-
Review: The Honey Thief by Najaf Mazari
Every culture has folklore and stories that have been told for generations. Most of these folktales focus on society, history, love, family, and culture. Some are presented as parables while others a told with a mixture of fact and fiction. I haven’t read too much folklore, mostly because I am familiar with a lot of the western civilization tales and I really had no interest in any other regions. When the opportunity to review The Honey Thief came along I debated about reviewing it and ultimately decided to give it a read. I have studied Middle Eastern religions and some of the politics but I am far from an expert…
-
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…
-
Review: Quickies by Ollie Levy (Short Story Collection)
In this collection we meet a wide variety of people from all walks of life….some are married, single, engaged…..some have high flyer careers, and some are average Joe’s, but they all have one thing in common….they all love a good quickie. Why fuss with a marathon love making session when a quickie will get the job done? That’s the question that Ollie Levy explores in her series of short stories appropriately titled Quickies. What I loved about this collection was each randevú was short and sweet. There wasn’t a lot of back story and the characters literally got right down to business. It made for a fast and steamy read. It wasn’t overly graphic…
-
Review: Stabs at Happiness by Todd Grimson (Short Story Collection)
These are the stories of societies taboo outcasts. The characters that polite society would rather ignore. Degenerative and hopeless, these characters help set the tone and paint this collection of short stories the darkest black. Many of the characters in this collection are drug users/dealers, prostitutes, killers, and transvestites…..but they all have something in common, they are all looking for a little bit of happiness and hope in their own hopeless lives. Author Todd Grimson effortlessly blends powerful storytelling with gritty prose to create a new provocative approach to contemporary literature. Grimson’s style has been described as esoteric, and I would agree….I think his style would appeal to a limited audience, however it…
-
Review: Pierre and Luce by Romain Rolland (a short story)
On the war torn streets of Paris 1918, two lovers meet by chance on a subway. Pierre is a modern day ‘Hamlet’….depressed, hopeless, and disillusioned by the world in which he lives–in his reality, he is an 18 year old middle class boy who has just received his conscription papers. But when he sees Luce on the subway, she is his ray of hope–a promise of a better life than the one destine to be his future. But does she see him? Does she know? Does she feel it too? Why would a girl so full of hope and life look twice at him? Before he can make his introduction,…
-
Review: Ivy and Intrigue (A Very Selwick Christmas) by Lauren Willig
After finishing the latest installment of Lauren Willig’s flowery spy series (The Pink Carnation series), I couldn’t resist eking out a little more frivolous adventure by reading this short story/novella: Ivy and Intrigue (A Very Selwick Christmas). Since this is more of a short story, my review will not be as lengthy. I found the novella available for free online through Willig’s website, however I found that reading 100 or so pages on my computer was not ideal so I splurged and spent $0.99 to get it on my iPad through Amazon :). Amy Balcourt has just married the dashing, Lord Richard Selwick (AKA, the flowery spy better known as the…