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What I’m Reading Wednesday (on Thursday*): The Land Of Decoration
Grace McCleen’s “The Land of Decoration” was a compelling read – not one that was to be consumed in one sitting, but instead one that forced me to slow down and contemplate and absorb. It’s also one that is difficult to review without giving away too much of the story. McCleen was brought up in a Christian Fundamentalist sect herself, which lends an authenticity to the story and leaves you wondering how much was drawn from her own experiences. Hearing her speak at the Hay Festival last month, she confessed that the process of writing was physically challenging – it literally made her ill. The book resonates with such loneliness…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: Port Mortuary and Red Mist
Let me preface these reviews with the statement that I am a long-time Patricia Cornwell fan. I read and re-read her Kay Scarpetta novels. Heck, I eschewed product samples (you know, the ones you get in the Sunday paper or in magazines or in the mail) for years after reading Unnatural Exposure for fear of product tampering. When I was supposed to be moving to Richmond, Virginia in the late ’90s, my mom was freaking out because all her knowledge of Richmond came from Kay Scarpetta novels. But somewhere along the line, the writing in the series changed as did the characters’ personalities, and…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: Angelmaker
I’ve just finished reading Nick Harkaway’s second novel, Angelmaker, and I don’t know how to begin to describe it. Let’s start by saying it was a fantastically entertaining read. Normally, I’m a bit hesitant when I see a book described as “absurdist” as quite often this is a misnomer, and what you actually get is something a bit surreal. This is not true for this book, albeit the cast of characters includes an octogenarian secret agent (retired), an evil dictator (who surely must be older than dirt), a serial killer, a community of Undertakers, a monastic society of former-creator/inventors-now-turned-evil-bodyguards (or something) called the “Ruskinites”, and a gnarly, near-toothless pug with…
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Snakes and Ladders on the Go.
I am very possessive of my iPad. It’s mine, and I’ll be honest, I hate sharing it with my kids. Because of this, I am very selective of which apps I add for the kids (lest I spend all my time coming up with excuses as to why they cannot use Mummy’s iPad); in particular, I like apps that we can use together. One such app is iPieces Snakes and Ladders by Jumbo Games. The iPieces games cleverly combine the fun of old-fashioned board games with the technology of the iPad touch-screen. The Snakes and Ladder set comes with four pawns and two “ladders”, each covered on the bottom with…
