Category Archives: Year

Gothic Charm School, by Jillian Venters

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Thistle

Gothic Charm School is a nonfiction book about goth culture and manners. Jillian Venters, aka “the Lady of the Manners,” takes us through a ton of different aspects of what it means (and doesn’t mean) to be a goth. For … Continue reading →

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Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Thistle

When Mary Yellan’s parents die, she must move up north to the moorlands to live with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss at Jamaica Inn. When she gets there, though, she finds that her aunt is no longer the happy … Continue reading →

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Queer Questions Straight Talk, by Abby Dees

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Thistle

Queer Questions Straight Talk is subtitled “108 frank & provocative questions it’s OK to ask your lesbian, gay or bisexual loved one.” That pretty much sums up what this book is about. There is some introductory material and then the … Continue reading →

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Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Thistle

My second Christie was just as fun as my first and it balanced out in terms of which book was better. This had less info-dump at the end than And Then There Were None, but it also relied more heavily … Continue reading →

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The Monk, by Matthew Gregory Lewis

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Thistle

I hardly know what to say about this book, it was such a trip. It was like a 1700s gothic Harlequin romance adventure thriller allegory! Every gothic element you can think of was in the book, excepting the whole vampire/zombie/werewolf … Continue reading →

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My Name is Memory, by Ann Brashares

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Thistle

I keep trying these books about love through multiple lives, but just like with Reincarnation last year, this was not what I was looking for. It was too young, the topics too shallowly-touched on, the plot too predictable. I probably … Continue reading →

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Thistle

I don’t want to say anything at all about the plot of this book and give stuff away. I made the mistake of reading the back of my book when I was a short way into it. At the time, … Continue reading →

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Flush, by Virginia Woolf

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Thistle

Flush is a biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s dog, whose name was, of course, Flush. Flush was a golden Cocker Spaniel who was apparently very finely bred, though I personally know nothing whatsoever about dogs or dog breeding. The book … Continue reading →

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Bleak House, by Charles Dickens

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Thistle

Bleak House would be impossible to describe in terms of plot. There are lots of plots, many of which eventually become connected, but not until the second half of the book. The plot elements vary from bad law cases to … Continue reading →

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The Imposter’s Daughter, by Laurie Sandell

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Thistle

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a review of this book that wasn’t mixed. People seem to like it, but with reservations, not fully connecting with it. I, on the other hand, really, really enjoyed it. I kept waiting for … Continue reading →

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