Tag Archives: place-character

He’s Gone, by Deb Caletti

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Thistle

Dani wakes up, and her husband, Ian, is not beside her. At first, she thinks he’s just out, but as time passes, she knows he is gone. She doesn’t know if he left voluntarily, or if something has happened to … Continue reading →

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Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo (audio)

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Thistle

This is an incredibly difficult book to review, for multiple reasons. I won’t even begin to try to summarize it. I spent two months and two days listening to the audiobook of Les Miserables, so that the experience stretched out … Continue reading →

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Something Wicked & The Night Circus

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Thistle

Last year, when Lu from Regular Rumination brought up the idea of reading Something Wicked This Way Comes alongside The Night Circus, I immediately knew I had to join her. I’d loved The Night Circus and already wanted to revisit … Continue reading →

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Faithful Place, by Tana French (audio)

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Thistle

I’m not a real mystery reader, but right around this time of year, I always get in the mood for a good mystery story for some reason. Been that way for the last few years, and this year is no … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012, Adult, Prose | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Thistle

I didn’t expect to love this one. There was so much hype, so many people loving it. I expected to get it from the library, read a few pages, and return it unread, simply due to my history of not … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, 2013, 2018, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Belly of Paris, by Émile Zola

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Thistle

This is probably the best Zola I’ve read since Germinal. The translation, by Mark Kurlansky, was fabulous. Each of the six chapters opens up a new section of life in the Paris food market. Food becomes a metaphor for everything … Continue reading →

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The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Thistle

The Inferno is the first in a trio of epic poems where Dante is led through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Virgil, the classical Roman poet, leads him through Hell, where Dante sees all the different ways that sinners are punished … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Tapestry of Love, by Rosy Thornton

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Thistle

Divorced and with her children grown and out of the house, 48-year-old Catherine Parkstone leaves England and settles into a mountain home in Southern France, where she plans to set up a business in tapestry. I know that doesn’t seem … Continue reading →

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Metropole, by Ferinc Karinthy

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Thistle

Budai steps through the wrong door at the airport, so that his flight takes him not to Helsinki, where he’s expected at a conference, but to a vast and unknown city filled with hoards of people all speaking different languages. … Continue reading →

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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Thistle

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a classic coming of age story set around the turn of the century in immigrant-heavy Brooklyn. It’s so much more than a coming of age story, though. This is the third time I’ve read … Continue reading →

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