Book Review: Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez

I have a complicated relationship with Gabriel García Márquez. Complicated as in I always hated the man because my high school teachers thought it was acceptable to make me put down books that I actually wanted to read to read his bibliography instead. And then they would test us on it, as if the reading part wasn’t torture enough!

I remember buying Of Love and Other Demons in 10th grade. I remember we had to pair up for the test. I remember the brilliant idea that my friend and I had to tackle that monster of a novel that wasn’t even 200 pages long: we would each read half! I’d read the first half, she’d read the rest and we’d both ace that test! Easy.

It didn’t quite work. My hatred deepened.

Fast forward a long (long, long… I am old) time and here I am, bemoaning the fact that I never gave Latin American authors a chance. I really haven’t been kind to my people and it’s a shame because if I don’t, how could I expect others to do it? So I decided to start with the bane of my teenage existence, and you know what? Teenage me was an idiot. Gabriel García Márquez is magical and I am so here for it!

BLOG TOUR: THE JUMP BY DOUG JOHNSTONE; REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

What if you got a second chance?

Book Review: The Girls by Emma Cline

Another super hyped-up book, another disappointment. If this keeps happening, I will never trust publishers ever again!

Beware: this is a very ranty review.

Book Review: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Well, it’s been a hot minute! May ended up being a ridiculously busy month and a terrible one for reading at that, hence the sporadic, all over the place reviews! But I’m back! (I think. I hope) And June’s already shaping up to be a good bookish month, if only because it started on such a high note with this book!

Confession time: the only reason why I picked this book is because the author also wrote the TV show Fargo which I’ve enjoyed IMMENSELY and I figured, a book coming out from that same brain can’t be half bad, right? Well, I wasn’t wrong!

Book Review: Jane Doe January by Emily Winslow

My latest non-fiction picks have been pulling no punches! Another exception to the rule. Another gripping book I think everyone should pick up and read sometimes.

Book Review: Eleanor by Jason Gurley

Have you ever read a book so good, it almost ruined reading for you? Not forever, but for at least two weeks, you can’t think about anything but that book and no matter how many times you try to start another book, it just won’t work because that other book won’t let you focus?

That was Eleanor for me these past two weeks. Book hangovers are real, y’all!

Book Review: Fellside by M.R. Carey

Given how much I loved (LOVED!!!) The Girl with all the Gifts (beware spoilers!), I was excited to find out M.R. Carey was releasing a new book this year. So excited in fact that I went and pre-ordered the book which I never do, especially not when I know little to nothing about the book in question. But that’s how much I loved his previous book and his writing in general, so really, it was a no-brainer.

That excitement turned into apprehension when I actually received the book a few weeks ago. What if my love for TGWATG clouded my judgement and set my expectations so high that it would ruin Fellside for me? What if I couldn’t stop my brain from comparing both books when, really, the only thing they have in common is the author?

These are actual things I worry about, people. And they haunted me (heh) for the first 10 chapters or so, but after that? I was so immersed into the world of Fellside that all apprehension left and I was in for the long haul.

Book Review: The Dinner by Herman Koch

You know that question everyone is always asking, “if you could have dinner with any author/celebrity/historical figure, dead or alive, who would it be and why?”? I think someone asked Herman Koch a similar question and he got so into it that he wrote a whole book about it.

So, Herman, if you could have dinner with some of the worst people in the whole world, who would they be and why?

Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

No funny, anecdotal opening paragraph here today. Everyone should go read this book.

Book Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie #ReadWomenMarch

#ReadWomenMarch is coming to an end! It’s been so much fun keeping my focus on badass lady authors writing about badass lady characters and I encourage everyone to give this kind of challenge a try and add more diversity to their reading life! There are so many amazing books out there!

For my last pick I went with a true and tried choice as I worked my way out of a reading slump. Who hasn’t heard of Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime? This was only the second book of hers I’ve read and while it was fun and definitely got me out of that slump, it didn’t entirely convince me of the hype.

Book Review: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple #ReadWomenMarch

While browsing through this books’ Goodreads page, I saw someone compare it to Gilmore Girls and I knew right then that I needed to read it. Gilmore Girls was a perfect show with a fantastic cast of characters and I mourn its demise (and celebrate its revival!) every single day, so that was plenty of reason to make it a must read, but also probably why it took me so long to actually get to it. You know me and my expectations!

