Sara Taylor's debut novel, The Shore, has been getting some rave reviews and I was thrilled to snag a copy of it. Set in a remote set of islands off the coast of Virginia, it offers up a series of short stories that overlap to create a wonderful novel about the importance of home, the conflicting desire to run away and stay where you are, and the joys and sorrows that … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2015
33 Things About Me On My 33rd Birthday
I met my husband on MySpace. I've worked for a dating service, in a power plant, and for the federal government. I'm related to Francis Scott Key, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and William Wallace. I was a cheerleader twice. Once when I was 8 and again when I was 13. It didn't stick. I've tried pretty much every sport once - soccer, ballet, gymnastics, basketball, etc. I wasn't … [Read more...]
‘Goodhouse’: A Book About Genetics and Violence
Imagine a future where you could pinpoint the genetic markers that determine a criminal. Now, imagine a time when the children of criminals who have this marker are placed into schools until their 18th birthdays in order to override their genetic predispositions. This, my friends, is the premise of Goodhouse by Peyton Marshall.The novel follows James, one of these kids who … [Read more...]
‘Fall of Giants’: More Fact Than Fiction
When I finished Fall of Giants, the first in Ken Follett's latest trilogy, I was filled with happiness. It was a stunning book filled with accurate historical accounts of the events surrounding World War 1 and the characters where rich and real to me. About five minutes later, I started to panic a little for the exact same reason - the book was over and I would never again get … [Read more...]
The Problem With Publishing Only Women
I'm all for more representation of women in publishing. Men are more likely to be published and even more likely to be nominated for and win awards, and that's not cool. But this week a small publisher, And Other Stories, announced its decision to publish only females for a year after a call-to-action and I'm having trouble getting excited about it.This isn't the first time … [Read more...]