Well, my goodness. It has certainly been a long time (ALMOST A YEAR???) since I posted to this blog. I tend to do more reading of other peoples' blogs and less writing on my own, I guess.
I'll try to get back into the swing of things. In the meantime, I'll just mention that I've read a few good books lately! I've read some heavy stuff and some light stuff: I'll mostly dwell on the lighter fare here.
"The Time it Takes to Fall", is a first novel by Margaret Lazarus Dean. It's about a young girl growing up in Florida, just before the first space shuttle disaster. Her father works on the shuttles, and most of her friends have dads who also work in the space program. It's a really wonderful read, with one of the most authentic teenage girls I've seen in fiction. Read it: it's funny and moving and really a lovely first novel.
Others I've enjoyed lately:
"In the Wood" by Tana French, a really different murder mystery/thriller with complex characters and an unreliable narrator. Loved it, though I felt the narrator was a little slow on the uptake at times.
"Little Stalker" by Jennifer Belle. A novelist struggling to write her second book becomes obsessed with a film director who lives nearby, and creates a teenaged alter ego through which she communciates with him. Funny and entertaining.
"The War Against Miss Winter", by Kathryn Miller Haines. A mystery set during WWII, with a struggling actress finding herself playing noir P.I. Good fun and an authentic-feeling New York setting.
"The Devil You Know", by Mike Carey. Carey has written such comics as "Hellblazer", and this first novel (I think?) is good scary fun. The protagonist is an exorcist hired to clear a building of ghosts, but finds out more about this particular haunting that the people who hired him really want him to know. Loved the matter-of-factness with which this world is treated; it's just like our contemporary world, except that things like ghosts are everyday, accepted annoyances.
"Generation Loss", by Elizabeth Hand. Hand is an excellent writer who rarely disappoints, and she doesn't here. A nicely spooky read with a complex protagonist and a vividly created isolated island world, complete with crazy killer and really big dogs.
And, finally, "Fieldwork" by Mischa Bellinski. A writer living in Thailand becomes obsessed with the case of an anthropologist who's in prison for murder. I actually read this one because Stephen King recommended it in EW, and while I don't always agree with Mr. King -- especially when he writes about music (let's face it, Steve... you're OLD), this was definitely one worth picking up. Well-researched and fascinating.
And last but not least: "Lullabies for Little Criminals", by Heather O'Neill. The story of Baby, a 12-year-old young girl being raised by a drug addict dad who's only fifteen years older than she is, this tells the story of her journey through tenements and foster homes and prostitution. And it's FUNNY. And MOVING. And I hated for it to end, because I loved Baby's voice so much that I didn't want it to stop. Highly, highly recommended; don't be afraid of the subject matter. Baby rises above it all.
I'll try to get back into the swing of things. In the meantime, I'll just mention that I've read a few good books lately! I've read some heavy stuff and some light stuff: I'll mostly dwell on the lighter fare here.
"The Time it Takes to Fall", is a first novel by Margaret Lazarus Dean. It's about a young girl growing up in Florida, just before the first space shuttle disaster. Her father works on the shuttles, and most of her friends have dads who also work in the space program. It's a really wonderful read, with one of the most authentic teenage girls I've seen in fiction. Read it: it's funny and moving and really a lovely first novel.
Others I've enjoyed lately:
"In the Wood" by Tana French, a really different murder mystery/thriller with complex characters and an unreliable narrator. Loved it, though I felt the narrator was a little slow on the uptake at times.
"Little Stalker" by Jennifer Belle. A novelist struggling to write her second book becomes obsessed with a film director who lives nearby, and creates a teenaged alter ego through which she communciates with him. Funny and entertaining.
"The War Against Miss Winter", by Kathryn Miller Haines. A mystery set during WWII, with a struggling actress finding herself playing noir P.I. Good fun and an authentic-feeling New York setting.
"The Devil You Know", by Mike Carey. Carey has written such comics as "Hellblazer", and this first novel (I think?) is good scary fun. The protagonist is an exorcist hired to clear a building of ghosts, but finds out more about this particular haunting that the people who hired him really want him to know. Loved the matter-of-factness with which this world is treated; it's just like our contemporary world, except that things like ghosts are everyday, accepted annoyances.
"Generation Loss", by Elizabeth Hand. Hand is an excellent writer who rarely disappoints, and she doesn't here. A nicely spooky read with a complex protagonist and a vividly created isolated island world, complete with crazy killer and really big dogs.
And, finally, "Fieldwork" by Mischa Bellinski. A writer living in Thailand becomes obsessed with the case of an anthropologist who's in prison for murder. I actually read this one because Stephen King recommended it in EW, and while I don't always agree with Mr. King -- especially when he writes about music (let's face it, Steve... you're OLD), this was definitely one worth picking up. Well-researched and fascinating.
And last but not least: "Lullabies for Little Criminals", by Heather O'Neill. The story of Baby, a 12-year-old young girl being raised by a drug addict dad who's only fifteen years older than she is, this tells the story of her journey through tenements and foster homes and prostitution. And it's FUNNY. And MOVING. And I hated for it to end, because I loved Baby's voice so much that I didn't want it to stop. Highly, highly recommended; don't be afraid of the subject matter. Baby rises above it all.
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