gaudy night

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The thing about reading a Dorothy Sayers' mystery is that you can enjoy it on different levels: the charm of Lord Peter, the moments of well crafted description, the overwrought but equally entertaining literary quotations, and then there's the Latin.  The Latin that lies at the crux of crucial moments in this novel that can serve only to remind those of us who, while overeducated (is there such a thing?), still, did not go to Oxford and do not use Latin in our every day speech. I for one, enjoy it when my "light" reading has a bit of heft to it.  And while I'm not the biggest Harriet Vane fan (the whole resistance/submission thing is annoying), still this book makes for a good afternoon read.  It certainly has its misogynist elements and certainly there's both an anti and pro-academic theme running throughout, still, Lord Peter shows up before it all gets too annoying and the brief moments of madness counterpointed against the calm of punting in the river make it a worthwhile read.


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Everything in This Country Must by Colum McCann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A quick read, beautifully written. 2 short stories and a novella all gracefully, powerfully written showing the violence done to (and by) 'regular' people and the impossible decisions that State violence forces them to make. McCann is a master, as always.

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The Star Factory by Ciarán Carson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Beautifully written, this memoir (fiction/prose-poem?) of a city and one of the greatest writers that city has ever produced, is both a study in the obsessive cataloguing of facts, images, memories and a powerful exploration of the ways in which we write and are written by our environment. Carson writes Belfast just as Belfast writes Carson. A wonderful, stunning, powerful read.

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Shamrock Tea by Ciarán Carson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Perhaps one of the best, most interesting books I've read in a really long while. The language is, of course, perfect as one would expect from a poet of his caliber. The story is both whimsical and deeply though-provoking. I began re-reading it as soon as I finished it. This is a book I want to own and re-read many, many times.

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Blueprints for Building Better Girls: Stories by Elissa Schappell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This collection of short stories, all centered on female characters, displays not only Schappell's sharp prose and sensitive wit, but provides a respite from the deluge of male-centric fiction so currently prevalent. A must read for anyone - male or female - who likes well-crafted, well told fiction.



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Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Beautifully written. Oddly compelling. It sort of lost me toward the middle for a bit but overall, a really good read.



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Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories by Kevin Wilson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Though some are stronger than others, overall the stories in this collection are well-crafted, "quirky" without being annoyingly so and some are even harrowing, or beautifully moving. While he's not "George Saunders" (as per the comparison on the back cover), Wilson is a solid writer whose characters are compelling, story lines veer away from the mundane, and whose skill with language makes for a quick and worthwhile read.

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