book

Wants to read Electric Literature No. 4

Finished reading The Adventure Zone Vol.1: Here There Be Gerblins

Wants to read Nuestra parte de noche

Rated Electric Literature No. 5 10/10

From the first paragraph of Kevin Brockmeier's "A Fable For the Living" until the last line of Lynne Tillman's "The Original Impulse," I remained so glad that I'd purchased a subscription to the quarterly publication.<br><br><i>Electric Literature No. 5</i> is a fantastic collection, with all five stories bleeding into one another to make a cohesive whole. Each one deals with people trying to fill some void in their life, some unspeakable absence, even when their methods for doing so are unhealthy. These are flawed, interesting individuals, and I couldn't ask for more in a collection of short stories. I flew through this slim volume, and I am eager to read <i>No. 6</i> when it arrives in my mailbox.<br><br><i>(My full review appears on <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/06/electric-literature-no-5-stories-by.html">Glorified Love Letters</a>.)</i>

Finished reading The Alloy of Law

Finished reading We Speak Through the Mountain

Wants to read Cien años de soledad

Rated Electric Literature No. 6 6/10

After absolutely loving No.5, I had high hopes going into the latest volume of Electric Literature. Perhaps too high, as no ongoing literary magazine is going to be loved by a specific reader every single time. No.6 links together five stories of quiet resignation and detached violence, and though I found the stories and characters interesting enough to keep going, they did not stay with me. They're perfectly fine, well-written stories, but their complications were not the sort of complications I typically enjoy. <br><br>But wait... It's not all bad! My full review can be found at <a href="http://glorifiedloveletters.blogspot.com/2011/10/electric-literature-no6-stories-by-matt.html">Glorified Love Letters.</a>

Finished reading The God of Small Things

Wants to read The Keeper of Magical Things

Wants to read Eagle Drums

Finished reading Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction

Rated Thornhedge 10/10

Rated Empty 8/10

Rated Equivalents 8/10

Finished reading Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse

Finished reading The Cosmic Color

Wants to read Tales from Earthsea

Finished reading The Sleepless

Wants to read The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia

Wants to read Three Hainish Novels

Wants to read Jade City

Rated Father Gaetano's Puppet Catechism: A Novella 8/10

A friend recommended this novella for our book club selection, and I’m so pleased that she did because I’m not sure it would have otherwise crossed my attention. Set during WWII, Father Gaetano is assigned as the sole priest in a small Sicilian village, where not only must he conduct every mass, he must also see after the spiritual care of the many orphans who are now living at the church. To better engage the children in their catechism lessons, he brings up an old puppet set from the basement. What he doesn’t know is that the puppets believe that the stories are real, and after dark they appear without strings. What happens next is a series of disturbing events that affect everyone involved, all while subtly mirroring the national turmoil surrounding the village.<br><br>Though I am not well-versed in Catholic symbolism, I found the book utterly compelling. Told from the points-of-view of the priest, a nun, and one sensitive boy who lives there, we are able to understand different ways how one can question their faith, and how they react when bravery is required. It’s a quick read interspersed with dark illustrations, and is yet another example of my need to occasionally widen my reading repertoire.<br><br>(This review originally appeared in <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2013/08/22/5-book-recommendations-for-your-reading-pleasure/">Persephone Magazine</a>.)

Rated February's Son 8/10

<div>A good, tense mystery where you already have an idea of who is behind it all, but done in a way where the process of getting the person is still interesting, and there are a few surprises along the way, of course. I don't know if it was entirely necessary to have the between-chapter POV moments from the person responsible though. While they do demonstrate the unravelling of this person's mind, it's not anything we don't also learn later through other characters. Minor quibble.</div>

Rated Torchwood: Fall to Earth 10/10

This was really great -- funny, dramatic, all the makings of a good Torchwood episode.