Tag Archives: Religion

Book 21: Covet Thy Neighbor (Tucker Springs #4) – L. A. Witt

Posted on by
2

Witt, L.A. - Covet Thy Neighbor (Tucker Springs #5)I can’t stop reading this series!

Seriously, I’m not sure whether this is a problem or not. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but it’s definitely not a good thing when it comes to my already skewed sense of romance and the world! But what can I say, they are a great escape and I’ve fallen for them! Can’t wait for the next one to be released.

The last two novels in this series (Covet Thy Neighbor and Never a Hero) have seriously raised the bar. I read both of them in the same day and felt that either the authors had matured since their last outing in Tucker Springs or they’ve both reached their stride in the Tucker Springs universe and I can’t wait to see what comes next. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and received no compensation for my honest response.

Click here to continue reading.

About these ads

Book 16: The Mysteries of Udolpho – Anne Radcliffe

Posted on by
4

Radcliffe, Ann - The Mysteries of UdolphoWordPress decided to move this post to the trash bin and I, assuming it was duplicate draft, permanently deleted it. The first three paragraphs are verbatim as I was able to recover them via caching, however after that is a poor substitute of what I spoke about previously.

I  had to add this to my Classics Club list because of its reference in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I wish I would’ve spaced things to read Northanger Abbey immediately before or after, but I didn’t and I’m sure I will enjoy it just as much when I next read it.

The Mysteries of Udolpho counts for every challenge I’m currently participating in. It is first and foremost the 20th book in my Classics Club list and signifies my 1/5th completion (right at the year mark, so keep an eye out for a longer post later this week)! In addition it counts for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge, Back to the Classics Challenge and through a bit of questionable math as a bonus book for my Tea and Books Reading Challenge (the physical copies average out to 666 pages).

Click here to continue reading.

Book 10: When Love Comes to Town – Tom Lennon

Posted on by
8

Lennon, Tom - When Love Comes to TownI received a copy of this via request on NetGalley and I am so happy I requested it. This is my honest opinion and I received nothing in return for it.

It’s times like this when I wish I went into teaching at some level to share a story like this with my students. It’s heartbreaking, but hopeful and I can only imagine what it would be like if I were an Irish teen reading this in the mid 1990s after it was written. Honestly, I would’ve felt just like Neil when he found out he wasn’t ‘the only gay in the village.’

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this novel and Tom Lennon (a pseudonym to protect his Catholic-school teaching identity and he’s still unknown) as an Irish author writing about LGBT characters had the decks stacked against him: Jamie O’Neill can do no wrong, John Boyne won me over with The Absolutist, Damian McNicholl put up a good effort with A Son Called Gabriel and Oscar Wilde is, well, Oscar Wilde. Needless to say, Tom Lennon did not disappoint, and as I listed all of those authors I realized his story pre-dated all of the rest by at least a decade with the exception of Oscar Wilde, so I’m excited his story is being introduced to the US.

Click here to continue reading.

Book 8: Faitheist – Chris Stedman

Posted on by
10

Stedman, Chris - FaitheistSince I decided to read so few challenge books this year, I’m able to pick up books on a whim and this is one of them! I encountered Faitheist through Heather’s great review at Between the Covers and knew I had to read it. So go read her succinct review first and then return to read my ramblings.

I’ll be the first to admit that I wanted to read Faitheist because the author is wicked cute, but the synopsis drew me in because I’m fascinated by how people negotiate identities especially when it comes to sexuality in relation to religion and geography.

So to start, I have never been very religious. I was both baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church, but it was more a family history and social thing than anything else. I’ve never had bad encounters with religion, but I know it’s not for me mostly because of the inherent white heterosexist patriarchy built into most institutions of religion (both the people and the hierarchical structures). I’m still not 100% sure where I lie on the non-religious/agnostic/atheist scale, but regardless I think I can definitely agree with Humanism (which I clearly need to read more about, feel free to make suggested readings in the comments). Now with that bit of clarification out-of-the-way, on to my response.

Click here to continue reading.

Book 2: 1Q84 – Haruki Murakami

Posted on by
26

Murakami, Haruki - 1Q84It may have taken two weeks to read this book, but it was completely worth it. I don’t know the last time I’ve spent this much time basking in the beauty and wonderment of a novel. 1Q84 counts for my 2013 Mount TBR and Tea & Books challenges. Now on to my response, which is jumpy and hardly all-inclusive, but hopefully it portrays some of the wondrousness this novel is. Let’s just say I can’t wait to read more Murakami, regardless of if it’s a mind f*ck like Kafka on the Shore or like 1Q84, which is also technically a mind f*ck.

How does one even begin to classify Murakami. From the two books I’ve read the only things I can definitely say are that he defies genres and bucks trends, is incredibly well versed in classic literature and music and popular culture (films and music) and his descriptions are so vivid you don’t have to strive to imagine things because you see them completely formed in front of you. What I can appreciate is Murakami usually drops a line into his books which perfectly explain the books (so far, again I’ve only read two) and this books is (NOT A REAL SPOILER, but maybe skip the quote if you don’t want to know anything – the rest is okay though.), Click here to continue reading