I just finished Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (336 pages).

This novel was originally written in Icelandic and it’s set in Iceland. A German student at the university in Reykjavik is gruesomely murdered and the family is convinced the police arrested the wrong person, so they send a family employee (who happens to be…[Read more]

I read Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (304 pages) after seeing the film. It is a a fictional story based on a real event that happened in France – when the Gestapo ordered the French police to round up Jewish people in Paris and send them to camps. The story starts with ten-year old Sarah locking up her younger…[Read more]

So…recently I read “The Help” by Katheryn Stockett (522 pgs). Mostly I read it because my mom had just read it, and wanted me to read it so we could go see the movie together. It was okay. I enjoyed it. I expected something more, I think.

Also, Intern Grace’s team pick inspired me to re-read Joey Comeau’s “One Bloody…[Read more]

Yesterday I finished A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (288 pages).

Someone else in this here club read this book and I thought it sounded interesting. And it was! I love stories that weave together, where the main character in one storyline is a minor player in another, and that was what this book was all…[Read more]

Last week, I read Sister Mischief by Laura Goode. I really wanted to love this book: it’s about girls who love girls who love music. Four girls protest their school administration’s policies through rap. Based on the summary, this should be the best book of the year. But the execution is kind of shallow. Characters are…[Read more]

I forgot to list the things I’ve been reading. Oops. Other than all of autostraddle, I recently read:

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (232 pages)

This graphic novel was wonderful to read. Filled with references to The Odyssey, Joyce, and approximately a bajillion lesbian books, this is one of my new favorites. Her drawing…[Read more]

I just finished Shadowflame by Dianne Sylvan (360 pages). It *finally* got here after accidentally being sent to my old address, then shipped back to the store, then forwarded to my new address!

It was worth the wait, though :) I realy love the world Dianne Sylvan has created here. Yeah, it’s about vampires, which I’m…[Read more]

I just finished Hello, I Must Be Going by Christie Hodgen (312 pages).

A tomboy named Frankie has a father who is a Vietnam vet who lost his leg in the war. He does a good job masking his pretty severe depression with humor, but it’s still too much for him and he ends up killing himself. This book is about Frankie’s…[Read more]

The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (395 pp)
A dystopian novel, year 2150. The US (now Gilead) is long past population 0, and a totalitarian regime takes over to reorganize society and encourage population growth. Women find themselves (again) without rights,…[Read more]

The story is that of London-based Juliet Barrows who is trying to write a new book but has writer’s block. She…[Read more]

I just finished Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan (496 pages).

This was another dollar store find. I like Amy Tan’s writing and this book had a really interesting genesis. According to the introduction at the start of the book, Tan was caught in the rain in New York and came across a building marked “American Society…[Read more]

It is about a young…[Read more]

Today I read The Glimmer Palace by Beatrice Colin (416 pages).

This is another remaindered book I picked up at the dollar store. I find the most interesting, random books there!

At the dawn of the 20th century, a girl with the completely awesome name of Lilly Nelly Aphrodite is born in Berlin, Germany. Her mother is a…[Read more]

Today I read The Dinner Diaries: Raising Whole Wheat Kids in a White Bread World by Betsy Block (261 pages).

This is an unusual book for me to read because I don’t have or want kids, but I’m glad I read it anyway. This isn’t really an advice book for parents who want their kids to eat better. It’s a book about a family…[Read more]

I just finished Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World by Sharon Waxman (432 pages).

Wow. I knew looting was a huge problem and that during colonialism wholesale ransacking of antiquities was a major activity all over the world, but I had no idea the extent to which museums were, and still are to…[Read more]

Last week, I read a totally charming book called Paint by Number: The How-To Crazy that Swept the Nation by William L Bird. As the title implies, this book deals with the cultural significance and history of paint by numbers. Approximately 40% of this book is pictures which makes this reading experience both informative…[Read more]

I’ve bought a lot of books in the last month or so, but I’ve got this new girl who’s been distracting me so I haven’t had as much time to read. (Surprisingly, she has, and I don’t know how she’s doing it.)

Anyway, first off, although I…[Read more]

This morning I finished Any Human Heart by William Boyd (512 pages). I’ve had this for ages and finally decided to pick it up after several recommendations and watching the Channel 4 mini-series earlier in the year.

Any Human Heart is about the life of Logan Mountstuart – or perhaps even the many lives of Logan…[Read more]