Reviews, roundups and general commentary on what I’m currently reading … or watching.
“I die a thousand deaths because I do not die.” From this opening epigraph from St. John of the Cross, Karen Ullo’s horror novel Jennifer the Damned sets the perfect tone for its intelligent, spiritually rich, and yet fast-paced story of a teen vampire coming to terms with two difficult realities: one, that she doesn’t have a soul (and … Read more
All right, folks, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon and give you my top reading recommendations for Halloween. Except I’m not going to recommend books. No, I suspect your reading list is long enough already. Instead, I’ve gathered up my favorite stories, poems, songs, and poem-songs, which you can enjoy in 15 minutes or less. … Read more
Wow, wow, WOW. I’ve said many times before that Dostoevsky is one of my all-time favorite novelists. I read The Brothers Karamazov almost two years ago and was stunned by his prophetic voice, as well as the strength and multidimensionality of his characters. It’s true that reading his works does require some patience from the modern … Read more
Thank Amazon for free Kindle samples…because what a difference an opening chapter makes. The other day, after finishing Mariette in Ecstasy, I hungered for another good story and so consulted my ever-growing to-read list. There were two books in particular that I was curious about, so I downloaded their opening chapters to compare. It was a good … Read more
This semester I began my advanced-level ESL Oral Communication class with Susan Cain’s famed TED talk, and after the subject of introversion vs. extroversion became like a running theme in the class, I decided to pick up the book-length version, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. So glad I did. … Read more