Culture

Spend this thanksgiving weekend cooking and binge watching the Harry Potter movies. At the end of the seventh movie, I decided to re-read the books. Although I have re-read all seven books several times, it really amazes me that these are still as engaging as when I first started with the series. In this post I will attempt to analyze the first book and why it works. After all, fantasy fiction genre has a lot …

Winter is here. As temperatures plummet across the northern hemisphere and people scurry inside warm houses, it is the perfect time to settle into that recliner, grab a cup of hot cocoa and read a book. What else are you going to do?   (Yes, you can always binge watch Netflix, but is that what you really want to do with your life? What I read is  determined by how my day was, what I am …

Marcus Didius Falco is a private informer and the protagonist of Lindsey Davis‘s mystery series set in Ancient Rome. Emperor Vespasian has come into power and good imperial agents are required to hide royal crimes, curb corruption and sniff out political scandals. This detective series starts with ‘The Silver Pigs‘ where Falco accidentally stumbles upon an imperial minting fraud. The investigation begins with the death of a Senator’s young and impressionable niece. Falco’s inquiry takes …

An inspired variation of the famous Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale, Spinning Silver is a tale about a young, poor girl who learn to spin silver into gold and all the trouble of the world that brings her. There are fire demons and winter lords, not one but three strong female leads, dodgy romances and enough plot points to keep you interested. 

Revolutionary Road is not a movie that you watch for entertainment. Based during the 1950s, this story of the suburban couple April and Frank Wheeler hits you below the belt. Revolutionary Road is based on a novel by Richard Yates that did pretty well for itself on the award circuit. I saw this years ago but stumbled on it again on Netflix recently and I decided to rewatch it. The Plot April Wheeler, a desperate housewife, yearns to run …

Jet lag and international travel might have cut down October’s reading time, but a two-book round-up featuring Esi Edugyan’s powerful Washington Black and the classic correspondence of 84, Charing Cross Road made for a wonderful month.

The Brattle Book Shop in Boston is a mandatory destination for book lovers and collectors. Blending an expansive open-air lot of discounted volumes with multi-story indoor vaults of rare and antiquarian finds, it offers an unmatched browsing experience steeped in literary history. It is an essential stop for anyone navigating Boston’s cultural landscape.

Have you ever read a book that starts with great prose and quirky characters, only to completely derail into bizarre chaos by the end? Clay Morgan’s Santiago and the Drinking Party is an odd, aimless ride through the Amazon.