BETTER CHARACTERS

The reluctant hero. It's a tale as old as time and one of my favorites, although I prefer to frame it as a hero of circumstance. This theme is extremely common in comic books and fantasy literature, feel-good news stories, and war-time movies. But I find it such an interesting contemplation for life: are great people drawn into extraordinary circumstances or do extraordinary circumstances create great people? For my part, I am drawn to the latter and, it seems, so is Geraldin

Well, on the plus side, instead of not blogging for two years I just took a quaint little 7 month break this time. I'll save you (and me, mostly because I don't know how many "you's" are out there) the time of explaining that my life, like so many of our lives, is busy and complicated. But can we talk for a second about the power of reading? I find, and this is always true, when I get busy or stressed or anxious I stop reading. I make excuses about not having enough time, but

Hi. Again. You know how sometimes you start a blog because your freelance career, and your full-time painting job, and you volunteer leadership position with a storefront theatre company, and being a Company Member with two other theatre companies, and having a social life just don't seem like enough so you think "sure, why not, let's set lofty book reading and blogging goals"? Then you start a blog and let it fade to the background of your life. Then you restart it AND THEN

There's a very touching back story to this book: the author, Jane Lotter, was a very successful humorist writing for the Seattle Sun and winning awards for doing it. Critical acclaim aside, she could not find a publisher for her only novel, The Bette Davis Club, and so decided to take matters into her own hands and self-publish. Then she passed away, and only after that did Lake Union Publishing come forward with interest in the book. Ms. Lotter never lived to see her book wi

Unconventional. Raw. Honest. Discomforting. Truly beautiful. I can say with confidence that Eileen is unlike anything I have ever read. It debunks and subverts stereotypes at every turn of the page while presenting you with what should be an entirely unlikable cast of characters who you can't help but be completely fascinated with. The story thrives in an uncomfortable environment continually pushing the boundaries, yet there is a normalcy that seems almost mundane. It's full

From the voice of Lorelei Gilmore (literally, if you’re listening on audiobook) is this fun and fulfilling book about a young(ish) actress in New York working and striving to find success and happiness in both a business and city often characterized by a certain harshness. Francis Banks is approaching her late twenties and her self-imposed deadline to “be successful” or give up acting in favor of more “reasonable” career goals. We journey with Franny through her final year be

This book is a powerhouse. I think it knocked the wind out of me a half dozen times. A black woman named Dana lives in 1976 California until one day she is pulled from her world into the pre-Civil War Antebellum South and intervenes to save the life of a small white boy and son of a plantation owner, Rufus Weyland. In a period that is roughly two weeks in her contemporary time and more than a decade in the 19th century, Dana is repeatedly thrown between time and place to help

The first time I read Emma, I was 22 and I very much did not enjoy it. I thought Emma was insufferable* and the story was too melodramatic. Fast forward: reread at the age of 30 and I freaking love this book! Recently, you may have noticed an uptick in the number of Austen books on this blog. That's because I am a part of a Jane Austen book club. So, there’s that. But if I did not mention this before, I think it’s an important piece of advice: if you have not ever read Austen

There’s undeniably a cultural stigma of ageism which compounds on the hinderance of women’s stories being told with as much honesty and dignity as their male counterparts. In many (most?) parts of the western world, there’s a cultural break where once a woman is no longer considered a sexually viable option, their importance is somehow diminished. It’s absurd, if not only because these are people who have so many experiences and lessons to offer the younger generations. The P

Ok. I have a somewhat complicated relationship and set of reactions to this book, but to start: it is ultimately about four friends who are professional, competent, awesome women by day, seeking romance by night. Very Sex and the City and similar to my thoughts on that show, there are moments that make my feminism cringe. But usually those moments are just honest and while not sitting on the pedestal of what it is to be a strong, independent woman...well, we've all been there