![]() ![]() I was a kid, so I was fixated on the story, the surprise, the horror. Reading these reminded me how little I appreciated Bradbury's prose when I was young. He was light on scifi (it was a light frame) and heavy on characters, but he kept enough of the pulpy scifi tropes to make you almost unaware of the pill you were swallowing until it was completely absorbed. He wrote about alienation, loneliness, jealousy, racism, and fear in new ways. Not the first star in the night, but the one that tore a bit of the sky open for the rest. His stories (and books as well) are part of our modern psyche. I've recently returned to him as a father and an adult and get to re-establish connection to this great writer of American pop-lit. I permanently dented my aunt's couch one summer reading Vonnegut and Bradbury. ![]() I remember reading him for fun, reading him anthologized, reading him again and again. He is 180-proof literary, pulp, scifi nostalgia. ![]() “I shall remain on Mars and read a book.” ― Ray Bradbury, The Illustrated Man Ray Bradbury is forever connected to my youth. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Maybe (like me!) you’ve just read it and found it so rich and strange and inspiring and unlike anything else you’ve ever read that you’re struggling to find a move on to the next book, because it’s unlikely to be as good. ![]() I’m not going to review it: instead, I thought I’d recommend a few things that I think you might enjoy if you liked it, and/or that might shed an interesting light on a specific aspect of it. If you want to read a good, comprehensive review of Milkman, I’d point you in the direction of Claire Kilroy’s piece over at the Guardian. Sure, it sometimes requires a bit more focus on the reader’s part than many other novels, but that’s no bad thing! And it still contains plenty of scenes that you’ll want to read aloud to your friends or other halves or cats because they’re so funny and/or insightful. It’s one of the richest texts I’ve come across this year, and a very deserving winner. ![]() Turns out, Milkman is strange and dark and funny and thought-provoking, as well as topical in the way it deals with both gender politics and cultural sectarianism. ![]() I hadn’t been following the contest particularly closely, but when I heard about the sort-of backlash against the novel in some corners of the media, from pundits who believed it was too difficult or challenging and would disappoint a lot of readers, I felt a profound urge to check it out. A few weeks ago, Anna Burns won the Man Booker Prize with her third novel, Milkman. ![]() ![]() ![]() This is a small town, marriage of convenience romantic comedy with plenty of sizzle while keeping the bedroom door closed. Perfect for fans of Sarah Adams and Sariah Wilson! ![]() ![]() Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts. Now if she can only keep herself from falling back in love with her husband. Clair Narrated by: Lorana Hoopes, Kevin Eiger Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins 4.7 (27 ratings) Try for 0.00 Pick 1 title (2 titles for Prime members) from our collection of bestsellers and new releases. But she would do anything to keep custody of Jo-even if that looks like a marriage of convenience with the man who already broke her heart once. Lindy was supposed to be traveling the world, not stuck in a small town, caring for her niece. But when his father purchases the town of Sheet Cake, Pat suddenly sees his life with clear purpose: get his brothers on board with his dad's wild idea and win back the one woman who got away. ![]() or to fall in love.Įver since his career-ending injury, Pat has bounced from job to job, idea to idea, short-lived relationship to short-lived relationship. When a family of former pro football players buy a small Texas town, they didn't intend to start a war with its residents. ![]() ![]() ![]() After a tragic past, Bodi keeps his emotions in check and everything in his life in control that is until he meets Ruby, the woman who splashed some color and life into his boring life. ![]() ![]() Right off the opening pages, Meghan didn’t waste anytime as she made readers fall for Bodi and Ruby instantaneously as she splashed some color, raw emotions, and vivid details to their story.īodi Banks may be an Olympic gold medalist and a famous hunky athlete but there is more to Bodi behind that drop dead smile and body. If you have read the first book of Quinn’s Stroked Series then you are all aware that Meghan will have you drowning in love with her sexy Olympian heroes and this time, she will have you stroking long for Bodi and Ruby. I try not to show my emotions, let alone acknowledge them, but there is no denying Ruby’s beauty. Meghan Quinn has once again has readers diving into her latest release and doggy paddling like crazy to keep afloat with her hottest and sexiest male hero, Bodi Banks. Move over Phelps because Bodi Banks has taken over the spotlight!!!! Well, in the literary fiction world that is. ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review ![]() ![]() The Drop of the Dice / Will You Love Me in September? ![]() We have listed her books under her various pen names below, sorted both by date of publication and by chronological order: Finally, perhaps her most famous nom de plume, Victoria Holt, made its debut Mistress of Mellyn. ![]() Her first novel as Jean Plaidy was Together They Ride in 1945. We have excluded her novels under her real name due to the fact that they are no longer available. She died in 1993 while on a cruise between Greece and Egypt.