Apropos of nothing, I discovered this week that the Sagittarius' ruling house is the ninth, whatever that means. I happen to be a Sagittarius, through no fault of my own, so I thought that piece of trivia fit nicely with me finally getting to reviewing Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.
Tag: book review
Burning Ring of Fire: The Fatal Flame Review
Blurb for The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye No one in 1840s New York likes fires, copper star Timothy Wilde least of all. After a blaze killed his parents and another left him with a terrible scar, he has avoided flames of all kinds. So when a seamstress turned arsonist threatens Robert Symmes, a corrupt… Continue reading Burning Ring of Fire: The Fatal Flame Review
Titles on Trend: Eight Books of Life and Death and Full Names
Title trends come and go. Sometimes they’re a phrase—we were all there for the “A noun of noun and noun” young adult fantasy trend. Is it over yet? It felt like a bad case of déjà vu every time I walked into the YA section there for a while. Like, wait, didn’t this book come… Continue reading Titles on Trend: Eight Books of Life and Death and Full Names
A Tangled Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism
In The Protestant Ethic, Max Weber opposes the Marxist concept of dialectical materialism and relates the rise of the capitalist economy to the Calvinist belief in the moral value of hard work and the fulfillment of one’s worldly duties. My Review I came into this not knowing any of the dialogue around Weber's philosophy, or… Continue reading A Tangled Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism
City of Dark Magic: Book Review
Book blurb for City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte Once a city of enormous wealth and culture, Prague was home to emperors, alchemists, astronomers, and, as it’s whispered, hell portals. When music student Sarah Weston lands a summer job at Prague Castle cataloging Beethoven’s manuscripts, she has no idea how dangerous her life is… Continue reading City of Dark Magic: Book Review
It Got Involved: War and Peace Review
The "I can't find a blurb because everybody already knows or doesn't care what this book is about" solution: An Encyclopedia Britannica entry on War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy War and Peace, historical novel by Leo Tolstoy, originally published as Voyna i mir in 1865–69. This panoramic study of early 19th-century Russian society, noted for its mastery of realistic… Continue reading It Got Involved: War and Peace Review
Truth Universally Acknowledged: A Jane Austen Education Review
Blurb for A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz Before Jane Austen, William Deresiewicz was a very different young man. A sullen and arrogant graduate student, he never thought Austen would have anything to offer him. Then he read Emma—and everything changed. In this unique and lyrical book, Deresiewicz weaves the misadventures of Austen’s characters with… Continue reading Truth Universally Acknowledged: A Jane Austen Education Review
London Calling: A Darker Shade of Magic Review
Blurb for A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody… Continue reading London Calling: A Darker Shade of Magic Review
La Mouette: Review of Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier
My sister read this book before I did, and from what she told me I was expecting fluff with a blush of adventure: more or less what it promises in the first chapter, in which the mood is set for “ye olden tale of romance.” I wasn’t expecting to be quite so gutted by existential… Continue reading La Mouette: Review of Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier