A Cineaste’s Bookshelf
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Making a Murderous Film
When Alfred Hitchcock was searching for his next film idea, he came across the book She Who Was No More by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. He inquired about the rights and found someone had beat him to it. It was already being adapted for the big screen by Henri-Georges Clouzot. It would become the intense… Read More »
REVIEW: THE STARGAZER'S SISTER by Carrie Brown
In the mid 18th century, Caroline Herschel became the first woman to discover a comet. Sister of noted astronomer William Herschel, she had no rigorous formal education — only a curious mind and a supportive brother. Caroline — Lina — and William were two of eight children and were raised in Hanover, Germany. Their father… Read More »
If on a winter's night, a book...
I shifted my reads for December to mid-month in anticipation of the upcoming winter break. Many of us will have several days off to relax, visit, nap, and most importantly, READ. These are some books that will help you forget your winter blues and settle in for an evening by the fire. The Big Book… Read More »
REVIEW: THE DEAD ASSASSIN by Vaughn Entwistle
The second entry in the series focuses on inner London, with a steampunk, resurrectionist twist. It’s 1895 and the industrialist Victorian era has reached fever pitch. Factories are making their owners rich — and keeping their workers poor and desperate. Anarchist plots are a dime a dozen. Queen Victoria is a commonly named target of… Read More »
Books for November
“O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being. Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley It’s time for NaNoWriMo, so my book reviews are likely to be a bit sparse during November. But I send you into the darkening, chill days with… Read More »
Welcome to NIGHT VALE
“Listeners, we are currently fielding numerous reports that books have stopped working. It seems that all over Night Vale, books have simply ceased functioning. The scientists are studying one of the broken books to see if they can understand just what is going on here. The exact problem is currently unclear, but some of the… Read More »
REVIEW: DE POTTER'S GRAND TOUR by Joanna Scott
The sun had not yet set on the Gilded Age when Armand De Potter disappeared. In 1905, Europe was still, officially, at peace and the best families still considered a grand tour part of every civilised life. De Potter set up a thriving tour company. Relying on his amateur historical knowledge to provide unique itineraries,… Read More »
BOOKS for October
Especially when the October wind (Some let me make you of autumnal spells, The spider-tongued, and the loud hill of Wales) With fists of turnips punishes the land, Some let me make you of the heartless words. The heart is drained that, spelling in the scurry Of chemic blood, warned of the coming fury. By… Read More »
ACCENT: A IS FOR ARSENIC - The Poisons of Agatha Christie
Fourteen Agatha Christie novels. Fourteen poisons. Just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it’s all made-up …
Today is the 125th birthday of Agatha Christie. Few readers can claim they don’t know her. Exceedingly prolific, she has never been out of print and is outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. She is a curious contradiction… Read More »
REVIEW: IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware
In an interview with NPR, author Ruth Ware said someone mentioned the idea of mixing the “English country house murder” genre with a modern-day hen (bachelorette) party — and she thought it was brilliant. So often the hens don’t know one another or haven’t seen each other in years. It’s already awkward. Ware expands… Read More »
BOOKS FOR SEPTEMBER
THE HISTORIES by Herodotus Ever since seeing The English Patient, I’ve meant to read The Histories (“Am I K in your book?). Tom Holland has worked with Penguin Classics to publish a new translation. Having studied Latin in high school and some classics in college, the ancient history of the Mediterranean was not entirely strange to me.… Read More »
REVIEW: THE RACE FOR PARIS by Meg Waite Clayton
As the Normandy invasion’s ground forces advanced across the French countryside, the obvious objective was to liberate Paris. Allied forces crept at a snail’s pace, encountering mine fields and holdouts along the way. In 1940, when Paris surrendered to Nazi Germany, the event was documented. Footage of a triumphant Hitler in a motorcade, driving around… Read More »
Quick Stories
As much as we all want several hours on end to read that massive epic novel, it’s not always realistic. Especially when the laundry needs folding and sometimes (only sometimes) you need to sleep. I’ve found it to be a great way to ignore the fact I’m doing chores or to relax when I just… Read More »
Books for August
Summer, do your worst! / Light your tinsel moon, and call on / Your performing stars to fall on / Headlong through your paper sky; — August by Dorothy Parker THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS by Sy Montgomery From the publisher: In this astonishing book from the author of the bestselling memoir The Good Good Pig, Sy… Read More »
GIVEAWAY: Movie Star By Lizzie Pepper
Win a book gift pack! From the publisher: Hilary Liftin is the ghostwriter and co-writer behind numerous celebrity memoirs, ten of which have been New York Times bestsellers. In this, her debut novel, Liftin turns her ghostwriting talent into fictional brilliance with a celebrity “memoir” that is making a splash as the beach-read novel of the year.… Read More »