Įleanor Burford made her debut as a published author in 1941 under her birth name with the novel Daughter of Anna. Among her inspirations were the Brontes, Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy. Eleanor is the author of many series, including (but not limited to) the Tudor Saga, Daughters of England, Stuart Saga, Georgian Saga, Plantagenet Saga and Queens of England series. Her historical novels as Plaidy were praised for their accuracy and quality of writing. Jean Plaidy was used for her novels about the regency, whereas Victoria Holt was used for gothic romance. She also used the pen names Eleanor Burford (her birth name), Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anne Percival and Ellalice Tate. She was an extremely prolific author who wrote under several pseudonyms, including Victoria Holt, Jean Plaidy and Philippa Carr (her most famous ones). ![]() Eleanor Burford Hibbert (1906-1993) was a British author of historical fiction, gothic fiction and romance novels. ![]() ![]() George MacDonald Fraser was an exceptional writer and he developed a character that he took from Tom Brown's School Days into a truly legendary figure. The concept of a fictional character witnessing and participating in real historical events, while not unique, has rarely been done better. Most of what I know of the Victorian era was prompted by his books. When I thought of a vehicle to do so, the Flashman series from George MacDonald Fraser came to mind. History is full of amazing stories and in my books I try to do my bit to tell some of them. ![]() ![]() The Begum of Samru from my second book is another: a fifteen-year-old nautch dancer who gained the confidence of an army, had a man literally kill himself over her and who led her soldiers with skill and courage, before becoming something of a Catholic saint. Thomas Cochrane who features in my first book is one of those, his real life adventures seem ridiculously far fetched for a fictional character. There are countless times when I have come across a character or incident that has been so hard to believe that I have had to search out other sources for confirmation. I am a firm believer in the maxim that history is stranger than fiction. ![]() ![]() ![]() Brand New, immaculate, pristine, and flawless, with all of the numerous removable scrapbook-type removable inserts also perfect and in place. ![]() Made with 'replanted paper' - meaning that for every tree used in the production of this book, two will be planted. Square octavo, promotional short-jacket, semi-gloss boards in blue, black, silver and gilt, decorative endpapers with two maps tipped in, one at front and one at rear, 48 pp. 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Newt Scamander: A Movie Scrapbook', written and assembled (from full-color movie stills and removable scrapbook surprises galore) by Rick Barba with input from the folks at Insight Editions in San Rafael, CA. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press (publisher), 2016. Brand New, pristine and flawless First Edition First Printing. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Prosthesis”, traces the development of Lorde's decision not to wear a prosthesis, a cosmetic device that she felt placed profit and denial of difference over health and well-being. The last chapter, entitled “Breast Cancer: Power vs. Central to this section is Lorde's recognition of her fierce desire to survive, to be a warrior rather than a victim, and her acknowledgment of the network of women whose love sustained her. The second chapter, subtitled “A Black Lesbian Feminist Experience”, frankly describes the emotions experienced by one without role models through the course of diagnosis, surgery, and recovery. The first section of the book, “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”, is a short address that was delivered by Lorde on a lesbians and literature panel of the Modern Language Association in 1977, soon after she had recovered from surgery that discovered a benign breast tumor. In this collection, Lorde challenged traditional Western notions of illness and advocated women's ability, responsibility, and right to make decisions about their health.Ī three-part piece developed from journal entries and essays written between 19, The Cancer Journals chronicles Lorde's experiences with her mastectomy and its aftermath. The Cancer Journals, published in 1980 by Spinsters Ink, was the first major prose work of African American poet and essayist Audre Lorde as well as one of the first books to make visible the viewpoint of a lesbian of color. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() They mark their days only by the sun and the seasons. They repair the hut, bathe in water from the river, hunt and gather food in the summers and almost starve in the harsh winters. Deep in the wilderness, Peggy and James make a life for themselves. Peggy Hillcoat is eight years old when her survivalist father, James, takes her from their home in London to a remote hut in the woods and tells her that the rest of the world has been destroyed. ![]() Claire's second novel, Swimming Lessons will be published in early 2017.Ībout Our Endless Numbered Days. Our Endless Numbered Days won the 2015 Desmond Elliott prize. It was published in the UK by Penguin, in the US by Tin House, in Canada by House of Anansi and bought for translation in 15 other countries. In 2013 she completed an MA in Creative Writing, and wrote her first novel, Our Endless Numbered Days. Claire Fuller trained as a sculptor before working in marketing for many years. I first became interested in this book when I read the review by Triskele author, Gillian Hamer on the Bookmuse review site.Ībout the Author. ![]() ![]() ![]() Tru becomes the prime suspect as she hadn’t hid the fact that she hated having all of those wonderful books replaced by tablets and computers. Under the cover of darkness, Tru, along with her best friends–coffee shop owner Tori Green and mysterious bestselling author Flossie Finnegan-Baker–set up a secret bookroom in the library’s basement and prepare to open it to their most loyal, trustworthy patrons.But as Tru and her crew are putting the finishing touches on their new book room, the town manager, who was behind the big push for the library’s transformation, is crushed by an overturned shelf of DVDs. ![]() Trudell Becket, known to her friends as Tru, finds herself in a bind when her library in lovely Cypress, South Carolina, is turned into a state-of-the-art bookless “technological center.” A library with no books breaks Tru’s book-loving heart so she decides to rescue hundreds of beloved tomes slated for the town dump. ![]() When small-town assistant librarian Tru Beckett sets up a secret book room in her newly modernized library, she discovers that protecting the printed word is harder than she’d ever imagined. ![]() |