Author Archives: Teresa

Play It As It Lays

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Teresa

I have to confess that “messy woman” novels are generally not my favorites. I don’t need women protagonists to have it all together, but I’m kind of bored with stories that are all about women being self-destructive. Some such novels … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Lexicon

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Teresa

Lexicon by Max Barry is a near-future thriller in which talented individuals known as poets are able to use special nonsense words to force people to submit to their will. Aspiring poets are trained at a special school where they … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

The Fell

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Teresa

When I came across this new novella by Sarah Moss at the library last week, I was surprised. It seems like Summerwater only came out a couple of months ago. But, in fact, it’s been a couple of years, and her … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | 6 Comments

The Reluctant Widow

Posted on June 12, 2022 by Teresa

As this novel by Georgette Heyer opens, Elinor Rochdale is on her way to a new position as a governess, a position she was forced to take up because the various scandals surrounding her father’s death left her without any … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction | 7 Comments

Priestdaddy

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Teresa

I loved Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This when I read it last year, and that love led me to pick up her much-praised memoir Priestdaddy. It didn’t park itself in my brain and start transforming it the way No One Is … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir | 4 Comments

Erasure

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Teresa

Thelonious Monk Ellison, the narrator of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, writes obscure, but well-reviewed novels that draw on classical history, and he gives talks at academic conferences that even his colleagues can’t really follow. What he doesn’t do is … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The Watsons

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Teresa

The Watsons is an unfinished novel by Jane Austen, just a few chapters long. There’s basically enough to give readers a sense of who the players are and what some of the crucial relationships are likely to be. The central … Continue reading →

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The Bird’s Nest

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Teresa

In my continuing effort to read more, often lesser-known books by authors I love, I read Shirley Jackson’s 1954 novel, The Bird’s Nest earlier this month. It’s not bad, but I think it’s the weakest of the Jackson novels I’ve read. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | 2 Comments

Matigari

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Teresa

You see, I built the house with my own hands. But Settler Williams slept in it and I would sleep outside on the veranda. I tended the estates that spread around the house for miles, But it was Settler Williams … Continue reading →

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A Spindle Splintered

Posted on May 23, 2022 by Teresa

Short books seem to be the answer for my recent inability to focus on my reading for very long. I don’t have to hold all the elements of the plot in my head for days upon days, just a few … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 4 Comments