Tag Archives: *LOVE!!

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

American Literature October 24, 2011 Superfast Reader 1 Comment

Synopsis: A semiotics-enthralled English major falls for a manic depressive scientific researcher, while being loved unrequitedly by a religious studies major for whom Mother Teresa is his last hope in a fruitless quest to find faith. Review: The best thing about The Marriage Plot is that it’s a fantastic story with characters that I connected with on a very deep level. Jeffrey Eugenides’s other two novels were good but didn’t fire up my emotions the way that this one did. Now that I’ve gotten that…

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

American Literature August 13, 2011 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: A coming of age story about a girl growing up in Williamsburg in the first half of the 20th Century. Review: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of the most wonderful books of all time. It’s almost too perfect in its humor, poignancy, and wisdom. I’ve read it countless times since I was a bookish kid like Francie Nolan, wishing I could buy penny candy and sleep in the front room on a cool fall night. My heart broke for her all over…

A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5)

American Literature July 23, 2011 Superfast Reader 4 Comments

Synopsis: You really need to read the first 4 books. Review: I have never anticipated a book the way I anticipated A Dance with Dragons, not even Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This will be a spoiler-free review. I plan to listen to the audio book next month and that review will be spoiler-filled. I was thoroughly entertained and satisfied by the book, and loved what happened in the new POV characters, especially Reek. I am impressed by Martin’s manipulative abilities–he is in such…

Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb (The Tawny Man, Book 3)

American Literature July 6, 2011 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: As Fitz accompanies Prince Dutiful on a quest to lay the head of an ice-encased dragon on the hearthstone of the Narcheska Elliania’s mothershouse, he betrays his dearest friend and brings his own bastard daughter into grave peril. Review: Fool’s Fate is a thoroughly satisfying conclusion not just to the Tawny Man trilogy but to the entire tale begun in the Farseer trilogy and developed in the Liveship Traders. Hobb is after full-bodied resolution and she sure delivers. Everything is wrapped up and no…

Big Machine by Victor LaValle

American Literature March 29, 2011 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: A brokedown junkie, ex-cultist and mass murder survivor gets a mysterious invitation to become an Unlikely Scholar investigating odd phenomena across America. Review: Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Big Machine rocked my world. Stylistically, it’s a mash-up of Haruki Murakami and Stephen King, with a bit of Ralph Ellison for good measure. When junkie Ricky Rice becomes an Unlikely Scholar under way mysterious circumstances, he finds himself scouring newspapers for stories that give evidence to The Voice. His journey grows ever more wild, and…

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

American Literature September 21, 2010 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: Upper East Side bond trader mows down Bronx “honor student” and New York City freaks out. Review: Oh, how I love Bonfire of the Vanities! I have read it several times, most memorably rereading it in the first month after I moved to New York City, way back in 1995. I don’t know that I could ever tire of reading it, because I’m always astonished by how deep Wolfe takes you into every single little nuance of the story. And it’s funny how the…

Faithful Place by Tana French

Irish Literature July 28, 2010 Superfast Reader 1 Comment

Synopsis: When the body of his first love is discovered 22 years after she failed to show up and elope to England, undercover detective Frank Mackey is sucked back into his dysfunctional and dangerous family. Review: Faithful Place is yet another perfect read from Tana French. As Frank navigates the crime scene, even after being ordered to stay away from the case, his grief, nostalgia, and brokenness threaten to consume him. Nobody does bittersweet regret like Tana French. My heart ached for all these poor…

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

American Literature June 30, 2010 Superfast Reader 1 Comment

Synopsis: A white woman writes the lives of the black women who work for her and her friends in early 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Review: After having a half a dozen people recommend The Help, and then not being able to find it at the library, I decided to take the plunge and buy myself a shiny new hardcover copy. I went in with low expectations, because more often than not I’m disappointed by these kinds of books. Thank goodness I listened to my very smart…

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

British Literature June 25, 2010 Superfast Reader 6 Comments

Synopsis: A professional “carer” recalls her idyllic school days, which mask a horror that she and her friends “know but don’t know.” Review: Never Let Me Go is one of my favorite all-time books, and this is the third time I’ve read it. Big life upheavals, like having a baby, always send me back to books I know I’ll enjoy, as a way to comfort myself through a major life transition. If you’ve read it, you’ll know that it’s a strange one to read while…

The Hungry Season by T. Greenwood

American Literature May 6, 2010 Superfast Reader 1 Comment

Synopsis: Stricken with writers’ block after the death of a loved one, a writer moves his family to a remote New England cabin to try to rebuild, while a fan makes her way across the country to realize her dream of being with him. Review: I’m a longtime fan of T. Greenwood‘s nuanced character portraits and sticky situations, and The Hungry Season is her best yet. I really can’t say enough good things about this book, which takes an excruciating look at the breakup of…

reading is my superpower

i read all the books