Someone once told me, "Well, I don't think you're going to find anyone who reads as much as you do." From the mouth of someone who continually asks me for book recommendations based solely on their own likes! (Also, there are people clocking 150-200 books a year on Goodreads. My 50-60 books is nothing compared… Continue reading Best Books of 2022
Author: Shelby
Quiet. Former English Major. Elvis Costello Listener. Dog Owner. Apple Eater. Coffee Drinker.
Best Books of 2021
This list is in no particular order. . . 1. The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov: This treasured classic opens as if it was the set up for one long joke. "The devil runs into two Russian atheists in the park. . ." This is a novel of contrasting extremes with some absurdity thrown… Continue reading Best Books of 2021
Worst Books of 2021
This list is in no particular order. . . 1. Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas by Fernando A. Flores: Such a disappointment! I loved Flores's 2019 novel, Tears of the Trufflepig, and compared to it this book of short stories was terribly esoteric at times. About being punk in many forms, it… Continue reading Worst Books of 2021
Dispatches From a Small Town Girl: A Celebration of Bourdain Day
Updated on 09/21/22 Anthony Bourdain crosses my mind every goddamn day. He's even eternally flipping me off on my phone's home screen as a constant reminder for me to be actively growing, and morphing into a better person as much as I can with what I have. The Food Network and Travel Channel were staples… Continue reading Dispatches From a Small Town Girl: A Celebration of Bourdain Day
Best Books of 2020
This list is in no particular order. . . 1. Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh: When I was younger, and a little more angsty, I enjoyed reading stories that shocked me, made me uncomfortable, opened me up and then put me back a little incorrectly. Then life got a hold of me. I… Continue reading Best Books of 2020
Worst Books of 2020
This list is in no particular order. 1.Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I know, I know. Everyone loved this, right? It even made it onto Reese Witherspoon's book club list. However, I found it to be fluffy and cliché. I suppose what I was expecting was something more literary and full… Continue reading Worst Books of 2020
Worst Books of 2019
This list is in no particular order. Flights by Olga Tokarczuk: Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the Man Booker International Prize, I really wanted to like this. It was just so mentally heavy though, and it took me far too long to finish. Either I didn't have enough mental capacity to take… Continue reading Worst Books of 2019
Best Books of 2019
This list is in no particular order. Breakfast on Pluto by Patrick McCabe: I'm sure many of you are familiar with the film version of this book. A transvestite's quest for love, sometimes familial, and sometimes more, with a backdrop that includes war in Northern Ireland. I don't think the film really captured the hilarious,… Continue reading Best Books of 2019
Bastard Children of the South
I was watching an interview with Michael Shannon recently where he said he enjoys acting, because it gives him a chance to behave in certain ways he'd be reprimanded for in real life. Which makes me wonder. . . do playwrights/writers create over the top, idiosyncratic characters because they also understand that socially they can't act… Continue reading Bastard Children of the South
Best Books of 2018
This list is in no particular order. The Complete Stories of Lenora Carrington by Leonora Carrington: I stumbled across Leonora Carrington somewhere on the internet. When I did I exclaimed, "What? You mean there exists some notable FEMALE surrealist painters?!?" Go ahead, count off all the surrealists you can name on your fingers. They're all… Continue reading Best Books of 2018
Like Wild Onions 