book reviews Archives

Girl Next Door, The

Nosy Neighbors Author: Ruth Rendell Ruth Rendell (who, I just learned, is a baroness!) is an incredibly prolific mystery/thriller author who’s written dozens of award-winning books both as herself and her pen name Barbara Vine. As you may know if you’re already a fan, the Rendell books tend to be more like crime procedurals (many starring Chief Inspector Wexford), while the Vine books tend to be more psychological suspense. Rendell’s newest book, The Girl Next Door, is something quite different — a slow, detailed portrait of the effects of a violent crime on its victims (direct and indirect) decades after [...]

Stephanie Perry2016-12-31T17:54:30-07:00January 2nd, 2015|Tags: book reviews, reviews, ruth rendell|

Best Food Writing of 2014

A Literary Buffet Editor: Holly Hughes You’re probably familiar with the Best American annual anthologies, which compile the year’s best writing in topics ranging from science to sports to comics and mystery stories (these have saved my holiday-giving bacon year after year with difficult-to-shop-for relatives). There’s even one for infographics, which I’m not sure counts as “writing.” But one category the Best American series doesn’t include is food writing. Fortunately, the Best Food Writing series picks up the slack, and the 2014 edition features 400-plus pages of tasty bite-size treats. Dozens of food writers, chefs, authors, and bloggers contributed to [...]

Stephanie Perry2016-12-31T17:54:36-07:00November 24th, 2014|Tags: 2014, book reviews, books, food, reviews|

YA Trilogy Thrills: Girl of Fire and Thorns

Isn’t it wonderful when you stumble upon a really exciting book and realize the entire series is already complete, so you can devour them all as fast as you can read, without the painful months of waiting for each new installment? That’s what I’ve been doing with the Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy, by Rae Carson, which wrapped up in 2013. Because they really are one story in three volumes, I’ve chosen to review them all together here, so if you haven’t finished (or started) this magical, girl-empowering fantasy trilogy yet, stay vigilant for possible spoilers! The Girl of [...]

Stephanie Perry2016-12-31T17:58:33-07:00October 17th, 2014|Tags: book reviews, books, girl of fire and thorns, rae carson, reviews|