The fibers that have clung to and defined the shape of Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Kate, and Mary Jane’s stories are the values of the Victorian world. They are male, authoritarian, and middle class. They were formed at a time when women had no voice, and few rights, and the poor were considered lazy and degenerate:
She [Sachiko] was sometimes startled at the thought that she spent more time worrying about her sisters than about her husband and her daughter, but they were like daughters—they were on a level with Etsuko in her affections, and at the same time they were her only friends. Left alone, she was surprised to note
As I’ve already stated several times before, I’m a cover whore. Most often, this leads to interesting books I wouldn’t necessarily read. Sometimes, this leads to me discovering that the beautiful cover is indeed the only remarkable feature of a book. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” goes both ways I’m afraid. Unfortunately, Spielman’s
Warning: This review contains spoilers, even though I try to not give away too much. Think of it as more than a blurb and less than a book report 🙂 Speaking about blurb — this is what it tells us about the book: Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own…shell. Nina
I’m a cover whore — that’s the main reason I bought this book. I’m also always looking for a gripping cozy mystery, so one more reason to get myself this lovely little gem of a 'cozy'. Looking at the cover, you may understand why I noticed this book: a touch of vintage, the promise of
This week’s minimalist reading is sort of mixed a blessing: in L'art de la simplicité – How to live more with less, Dominique Loreau introduces different ideas of minimalism from ‘Oriental’ (as she calls it), European, and American backgrounds. Born in France, she lived in England and the US and traveled through Canada, Mexico, and
(deutsche Version) Minimalism as [sic] a broad term. It covers a whole spectrum of living with less beliefs, form owning only possessions that you can squeeze into one suitcase, to halving your collection of ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ CDs that were about to topple off your shelf anyway. At the strictest end it
What the blurb tells us: Wealthy Richard Walker has just dies, leaving his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family — bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna — have arrived for their inheritance. But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and
Being the ADHD fuzzybrain that I am, I stumbled upon the concept(s) of minimalism a while ago and roughly 846 hyperfixation sessions later, I’m loving the idea of decluttering for mental health and negative space — or, to describe it in non-minimalist jargon: empty space. Being the postwar grandchild that I am, I'm used
What the blurb tells us: When Chris Kraus, an unsuccessful artist pushing forty, spends an evening with a rogue academic named Dick, she falls madly and inexplicably in love, enlisting her husband in her haunted pursuit. Dick proposes a kind of game between them, but when he fails to answer their letters Chris continues