book reviews and more
This is a weird story by Kate Heartfield, even by fantasy standards. I admit I chose this book solely because it’s set in medieval Bruges. I love Bruges! It’s like a fucking fairy tale or something. (Please tell me you get that reference.*)
Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train, writes another fast-paced mystery novel. This is the kind of book that you power through in a day because you cannot put it down - perfect for a lazy Sunday.
There are so many books (and movies/shows) about the Borgias for a reason - they are fascinating. All the scandalous rumors, political grappling and seize of power makes for a great story. I mean we’re talking about a Pope who tried to use his bastard children and church funds to create a family dynasty.
Margaret George, another Wisconsinite, writes this novel about Nero almost as an autobiography. Nero of course is the Roman emperor best known (wrongly) for playing his fiddle while Rome burned.
Author Tom Miller rewrites U.S. history to include sorcerers...er, I mean philosophers, who openly use not yet fully understood science to do things that seem like magic. I was excited to see that Miller is a fellow Wisconsinite. This may have made the book cooler in my eyes, but it was also an entertaining sci-fi story.
This murder mystery by Tania Bayard has a cool medieval twist. Christine de Pizan is a rare female scribe in medieval Paris who is bent on proving a lady-in-waiting, Alex de Clairy, didn’t kill her husband. I liked that along the way Bayard focuses on describing typical medieval life for non-nobles.
This novel by Danielle Teller surprised me in the best way. It’s “The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother” where the stepmother, Agnes, tells her side of the story. It reads like a historical fiction novel set somewhere in medieval or early modern Europe. No magic to see here, just vicious rumors that created a fantasy.
This book is a collection of short stories by Roxane Gay. While I wish the stories were more varied, they were very immersive. I think I would really enjoy reading a novel by Gay. She writes in a very pretty manner, to the point where I often felt her beautiful writing and harsh topics clashed. It wasn’t bad, just kind of jarring.
The original Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) by Joseph Dominguez and Vicki Robin is often touted as the cornerstone to today’s FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Early Retirement). So of course there was a buzz when Robins announced an updated 2018 version.
Thriving on Books 