Once Upon A River
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield was released yesterday, but I’d been looking forward to it pretty much as soon as I heard about it. Naturally, I was very excited to be approved for an advanced copy of the book. I read her debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale, over ten years ago at the …
Spinning Silver
Naomi Novik’s newest novel, Spinning Silver, is a loose retelling of the Brother’s Grimm version of Rumplestiltskin — it borrows just enough elements from it to be recognizable while spending most of its time spinning a vivid and original tale. Plot Summary Miryem lives in a small town in the kingdom of Lithvas and comes …
The Night Circus
I went with my family on a cruise to Alaska a while back and found out that cruises are a little boring if you’re not interested in stuffing your face all day long. And it’s a bit of a long ride going from Seattle (our port of departure) to Alaska, so even a week-long cruise …
Uprooted
I’d heard about the many, many fans of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted a while back, but hadn’t planned on getting it since it belongs firmly in the fantasy genre — not really the typical literary fiction stuff I usually go for. But I was in the mood for something different and easy, so I picked it …
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
I finally finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, which I really enjoyed. It’s about two magicians, set in England during the Napoleonic Wars. When the story begins, magicians are almost an anachronistic remnant of Britain’s past (according to the story, magic once abounded but has since disappeared). Instead, there are only theoretical …