Tag: Shakespeare

ARC, Books

Book 654: Law and Addiction – Mike Papantonio

Geoff W

"Law and Addiction" book coverUnlike, Off the Grid, this book was worth saying yes to the publicist.* This book was engaging, a fast read, and had characters that were written well and believably realistic from the newly minted idealist lawyer Jake Rutledge to the West Virginia county chief prosecutor Eva Whistler, all of these characters felt real.

Law and Addiction is the story of Jake Rutledge and his battle against the opioid epidemic and big pharma after his twin brother dies of an opioid overdose. And, honestly, you couldn’t get more timely with a book release with all of the news stories about Purdue Pharma (Google news search) and the crackdowns in Boston after a corrections officer was attacked (Boston 25 News).

Continue reading “Book 654: Law and Addiction – Mike Papantonio” →

Books

Book 647: Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston

Geoff W

Red, White & Royal Blue book coverThis is your warning—this post is a mess. I’m going to have to re-read this a few times before I can really wrap my head around why I enjoyed it so much.

I’m not even sure I’m going to be able to say why I loved it as much as I did. Just know that I read the entire book in three sittings (an hour at the gym, roughly seven hours at home [from 5 pm – to midnight] and then about an hour-and-a-half in the car on our most recent trip to Maine.

I was always going to love it because of the numerous Jane Austen [“‘Stop trying to Jane Austen my life!’ he yells back.” (180); “But you went after him!!! That’s SO Jane Austen!” (281)], Star Wars, and Harry Potter references, but other than that the chemistry of Alex and Henry was to-die-for. Like my heart hurt on so many occasions from joy and sadness and y’all, the cliffhanger between chapter nine and ten nearly broke me.

Continue reading “Book 647: Red, White & Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston” →

Books

Book 641: Unmarriageable – Soniah Kamal

Geoff W

Unmarriageable book coverNow this is how you do a modernization of a Jane Austen novel! I totally get why this one has received so much hype recently. I found it on a list of adaptations to look out for at some point last year and I finally got to read it after months on the library wait list.

Unlike what I wrote way back in 2011 about Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and the adaptations needing to be moved away from the main story, Unmarriageable stays very very close to the original (with a few slight modifications). Where else could a modern day almost exact retelling of Pride and Prejudice than a parallel situations when it comes to women and marriage? Continue reading “Book 641: Unmarriageable – Soniah Kamal” →

Books

Book 635: Severance – Ling Ma

Geoff W

I’ve been digesting this one for a little over a week as I write this (it’s posting much later than that). I very much enjoyed the work, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it.

The story follows first generation immigrant Candace Chen after an apocalyptic virus has decimated the human population creating habit zombies. You loose all higher function and go about doing a habit/routine until you die. The problems that Candace faces (and even creates in some occasions) are uniquely urban and (predominantly) millennial.

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Books

Book 585: Abridged Classics – John Atkinson

Geoff W

I’m going to keep this review super short, since every 1-2 pages represents a classic that is hundreds of pages long! Who am I to write a super wordy review of a hilarious take on so many classics?

Not only are the abridged classics hilarious, but the illustrations included with each are so incredibly perfect I laughed out loud multiple times while reading this. Atkinson covered all my favorites including Austen and the Brontës, and he covered many I’m less interested in (and/or openly despise) like Dickens, Faulkner, Kafka, and Proust.

Recommendation: READ IT. It takes maybe 10 minutes to breeze through the entire work. Each one is a little more humorous than others and some are as puzzling as the original works when you read them. Thanks Caro and Nick for the perfect present!