Romola by George Eliot This is one of the last George Eliot books I had unread. I’ll confess that early on I thought about dumping it, but I persevered. As a book written in the 19th century about the 15th century and centered quite a lot on philosophy and the ... more >
Personal Pleasures is an anthology of 80 short essays (some of them very short) about the things the feminist critic and novelist Rose Macaulay enjoyed most in life. Review Ever since I read and loved “Business as Usual,” I’ve kept an eye open for other books that are being reissued ... more >
Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore I went into this knowing nothing about it but the name. It ended up being a bit of a slog, for a few reasons: dialogue rendered in impenetrable dialect, a lot of blah blah blah musings, and the fact that I didn’t really like the ... more >
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson This was my annual “spooky Halloween read.” I have a hard time judging it, having spoiled myself on the twist long ago. I find it hard to believe that this twist wouldn’t have been obvious even if I hadn’t known, ... more >
At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft I’ve made it a habit over the past six years to try to read a “classic horror” novel around Halloween, starting with 2013’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and going up to last year’s The Fall of the House of Usher. Most ... more >
Read and reviewed: Game On, Ruth, Midsummer Moon The Lover’s Knot by Erin Satie This was reviewed by Jane back in 2014. I agree with her point about the nature of the heroine’s memory issue being fuzzy – it actually took me a while to understand that Sophie even had an ... more >