis — books explaining what happened and why, how things got so bad, biographies and analysis of the major players, and details of the aftermath. But it hasn’t spawned a lot of novels, so far. There are a few, but Paul Murray’s new novel, The Mark and the… Continue reading The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray
Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann
Thirteen Ways of Looking is a collection of four pieces of short fiction by the wonderful Irish author, Colum McCann. They don’t have interconnecting characters or plot lines, but they do share a theme: investigating events from different angles and determining if it’s ever possible to know the full story, or if we are forever trapped in… Continue reading Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann
The Martian by Andy Weir
When I was a kid, I alternated between wanting to be a teacher when I grew up, and wanting to be an astronaut. I was never very serious about the astronaut dream – it was just a fantasy. Deep down I knew the extreme unlikeness of realizing it, but it was so much fun to… Continue reading The Martian by Andy Weir
Polysyllabic Spree – September 2015
September is my favorite month, and it always flies by so quickly. I didn’t finish a lot in September, mainly due to powering through the rest of Anna Karenina and starting several books towards the end of the month that failed to hold my attention and got DNF’ed. But I read some quality books, and… Continue reading Polysyllabic Spree – September 2015
Just Kids by Patti Smith
This month I re-read (via the audiobook) Just Kids by Patti Smith. It moved me profoundly when I first read it in 2011, and I wanted to revisit it before her follow up memoir, M Train, is published next month. I didn’t write a review back when I first read it, so I thought I’d share… Continue reading Just Kids by Patti Smith
Gumption by Nick Offerman
I have very mixed feelings about Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers by Nick Offerman. I’ll start out by saying that I don’t think I would have gotten through it if I hadn’t been listening to the audiobook. His writing style is a little odd – he mixes humor and a very… Continue reading Gumption by Nick Offerman