Category Archives: Prose

I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Thistle

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra lives in an old, broken-down castle with her family. They are very poor and live mostly off the charity of others, but their lives change when new neighbors move into their late landlord’s home next door. The book … Continue reading →

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Complete Stories, by Zora Neale Hurston

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Thistle

This is the third short story collection I’ve read for my personal short story project this year, and by far the best. The other two (by Nabokov and Chopin) have both been sort of middle of the road sorts of … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter et la Chambre des Secrets, by JK Rowling

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Thistle

The adventures continue for Harry and the gang, en français. Sigh. This was actually a pretty discouraging read, for two reasons. The first has to do with myself, the second with the translation. Reading this book, I realized something about … Continue reading →

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Orlando, by Virginia Woolf (audio)

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Thistle

I don’t even begin to know how to describe Orlando. On the surface, I suppose I could say this is about a person, Orlando, who lives for hundreds of years, from the 1500s to the early 1900s. Orlando begins life’s … Continue reading →

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Delirium, by Lauren Oliver

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Thistle

The world has changed. Love has been identified as a disease, and everyone receives the cure for it around their eighteenth birthday. Lena is nearly eighteen and very excited that she will finally be safe, until she meets Alex and … Continue reading →

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Mary, by Vladimir Nabokov

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Thistle

Ganin is a Russian ex-pat living in Germany in a boarding house with a bunch of other Russian ex-pats and exiles. One of his neighbors is particularly chatty and intrusive, which bothers Ganin until the man shows him a picture … Continue reading →

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The Woman Who Fell from the Sky, by Jennifer Steil

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Thistle

In the mid-2000s, Jennifer Steil agreed to teach a three-week course on proper journalism in Yemen. At the end of her time there, she was offered a year-long contract managing the newspaper, and after a few weeks of reflection back … Continue reading →

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North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Thistle

When Margaret Hale’s father decides to leave the Church of England (he’s a preacher), the family is uprooted and moved to the industrial north, where Margaret gets involved in industrial-era politics. This book is both a romance and a political … Continue reading →

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Radio Shangri-La, by Lisa Napoli

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Thistle

Lisa Napoli traveled to Bhutan, a small country sandwiched between India and China, after hearing it was “the happiest kingdom on earth.” She was given the opportunity to go without the daily $200 tourist tariff as long as she helped … Continue reading →

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Readathon: Chocolat, by Joanne Harris

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Thistle

Vianne and her daughter Anouk move to a little town in France and open a chocolate shop, which offends the priest in town because she does this right at the start of the Lent season. The two lock into a … Continue reading →

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