Pretend they were still boys, school boys who had said ‘Sir, yes, Sir’ and worn caps? Daylight might’ve answered yes; but darkness and the horrors of death said no. I am in the minority of individuals who were not required to read Lord of the Flies in high school and having just now read it, I’m grateful…
Category: Book Reviews
A 2% Christmas
In the holiday spirit of giving, you get not one, but two reviews. So get your coco ready and let’s dive into our festive reads! A Highland Christmas Deep in the Scottish highlands, the people of Lochdubh do not believe in the fanfare and commercialism of Christmas. Police Constable Macbeth is stuck on duty while his…
The Rose Code
I’m a sucker for a historical novel, especially those set in World War II, so I might be biased in my preference for this topic, but between the intrigue of code breaking, the brutally honest depiction of relationships, and the intrigue of uncovering an informant, I couldn’t put The Rose Code down. Osla, Mab, and Beth…
Deep Work
Making history as the second non-fiction book in a row to grace the 2% newsletter, Deep Work challenges us to reconsider the way we organize our day, how we understand the concept of focus, and how we work. In order to understand how our brains focus and how we can manage time more efficiently, Cal Newport breaks down various…
Brickwork: A Biography of the Arches
It’s remarkable how someone from Kansas can feel so emotionally connected to a venue and night club in Glasgow that shut in 2015, but here we are. I came across a press release for Brickwork several months ago and was so intrigued that I used it as part of an assignment. Fast forward to its…
Hallowe’en Party
It’s all fun and games until Joyce, a thirteen year-old who claims to have witnessed a murder, winds up dead at a children’s Halloween party. Brought in on request of his friend, Hercule Poirot (a recurring character in Christie’s writing) must dredge up old and forgotten incidents in the sleepy town of Woodleigh Common in order…
Hamnet
‘Hamnet and Hamlet are in fact the same name, entirely interchangeable in Stratford records in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries’ – Steven Greenblatt Golden hair, wistful daydreams, and a name enduring generations, Hamnet details the life of a boy and his family: his twin Judith, a sister Susanna, his mother Agnes, and his father…
Don’t Look For Me
A mother drowning in guilt, a family torn apart by grief, and a stranded car in the wake of a New England hurricane set the stage for Walker’s suspenseful novel. Don’t Look For Me provides the perfect balance of mystery and suspense without being too graphic or terrifying. After a tragic accident tore her family apart, Molly Clarke…
Ready Player Two
First off, yes, the title is correct -this is the sequel to Ready Player One– and no, this will not include any spoilers for either of the novels. I read Ready Player One years ago and loved how Cline brought the culture of the 80s together with a modern-day underdog, technological fantasies, and a teenage love story. I got…
Where the Crawdads Sing
I would like to begin by acknowledging that I’m a few years late to the craze surrounding this book and my only excuse is my stubbornness about being a “band-wagoner”. Additionally, I had heard mixed, lackluster reviews from friends, which only cemented its position at the bottom of my TBR list. I’m thankful for my belated reading…