In high school, I only read the Charles & Mary Lamb version of Shakespeare’s works. While it served as a good introduction to the essential plots and themes, it failed to capture the true beauty of the language. I never formally studied Shakespeare, and my only attempt at reading his original works was as a fourteen-year-old, grasping at dusty shelves to retrieve a heavy copy of The Complete Original Works of Shakespeare at my grandparents’…
Book Reviews
Politics and palace intrigue add flair to this medieval murder mystery “The Magician’s Death” is a murder mystery based during the early 14th century. Thought the story starts off in Paris, most of the plot is set in the Corfe Castle in Dorset – an area rife with murders as we will soon learn. The Plot At the start of the novel, we are given a glimpse of the political rivalry between King Edward of…
Wilkie Collins is famous genre-defining novels like The Moonstone & The Women in White – these novels often make it to the top hundred lists. The Haunted Hotel is a lesser known work – a purely gothic story with interesting characters, haunted rooms and scandalous love affairs. Without spoiling the plot, there is a lot making it a page turner. A hush-hush marriage, a scorned lover, rivalry between brothers, missing servants and phantom visions –…
Probably said this a hundred times already but cozy, mystery stories are my comfort read. Back from a lovely but tiring trip, I just wanted to unwind with an easy and fast read. So I picked up Menu for Murder by J. G. Goodhind and “As If by Magic” by Dolores Gordon-Smith. I am reviewing them together because they are part of the same genre yet very different. I am no writer and do feel…
For someone who does not know of America’s freedom struggle, The Revolutionary Paul Revere is a fast-paced biography which not only talks about one of the most important patriots but also educates the reader on the start of the American freedom struggle. For those unfamiliar with the legend, Paul Revere was that express rider, who on one very famous midnight ride , awoke every house from Boston to Lexington and informed them about the approaching…
PD James is quite popular on the blogosphere. I now know why. I was lucky enough to get a hardback edition of “An Unsuitable Job for a Woman’ for less than a dollar at my local library sale . The book turned out to be a Cordelia Gray mystery. Yay for me! I have always loved stories with strong and independent female characters since my Nancy Drew and Anne Shirley days. The Plot The book…
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Will ‘How to Read Novels like a Professor’ add to your reading?
by VipulaI have loved reading ever since I can remember. As an introverted child and then an adult, reading provides a natural escape to alternate worlds. But it’s not just what’s on the pages, every excellent book is a puzzle looking to be solved. I am always in search or what’s between the lines, why the author made these plot choices, why the characters behave in a certain way and why write this story at all.…
For the unfamiliar, Anna Katherine Green is considered the ‘mother’ of mystery novel writing in the US. I stumbled upon A Strange Disappearance when an extensive collection of free ebooks was made available on Book Depository a few years ago. It’s also now free on Kindle. The plot of the mystery novel is relatively straightforward. A young maid has disappeared in odd circumstances from the house of a famous diplomat, Mr. Blake. The only who…
