Category: Book
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The Secret History
Reactions: Compelled to read on, A page turner // Review: You may recall me gushing over Donna Tartt’s more famous novel The Goldfinch earlier this year (well, except the last 80 pages). The Secret History is an entirely different kind of story, but one that demonstrates Tartt’s remarkable ability across her novels to write such…
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All The Light We Cannot See
Reactions: WOW. Just stunning. Every sentence is pure art. // Review: I started this novel knowing nothing about it except that it was a Pulitzer Prize winner. Only a dozen pages in, I understood why it deserved that distinction. This novel is beautiful and flows so smoothly from chapter to chapter that you can’t put…
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The Falcon and the Foe
Reactions: So fun! Adorable gay romance. // Review: I’d been telling my bestie how I was worn down from the sci-fi slog I’d just finished and needed something to lighten the mood. So he sent me The Falcon and the Foe, and it’s utterly delightful.
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You Should Be So Lucky
Reactions: WHOA! Who knew LGBTQ+ romance novels could be THIS good? // Review: I was at Fabulosa Books in the Castro with a few minutes to spare before a dinner date. I asked the cashier/bookseller for some gay romance recommendations. He picked out this one and another and said You Should Be So Lucky gets…
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Redemption Ark
Reactions: OMG stop with the five-page physics explainers // Review: I love love loved the two books prior to Redemption Ark: Chasm City and Revelation Space. But dear god this one plods along. The parts I loved most about those two other books is that a mystery unraveled during each book. Without that plot device,…
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Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
This book came as a recommendation from my friend Daniel. I didn’t know what to expect other than it was a bit of a murder mystery. Not my usual genre. I sure am glad Daniel recommended it, because this book is a riot. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a matter of…
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Where’d You Go Bernadette
Reactions: Fun, adorable, quirky // Review: If you’ve already seen the movie, you will still absolutely enjoy this book. I enjoyed the movie starring Cate Blanchett. So, I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy the book. But I did. I enjoyed it a lot!
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Red, White & Royal Blue
Reactions: Adorable, So much better than the movie! // Review: This review is about Red, White & Royal Blue the novel, not the Netflix movie. And if you’ve seen the movie, you do not know what happens in the book. I had already seen the movie before reading the novel, and had such a pleasant…
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Dune Messiah
Reactions: Ummm, was that it // Review: Decades after reading the first Dune novel, I finally decided to pick up the second in the series. I wasn’t prepared for how short it would be or how light on plot and character building it is.
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City of Night
Reactions: Beautiful, Couldn’t put it down // Review: This novel is just stunning. It’s gritty. It’s lyrical. It’s experimental. It’s gay. I loved everything about it. So much so that when I set out to read the first ten pages, I ended up reading 80 pages in one sitting.
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Life After Life
Reactions: Almost loved it but not quite // Review: This novel by Kate Atkinson was a best seller, and I can see why. It’s an enjoyable read with a clever premise and narrative style. But I wouldn’t say that I loved it and here’s why: It leverages the plot devices of multiple realities and reincarnation…
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Wicked
Reactions: Captivating, Powerful, Moving // Review: I read the book in 2003. I saw the musical in 2005 and 2016. And last weekend I finally saw the movie. I know this is going to make me loathed across the lands, but I never loved the musical. It veered away from the book and/or left out…
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The Goldfinch
Reactions: Compelling, Page-turner // Review: A friend recommended this 2014 winner of the Pulitzer Prize to me. I had no idea what to expect and was a bit daunted at its 962 pages. And then I picked it up. The words captivate me. I couldn’t stop. 300 pages poured into my brain on the very…
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
Reactions: Captivated, Fascinated, Pure wonderment // Review: The novel and show follow the story of the Buendía family, starting with José Arcadio and his wife Úrsula, cousins forbidden to marry who leave their village and wander in the jungle for years before founding the town of Macondo. We watch decades pass, Macondo grows, and the…
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Revelation Space
Reactions: Engrossed, 🤯 // Review: evelation Space is the first in a series of related books within the same universe. I read the standalone novel Chasm City recently, and I’m glad I did. It’s an important “world building” novel that makes Revelation Space make much more sense. Note: Chasm City is a delightful, hard-boiled detective…
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Parable of the Talents
Reactions: Horrified, Hopeful // Review: This book is a sequel to Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sowers. And let me be very clear, despite the beautifully elegant and simple narrative style, each of these books is emotionally devastating to read. Butler wrote them in 1993 and 1998 – during the Clinton years. And yet, she…
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Midnight’s Children
Reactions: Fantastical, Epic, Literary Genius. // Review: This book is not for the easily distracted. In the introduction, Rushdie himself says he set out to write a novel that blends the epic nature of greats like Anna Karenina and Pride and Prejudice with the magical realism of One Hundred Years of Solitude. And he sure…
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