Tag Archives: joint review

Sunday Coffee – Tohoku Daishinsai (Guest Post)

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Amanda

The following is written by my friend Chris Messer, who lived with his wife in the area of Japan where the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant meltdown happened in March 2011. When I read Ghosts of the Tsunami in … Continue reading →

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Thérèse Raquin, by Émile Zola

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Amanda

Thérèse lives a miserable life in a small shop in Paris. She lives with her aunt and cousin Camille. Camille is a man with poor health and a fantastic amount of pride, and Thérèse is forced to succumb both to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Define “Normal,” by Julie Anne Peters

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Amanda

Antonia used to be a model student, but her troubled homelife is catching up with her and people are beginning to notice. Jazz is part of the school’s rebellious crowd of punks and goths, and she’s hiding secrets of her … Continue reading →

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The Book of Flying, by Keith Miller

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Amanda

Pico lives in a city by the sea, an orphan, the wingless son of two winged parents. He makes a home in the unused library and falls in love with a winged girl. In order to make himself fit to … Continue reading →

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Ash, by Malinda Lo

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Amanda

Ash is a retelling of the Cinderella fairy story, with a twist. Aisling, or Ash, lives in a world where fairy tales and reality collide. When her father dies, leaving her orphaned with a (realistically) cruel stepmother and stepsisters, Ash … Continue reading →

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The Painted Veil, by William Somerset Maugham

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Amanda

I’m reviewing this book together with my good friend Karen of Books and Chocolate. Amanda: Hi Karen! Thanks for buddy-reviewing with me! I think I want to start out by talking about William Somerset Maugham. I first read one of … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Asleep, by Banana Yoshimoto

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Amanda

Included in Asleep are three longer short stories by Banana Yoshimoto, translated from the Japanese by Michael Emmerich. Each in some way deal with sleep (whether physical or metaphorical). This is my first read by Yoshimoto, and I’m delighted to … Continue reading →

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Readathon: Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Amanda

Alek, son of the assassinated Archduke Ferdinand, is on the run for his life as war stirs in Europe. Along with his tutor and fencing master, 15-yr-old Alek treks across Europe in a steam-powered Stormwalker in an attempt to reach … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Amanda

When the unnamed narrator of this story meets Maxim de Winter, whose wife drowned and left him a widower a year previously, she doesn’t imagine that he will ask her to marry him and take her back to his home, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror, by Chris Priestley

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Amanda

Edgar goes to visit his eccentric Uncle Montague, who tells him scary stories about children and the things that happened to them. It’s a collection of short stories tied together by a central narrative frame. I read this book mid-October … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Children's, Prose | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment