The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter 1) by Sigrid Undset
Synopsis: Kristin Lavransdatter is a girl in 14th Century Norway, betrothed to one man but desperately in love with another.
Tag Archives: Coming of Age
Books should be Anchovies, Olives, and Miso
Read a book tonight for work, actually a novella, and for discretion’s sake I won’t blog about it. Instead you get some thoughts on reading, and the next on my bookshelf. Click the “On Reading” tag in the sidebar if you want to see what else is on my shelf. I like old books. I’m not talking about the publication date, but about when the copy in my hands was printed, and how many hands have held it before mine. I like the idea that…
Carsickness
I finished a book on the subway this morning for my reading job. The only place in the world I can’t read is in the car. Train–fine. Subway–fine. Plane, bus, boat–no problem. But if I’m in the car and I spend more than 10 minutes looking at any kind of words, even on a map, I’m down for the count. When I was a kid, I figured out that I wouldn’t get sick as long as I couldn’t see out the window, so I would…
I’ll Take You There by Joyce Carol Oates
Synopsis: A troubled, introspective young woman in college in the early 60s falls out of favor with her sorority sisters and into a troubled relationship with a black PhD candidate in philosophy. Review: Very typical Oates–claustrophobic first-person narrative from the POV of a woman with serious issues. The story is laced with philosophical arguments that are way less interesting than the arcana of sorority life. Once Anellia leaves the Kappa house, the book loses contact with the larger world, narrowing in on Anellia and Vernor’s…