This list is in no particular order. Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash: On the surface this debut novel is about a college wrestler with mental and anger issues, telling it in first person really gave it and edge I haven't experienced before. However, Habash's writing is very stylistic and ambitious, but I struggled to keep… Continue reading Worst Books of 2018
Author: Shelby
Quiet. Former English Major. Elvis Costello Listener. Dog Owner. Apple Eater. Coffee Drinker.
2017 Reading Challenge: The Worst of the 60
Swing Time by Zadie Smith: It pains me to put this book on the list. I've really enjoyed everything else I've read by Zadie Smith, but this was so dull. I read somewhere that the narrator is supposed to be nameless, and come off flat, because she's having trouble dealing with her identity, so… Continue reading 2017 Reading Challenge: The Worst of the 60
2017 Reading Challenge: The Best of the 60
Just Kids by Patti Smith: I wasn't really familiar with Patti Smith's work before reading this. To be honest, I wasn't even familiar with Mapplethorpe either. In the end it didn't matter, because Smith paints such a vivid portrait of a New York City long past, a prominent artist long dead, and an era long… Continue reading 2017 Reading Challenge: The Best of the 60
Beloved Children’s Author, Shel Silverstein, Took Some Terrifying Photos
Some of them are a bit Hitchcockian, other's are just down right weird, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. . . I found some of these photos embedded in an article titled "The Surprisingly Sex-Filled Life of Shel Silverstein". Click here to read it. I don't know why anyone would ever want to… Continue reading Beloved Children’s Author, Shel Silverstein, Took Some Terrifying Photos
Books to Read if You Live in the South
What is Southern Gothic literature, and why do we need it? The Southern Gothic genre is grotesque. It takes negative characteristics from "The South" and magnifies them so that we're forced to acknowledge them. Everything from rape/incest, child molestation, mental disabilities, racism, corrupt "Men of God", violence/murder, social issues, decay, religion, class, and repressed homosexuality.… Continue reading Books to Read if You Live in the South
100 Books You Should Read Before You Die
In the early Noughties the BBC released a list of 100 books that were nominated for the nation's favorite novel. Actually, I guess it would be "favourite". Hahaha! Anyway, I've decided to compile a list of 100 books I've found important/good reads during my quarter of a century on this earth in no particular order.… Continue reading 100 Books You Should Read Before You Die
I’m Thankful 2016 Didn’t Take Bill Murray from Us.
Last year I read The Tao of Bill Murray by Gavin Edwards. It's a compilation of newsworthy antics from who else but The Murricane himself! Edwards begins the book by giving the reader a brief, but concise biography of Murray, which is all you really need, because I think most of us want Bill to… Continue reading I’m Thankful 2016 Didn’t Take Bill Murray from Us.
10 Books That Have Influenced Me as a Female
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen (I never thought I would relate to a memoir written in the early 90s about a girl in a psychiatric hospital in the 60s, but here we are. Kaysen raises some interesting questions about the sexism of the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (which is what she suffers from) and… Continue reading 10 Books That Have Influenced Me as a Female
Book Characters I Love
Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (Forget Mr. Darcy being your favorite Victorian love interest. Sydney Carton, alcoholic though he is, is really where it's at.) Homer Wells from The Cider House Rules by John Irving (Cider House was my first introduction to John Irving, and I fell head over… Continue reading Book Characters I Love
Book to Movie Adaptations I Would Like to See
Lolita Starring: Kevin Spacey as Humbert Humbert (Hurry! Before he starts to look too old. Playing the President of the United States is taking a toll on him after all.) Millie Bobby Brown (That Girl from Stranger Things) as Lolita Directed by Woody Allen (Ha! Just kidding.) In Cold Blood Starring: Oscar Issac as… Continue reading Book to Movie Adaptations I Would Like to See
Like Wild Onions 