It’s the end of the year, and I have been thinking about the books I’ve read, not just this year but for the past few. Four years ago, I decided to keep a book journal to track plot similarities in mystery/suspense books. The aim was simple: since I write in the genre, I was lookingContinue reading “Time For Letting Go”
Tag Archives: books
The Ten (2021)
I often find it difficult to select “best of” lists based on a numerical limit. Do I really need to cut off an excellent contender just because there were ten more suitable options? (And why ten?) The next criteria to grapple with is what the standards are for naming something “best.” There are beautifully writtenContinue reading “The Ten (2021)”
The Wife Nearby
Tension building is one fundamental of suspense. The reader must feel a mild fear as the plot builds, aware of danger without being able to spot it too easily. A growing sense of unease develops in the narrative with the hint of something about to boil over. A trio of novels have tried a newContinue reading “The Wife Nearby”
The Reading Afflictions
Not everything is joyful when it comes to books. There are experiences that take the fun out of reading, such as the reading rut, the hostage negotiation, and the incessant replay. If you are an avid reader, you have probably experienced all of these. So what are they? I will attempt to explain. 1. TheContinue reading “The Reading Afflictions”
The Best Suspense
I read a lot of suspense novels, but I’m not sure it’s my favorite genre. There is plenty of mediocrity amidst the gems, including some shamefully misogynistic women writers. (Tarryn Fisher and Shari Lapena, I’m looking at you.) What I do know, however, is that when I love a book to the moon and back,Continue reading “The Best Suspense”
Inspired By…
Recently I watched a Netflix series called Maid. In the final credits, the audience is told the the story was “inspired” by a book of the same name by Stephanie Land. It raised a question: what exactly does it mean to be “inspired” by a story? To find out, I re-read the book to compareContinue reading “Inspired By…”
Reading Double: Alice Feeney
In the name of diversity, I usually don’t read a particular author twice. There are exceptions. I have read pretty much everything Anne Tyler, Armistead Maupin, and Anne Lamott have written, and occasionally find an author I want to read more of. In the past few years, Joshilyn Jackson, Alex Michaelides, and Alice Feeney haveContinue reading “Reading Double: Alice Feeney”
A Light Snack
When it comes to fiction, there is no story without drama. Inciting incidents start a narrative in motion, and they always involve something sad, dangerous, or complicated. This is true even when the book is on the lighter side: tragic deaths can start a rom com, a comedy can be centered in the consequences ofContinue reading “A Light Snack”
Reading Double: Joshilyn Jackson
I think of books as authors’ children. They resemble each other, usually not identically, and occasionally you might find two that don’t seem at all similar. They all have the essence of their maker in them, though, which is why I rarely read the same author multiple times. There are exceptions – Anne Tyler, AnneContinue reading “Reading Double: Joshilyn Jackson”
When Books Hurt
I once met a woman who had lost two of her children. One had died in a freak accident and the other was killed in a drug deal gone wrong. She said that she endured her grief by a firm belief that everyone has a day to be born and a day to die. ThereContinue reading “When Books Hurt”
Books Smitten 