Tag: Contempo Lit

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Reading

Review: Fresh Mint with Lemon by Monika Zgustová

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Fresh Mint with Lemon by Monika Zgustová

Russian art critic, Vadim, sees a beautiful woman in a café one day and is immediately captivated by her beauty and sparkling aura.

There is something about her that draws him in– he soon discovers she is a well known artist, Patricia Pavloff, whose art he has long admired.

Every day he goes to the museum where her art work is on display. He is haunted by one specific painting, red tulips with black pistils that look like eyes.

In that painting there is an element of intrigue that he can’t ignore and he longs to meet the intoxicating beauty behind the art.

One day he gets his wish, he has a brief encounter in the museum with Patricia and from that moment on she becomes his obsession.

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Reading

Review: As Sweet as Honey by Indira Ganesan

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: As Sweet as Honey by Indira Ganesan

On a tiny island in the Indian Ocean a young woman prepares for a wedding.

Meterling is about to do something completely against the social grain and break all kinds of traditional culture….this young Indian woman is going to marry an older Englishman.

On the day of her wedding, Meterling’s husband dies….right there during their first dance! Just as Meterling begins to deal with the death of her husband, she finds out she is pregnant.

Ostracized by the village for already being too tall, she is now a widow and having a baby out of wedlock.

Meterling’s husband, Archer, originates from England and he comes to the island of Pi to run a gin distillery. Archer loves everything about Pi, the flowers, the lifestyle, culture, and obviously the women.

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Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Reading

Review: There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories by Ludmila Petrushevskaya

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories by Ludmila Petrushevskaya

What can I say, I am a sucker for books with compelling titles and let’s be honest….tell me you didn’t see this title and you weren’t the slightest bit curious? When I was approached by Penguin to review this book, how could I say no….especially with Valentines Day around the corner.

Besides the title of this book, the cover also attracted my eye, and then I started reading the description, honestly I would have reviewed the book based on title alone, but the description sealed the deal….Poe meets Tolstoy? Who can say no to that!

In this collection of short stories Petrushevskaya explores the darker side of love. Many of the stories are about characters that are less than savory….alcoholics, derelicts, adulterers, and the oppressed. Clearly all of them are a far cry from a happy ending.

But yet Petrushevskaya brings a ‘happily ever after’ to all of her stories. Though it is not the same HEA that we have in more traditional fairy tale romances, but it’s the best HEA that these characters can hope for.

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

Review: Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr.

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr.

Here is a post modern novel after my own heart.

In his latest novel Ron Currie, Jr sets out to tell the capital-T Truth about his life, career, and his tumultuous love affair with a woman no one could ever hold a candle to, Emma.

He has been in love with Emma since the moment he met her in eighth grade, after a short romance in their teens, Ron and Emma went their separate ways. Emma married another man while Ron tried desperately to escape Emma’s ghost by finding comfort in the arms of many other women.

Later in life their paths cross and they begin their romantic relationship again, even though Emma is married both of them say damn the consequences and proceed with a passionate affair that lasts a lengthy time.

Inevitably, Emma and her husband begin divorce proceedings and Emma more or less exiles Ron to a Caribbean island while she tries to ‘sort things out’ and find herself. In her absents, Ron begins writing a novel about Emma and eventually he ends up in a downward spiral. Between consuming large amounts of alcohol and young eager co-eds, Ron can’t shake his longing for Emma.

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

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson

Financial journalist, Mikael Blomkvist’s, life is falling apart. Not only is he being sued for libel and facing jail time and mounting financial losses, his boss (who happens to be his sometimes lover) is forced into accepting his resignation.

When he is at his lowest point, Blomkvist is approached with a curious offer of employment. Henrik Vanger is a wealthy, retired CEO of a major Swedish company, Vanger Cooperation.

Vanger wants Blomkvist  to use his trained journalists eye and find out what happened to his niece who mysteriously disappeared in the 1960’s. Blomkvist doesn’t really have a whole lot of options….he needs the money Vanger is offering but Vanger also possessed the golden ticket: Vanger can give Blomkvist the proof he needs to prove his innocents in the libel case.

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