What comes to mind when you think of ancient literature? Stuffy poets? Propagandic epics? Characterless nationalism? I personally think of works like The Aeneid, The Iliad, and The Odyssey. If any of you read my review on The Aeneid, you know that this genre is, well, not my favorite.  And if you are anything like […]

A part of me thinks it’s silly to rank a book so unquestionably influential, so bound to the context of the time it was written. But alas, I have opinions, tempered with all due respect to the great fathers of literature.  Just as a disclaimer, I have read The Aeneid before, and I probably would […]

A historical fiction novel that portrays the power of books and is filled with an intellectually diverse cast of independent women? Yes please! The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes follows Alice and Margery, two women who belong to the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky—an initiative between 1935-1943 that focused on delivering books to those in […]

Brief summary: Pretty Girls follow Claire and Lydia, two sisters who are still trying to heal after their older sister disappeared 20 years earlier. When Claire’s husband is killed, the two estranged sisters are brought back together as the world unravels around them and disastrous secrets come to light.  This book is disturbing. Truly. And […]

Ah, this is my Dostoevsky, the Dostoevsky I know and love after reading Crime and Punishment. I know that The Brothers Karamazov is largely considered to be Dostoevsky’s best work, but I can’t help but feel it is a departure from his other works. While some may deem that a good thing, I prefer Crime […]

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone was a very quick read; I think I finished it in a day and a half. At first I thought I wouldn’t like it, because it started out as another unrealistic high school drama, which isn’t my thing. That unrealistic aspect carried on throughout the novel, but it’s […]

Below are the books that I want to read in 2021, in addition to the books I’ll read for class and any other books I read impulsively. I’ve never planned out a TBR list at the beginning of a year; I usually just read what I want when I want, but since I didn’t read […]

More than half of the reviewers on Goodreads gave The Brothers Karamazov five stars, many lauding it as the best book ever written and marvelling at its perfection. In other words, this novel’s reputation is super impressive, but in the face of all that praise, I have to say I didn’t love it. I really […]

Delia Owens’ 2018 debut novel boasted an astounding 110 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, topping it for 30 of those weeks (non-consecutively). Comparatively, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl saw at least 122 weeks on the list while E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey topped at 81 weeks.  Where the Crawdads Sing runs the […]

Many of you probably know the story of The Polar Express from the 2004 movie, but it was actually a children’s book first published in 1985. And even though I’m mostly discussing the movie, I decree the topic still relevant for a book blog.  Some may think it’s silly to analyze a children’s movie/book, but […]