Romantic Parvenu

Book Review: Reign of Madness by Lynn Cullen

April 10, 2015

Lynn Cullen’s Reign of Madness offers a window into the life of one of Spain’s most notorious monarchs, Juana “the Mad” of Castile. Third child of the famous Spanish rulers, Fernando and Isabel, Juana married a Habsburg archduke, and upon the ...

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Book Review: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

April 4, 2015

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a slim, fast-reading book, one that I enjoyed but probably a book that didn’t make too enormous of an impression on me. I do find it interesting that one of the biggest plot points in the book is ...

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Book Review: The Pillow Boy of Lady Onogoro by Alison Fell

April 3, 2015

Lady Onogoro, a self-made woman in the 11th century Japanese imperial court, has a problem: her lover and patron doesn’t excite her. Not wanting to hurt his feelings or lose his protection, Onogoro enlists the services of a blind stableboy. He ...

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Book Review: An Untamed State by Roxane Gay

April 3, 2015

An Untamed State about more than just a woman’s captivity. It’s about a woman’s endurance, her strength, her sacrifice, her refusal to submit. It’s about a woman who loves fiercely and imperfectly, who erases herself because of that love. It’s ...

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Book Review: The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac by Sharma Shields

April 1, 2015

This was, overall, an odd book, though in spite of its strange premise, it was often mundane, the bizarreness so understated that it hardly seemed remarkable. I also think that after reading Aimee Bender, my system for measuring the weird has ...

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Book Review: Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood

March 13, 2015

Cocaine Blues was quite excellent. Phryne Fisher is a detective whose investigative style I quite enjoy, and Kerry Greenwood spins a mystery that I found engaging rather than dull or dry. In sum, this book was a lot of fun in a new and surprising way.

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