Month: June 2011

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasumussen

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasumussen

I won a copy of The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen thanks to a Goodreads giveaway.

I had heard lots of good things about this book on Twitter and read lots of awesome reviews on Goodreads about this book and I must say in this case the book lives up to its hype….it was GREAT :).

The story follows the lives of two sisters who couldn’t be more opposite–Twiss and Milly. The sisters are spinsters who live in the same house that they grew up in and are now in their 70’s. We get a little background on them in the beginning of the story and then the story shifts and goes back to one summer that changed their lives forever when they were young girls.

The sisters parents are clearly having marital problems, Twiss struggles with some gender/identify issues and Milly with the uncertainty of a first love, and then as if that isn’t enough their older cousin Bett comes to stay with them for the summer which more or less causes all hell to break loose in their ‘perfect’ worlds. I don’t want to give too much about the story away but having Bett there causes both girls to lose their last bit of innocents and faith. The book is more or less about coming of age and innocents lost but it is also about forgiveness.  Continue reading “Review: The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasumussen” →

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I have settled on re-reading one of my fav books of all time….The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I decided to read Dorian Gray for the Gothic Reading Challenge, I had it on my list to read for both the Gothic Reading Challenge and the Victorian Literature Challenge but decided to use it for the Gothic Challenge since I am in a ‘dark’ mood with all the madness happening…..why not have madness in my literature too LOL.

Oscar Wilde is one of my most fav authors, he literally just didn’t care who he made mad and wrote about what he loved….he is eccentric, carismatic, and philosophical in his writing style, I just cannot get enough Wilde :).

In Dorian Grey, we as readers are introduced to many “monstrous” sides of vanity and pride. We first met protagonist, Dorian Gray, as a naive young man who is gentle and kind. He is oblivious to the idea of age, maturity and growing “old”. The story focuses on the moral disintegration of Dorian which of course is a metaphor for the Victorian/Gothic era….the who era is about ‘darkness’, moral corruption, and the ‘daemons’ in us all.  Continue reading “Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde” →