My wonderful former writing teacher Dale Gregory Anderson used to tell us that when it came to endings our job, as writers, was to land the plane safely. I think of this a lot whenever…
Posts tagged Fiction
Day 175 of 200: Milkman was Exhausting
Sometimes, but not often, I will struggle through a book that is challenging. The older I get the more I want to read things that are outside my taste. This rubs up against my “life…
Day 129 of 200: Patty Jane’s House of Snotting Your Face Off
The first time I read Lorna Landvik’s Patty Jane’s House of Curl, I was a 23-year-old gas station attendant. I remember reading the book late at night laying on my futon in the bedroom I…
Day 38 of 200: Vox
This week I tore through Christina Dalcher’s novel Vox which was kinda terrifying in a “Handmaid” kinda way but with much less rape. In this, the US has elected an unqualified dickhead with a penchant…
Such Catty, Bitchy Fun
This was a delightful surprise since I loathed Knoll’s first book with a frothy passion. It was such a pile of hot garbage that I think I kinda got The Favorite Sister just because I…
448 Pages of Nope
A.J. Finn’s The Woman in the Window is one of the most buzzed up books of 2018. It’s been on every “most-anticipated” list I read and has blurbs from Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, and Ruth…
Totally a 5-Star Read
Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay With Me, was a slow starter for me. In fact, I started reading it in like October or November of last year and returned it to the library unfinished. It wasn’t working…
Sorry, Jane, That’s Not How Blogging Worked in 1999
I have a bone to pick with Jane Young/Aviva Grossman. In 1999, you could not just flop down on the bed of your dorm room with your laptop (which would have had to been plugged…
Eleanor Oliphant is Totally Annoying
One thing to know before you crack into Gail Honeyman’s novel Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is that it’s very voicey. You are immediately and wholly ensconced in Eleanor’s world and her voice drives and…
The Adam-Texting Test for Mystery Novels
I can always tell if a mystery is really good because the moment I finish it I will text my friend, Adam, and tell him how much he needs to read it so I can…