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Category Archives: Fiction – Historical
The Things I Do For You People: Thoughts on Diana Gabaldon’s A Plague of Zombies
Diana Gabaldon’s Lord John books serve a number of purposes in the Outlander world, none of which are especially important. First, they fill in backstory about what happened in Gabaldon’s universe during the twenty years that are missing from the … Continue reading
Another notch in my book belt finally added! Final Thoughts on Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement (by Jill)
After a somewhat, let’s say, meandering first couple hundred pages of the story, the pace picked up quite a bit once the focus shifted to Violet’s mother, Lucretia/Lucia/Lulu Minturn-Danner. Finally getting to see her through her own eyes rather … Continue reading
Progress Report on The Valley of Amazement and some other random stuff (by Jill)
I got some reading done yesterday, but not as much as I would have liked. I had to do “adulting” things like vacuum the floors and organize the linen closet, as well as procure my birthday “gift” from Panera … Continue reading
More Progress on Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement (by Jill)
Seriously, you guys, Violet Minturn is the unluckiest courtesan in all of Shanghai. It’s just too much. She becomes a courtesan. Then she falls in love with an American named Edward. They have a child. They’re living together and … Continue reading
Progress Report on Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement (by Jill)
And…. There’s a very good chance I was right in my last post about The Valley of Amazement when I said that when I saw the length of this book I was worried about Amy Tan having a poor … Continue reading
A Review of Thomas Mallon’s Henry and Clara (by Bethany)
When I reported in on this book last weekend, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I think I felt 100% neutral about it, actually – and neutrality is unusual for me. I didn’t quite know what to do … Continue reading
A Brief Introduction to Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement (by Jill)
My first thought when I picked up Amy Tan’s latest novel (her first since 2005 and was published in 2013, yes, yes, I’m way behind on my “high priority” pile) off the top of the pile a few days … Continue reading
Some Brief Early Thoughts on Thomas Mallon’s Henry and Clara
I didn’t read all day today – not by a long shot – but I did do some other things, like getting lost in the Financial District in the rain and interviewing a startup CEO and changing my mind about … Continue reading
Postcards From Purgatory 