I read A Stranger in Olondria last year and observed how different it felt to read it compared to other books I enjoy. Typically, books that become my favorites are those that are impossible to put down; quick, intense reads. A Stranger in Olondria is so dense with description and mythology that I was compelled to… Continue reading 6 Things I love about Sofia Samatar’s Olondria novels
I spent most of 2015 working on my dissertation, so I didn't have a ton of extra time for reading new books--but during this process, I re-read a number of books I first encountered years ago. Man, do I ever love the books I am writing about. These novels continue to be my favorites! The Unpossessed by… Continue reading Books by women I re-read and loved in 2015
The Doctor's Wife by M. E. Braddon. Just as last year was my Year of Elizabeth Gaskell, 2015 was my year of Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Like George Eliot, Braddon had the audacity to live with a man who was not her husband in the 19th century; unlike Eliot, Braddon wrote sensation novels about crime and adultery and… Continue reading Books by women I read and loved in 2015
As I noted in my books by women roundup, I loved Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. I had grown very skeptical about historical fiction, because I've read very little of it that had writing chops necessary to sell the historical research. Mantel's books work for me because they are so well written and carefully… Continue reading 5 Things I Love About the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall
I don't usually do Things I Love about books for several reasons--spoilers, for one. But I can't help it with Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, a recommendation I took from Roxane Gay's 2014 reading list. I started recommending to people before I even finished it because it was so much fun to read,… Continue reading 7 Things I Love About Station Eleven
I’m going to go ahead and call it a year—with just a couple of weeks left in December and one looming writing deadline ahead of me before January, I don’t see myself wrapping up any more excellent books by women by the year’s end. (Although I’m looking forward to resuming Hilary Mantel’s voluminous and intricate… Continue reading Books by women I read and loved in 2014
Sara Davis 