Archive for November, 2019

An American Marriage: A Novel by Tayari Jones

Friday, November 29th, 2019

A Review

Book cover: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

I remember the day I spotted Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage on the new releases table at Phoenix Books in Burlington, Vermont. I was captivated by the cover. Yes, I often judge books by their covers. Sue me. I put it on my TBR list that day, but it took me more than a year and a half to get around to reading it. Silly me.

I almost turned away from the book very early, because I could see what was coming. At least, I thought I could. I hate foreshadowing and predictability and I thought I had been suckered into a bad case of both by a beautiful cover. I was wrong. I held on for a few more pages and the next then I knew, hours had passed.

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Bowie’s Bookshelf: The hundred books that changed David Bowie’s life by John O’Connell

Sunday, November 10th, 2019

A Review

On Sale 11/12/2019

Veteran music journalist John O’Connell has taken the list of 100 books David Bowie says changed his life and offered book lovers and Bowie fans closer look at both subjects.

I read voraciously, so I was a bit surprised to find very few books on Bowie’s list that I have read and quite a number I’d never heard of. For this reason, I appreciated the short synopsis of each book included in the essays. I also liked that O’Connell ends on each essay with pairing suggestions: A Bowie song to listen to while reading the listed book and another book or two to read, if you find you like this one.

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My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland

Monday, November 4th, 2019

A Review

cover of My Autobiography of Carson McCullers
On Sale 2/4/2020

This is the first time I’ve encountered Jenn Shapland‘s writing and I can certainly see why she has been granted numerous prestigious residencies and won several significant awards. She does write beautifully.

Shapland’s first book, My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, however, is probably not the best showcase of her talent. In most cases, I enjoy books that cross genre lines, but this mashup of queer history, literary criticism, and memoir is just not smooth.

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