With only that in mind, I embarked into the most delightful yet confusing reading experience of the past two years as I, too, wondered, Where'd you go, Bernadette?

Book Review: Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye #ReadWomenMarch

I have once again been let down by my expectations. When I hear the words “serial killer”, the likes of Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy come to mind. You know, those really terrible people who mindlessly killed for sport and pleasure? Yes! So when someone tells me a book features a lady serial killer, you better believe I will run and jump through hoops set on fire to read that book! (Thanks to Penguin/Putnam I didn’t have to do any of that...)

But reader, this is not that kind of serial killer (and Jennifer Lopez taught me that self-defense is not murder!).

Book Review: YOU by Caroline Kepnes #ReadWomenMarch

Have you ever experienced that feeling where the moment you become aware of something, you suddenly see it pop up everywhere, all the time? Let's say you had no idea an author called Caroline Kepnes existed but then you stumbled upon this review and suddenly you start seeing her name and/or books mentioned everywhere to the point where it feels like it's stalking you?

Well, that's happening right now.

When I posted my review of Perfect Days, I mentioned that I had yet to read a crime fiction book written from the perspective of the perpetrator which I had always wanted and it was awesome! Clearly I'm not well-versed in crime fiction because suddenly these books are everywhere and after going years without finding one, I have now read two of them in the span of a month.

Needless to say, it was pretty awesome!

Guest Book Review: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

By Eddie V

I read somewhere that William Faulkner is one of Cormac McCarthy’s favorite authors, and because I loved Blood Meridian so much, I decided to read one of Faulkner’s novels.

Book Review: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Look! Look! I’m finally tackling the books on my TBR! It only took two whole months for me to pick something that wasn’t from the library or something bought recently, but whatever. I still have about 10 months to accomplish that book goal, right? Right!

The Virgin Suicides is one of those books that everyone seems to love, but I never knew why. Aside from the obvious spoiler in the title, I had no idea what I was getting into, so I let myself be carried away by the good reviews and the possibility of this being a book about cult mass suicides (doesn’t it sound like it could be?) when I picked this up and was thoroughly proven wrong upon reading the very first page, but also? I was completely hooked and ready to be immersed in this fantastical mystery.

Book Review: The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem

The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem feels like a dream. A really bizarre one, you know? One where you find yourself falling off a cliff for some crazy reason, only to be saved by praying mantises on flying scooters?

Like that, but ten times weirder.

Book Review: Perfect Days by Raphael Montes

Finally! A book about a delusional psychopath told from the perspective of said psychopath? Yes, please!

If you’ve been around this blog long enough, you’ve probably figured out that my favorite thing about true crime books and crime fiction is the psychology and the inner workings of these messed up individuals. Unfortunately, these books are usually written from the perspective of the victims or the detectives who are trying to catch them, leaving me to only speculate on the motivation behind their actions.

Perfect Days, finally, has given me what I’ve always wanted.

Pack your bags, we’re going on a road trip!

Book Review: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

I am not a poetry person. I mentioned to my husband not long ago that I don’t know if I’m not a poetry person because I don’t understand poetry or if it’s just the simple fact that I don’t like it, like some people don’t like genre fiction or young adult. I think maybe that conversation was what made me pick up this book, but also what sort of made me regret picking it up at first because it bored and lulled me to sleep the first couple of times I tried to start it.

This is a very short book, though, and I decided to fight through the drowsiness and get to the end because while the writing style wasn’t too much to my liking, the story itself was very captivating. After the first 20 pages or so the writing stopped being so distracting and I could finally appreciate the power of this novel, which made for a very personal reading experience.

Emphasis on the personal!

Guest Book Review: Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

Hello, everyone!

As part of those new features I mentioned I wanted to add to the blog a few weeks ago, I bring you: Guest Reviews! In which I make my husband write reviews about the books he's reading and bring some variety into my little corner of the internet, since we read very different things most of the time.

Without further ado, here's the first Guest Review of Joie des Livres!

Book Review: The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

This book is bananas!

I don’t even know where to start with this review because my mind is still reeling after finishing it over the weekend. Another book picked out for no reason other than the /r/books bookclub chose it as their January read. The synopsis alone was so compelling that I decided to join in on the fun and oh, am I glad that I did!

This book is fantastic (both literally and figuratively)! It deals with elements of fantasy and horror and it is so engrossing, it’ll have you turning pages back and forth as you try to figure out what the hell is going on. I love it so much!