I’ve fallen a bit behind on blogging — and on reading, too, actually — in the past week or so. That’s partly because this is the busiest time of year for me, between students’ final projects, papers, presentations, and exams, and all the usual Christmas preparation. But it’s also partly because I got seriously bogged [...]
Archive for the ‘Abandoned’ Category
The City & The City (abandoned)
Posted in Abandoned, Fiction, Speculative Fiction on December 12, 2009 | 21 Comments »
The Boy Who Reversed Himself (abandoned)
Posted in Abandoned, Children's / YA Lit, Speculative Fiction on March 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This book has been sitting around on my shelf since I got it from Bookmooch ages ago. William Sleator is one of the great science fiction writers for young adults — The Green Futures of Tycho and Interstellar Pig, just for instance, are fascinating and unexpected novels — and I expected The Boy Who Reversed [...]
101 Best Scenes Ever Written
Posted in Abandoned, Nonfiction on November 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
101 Best Scenes Ever Written: A Romp Through Literature for Writers and Readers would perhaps be better titled How to Write a Great Scene: The Barnaby Conrad Way! The first title belongs to a fun book about books. The second, an infomercial. I’d pick up the first book; the second, no way. I would probably [...]
A Very Private Enterprise
Posted in Abandoned, Mysteries on October 28, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Set in India, A Very Private Enterprise opens with the murder of Hugo Fencham, a British civil servant. George Sinclair is called in from London to investigate. What ensues is very much a traditional whodunit. Sinclair interviews the various characters, checks out Fencham’s dwelling, uncovers a secret stash of gold, meets a pretty young Tibetan scholar. In [...]
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
Posted in Abandoned, Fiction on October 6, 2008 | 15 Comments »
Okay, folks. Mark your calendars because this is a monumental day. I am abandoning a book!!!! Unlike most book bloggers out there, I usually read only one book at a time, and I do not give up on books. They have to be almost appallingly bad, offensive, and due at the library tomorrow with no renewals [...]
The Terror
Posted in Abandoned, Fiction, Travel/ Exploration on June 5, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I first noticed The Terror when I was in the bookstore. I have a weakness for ghost stories and books about the supernatural (M.R. James, Robert Aickman, writers of that sort, rather than the slasher genre), and I also have an odd fondness for the Arctic. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Dan Simmons (an author [...]
What the Dead Know (abandoned)
Posted in Abandoned, Mysteries on April 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I read about a hundred pages of Laura Lippman’s What the Dead Know before I gave up. I’d never heard of her before, but this appears to be my fault: she’s written ten books or so, most of which are P.I. mysteries starring Tess Monaghan and the city of Baltimore. This particular book also takes [...]
