Months ago, my decision to purchase this book was an act of intellectual calculation. I’d heard an excellent recommendation on a podcast, and believed dipping into the mind of Adrienne Rich would be edifying. In the wake of the recent election, however, I grabbed this collection of essays off my bookshelf in an act of […]
Two-thirds of the way through, I was all set to give Magic Slays a lukewarm review. I felt like I was reading the inevitable slump in Kate Daniels’s story––the one where her clever mouth, kick-ass fighting moves, and romantic difficulties all start to feel more enervating than exciting. And while there is an element of routine in […]
Better and better. I continue to be impressed with the deliberate and patient fashion in which Ilona Andrews lays out the story of Kate Daniels, an eminently-lovable lady who I’m quickly coming to see as my generation’s Harry Potter for adults. Magic Bleeds is my favorite book of the series so far, and contains several notable […]
Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels series is a gift that keeps on giving. After thoroughly enjoying the first two books, my delight continued right up to the final page of the third installment, Magic Strikes. The seductive nature of this world and its characters springs from Andrews’s near-perfect balance between novelty and familiarity. The story continues […]
Even if we won’t admit it, I think most people spend quite a lot of time thinking about sexual norms––what they are, where they come from, and to what extent each of us either conforms to or subverts them. Jesse Bering’s Perv invites the reader on a lively journey through historical and current perspectives on what […]
Poor Kate Daniels! She can’t even enjoy a fried chicken wing or a cup of coffee without some hellraising demon or malevolent god showing up to ruin her day. If Magic Bites is the lure for this series, Magic Burns is most certainly the hook. Ilona Andrews’s characters continue to entice and impress with a level […]
Reading Mathew A. Foust’s Loyalty to Loyalty was a special treat for me. Foust was the graduate teaching fellow who led my discussion section for Mark Johnson’s Philosophy 101 lecture course during my first term at the University of Oregon. It is no understatement to say that Foust changed my life; after just a few weeks, he encouraged […]
I read Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote more out of obligation than inspiration. For people who care about the history and possible futures of the novel, Don Quixote is impossible to ignore. So, aided by the encouragement of a close friend and Edith Grossman’s deft translation, I set out with Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on a journey so […]
Introduction: Waves Across the Pond I can’t remember a time when the political coverage of Britain in the United States was more fervent than during this summer’s Brexit vote. Given the parallels between the Brexit movement and the rise of Donald Trump, it makes sense that many interpreted the referendum as a testing ground not […]
A proper analysis of this book can only be executed by readers with a thorough knowledge of early 19th-century literary tropes and gender roles. I am no such reader. To me, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Elective Affinities felt like a soap opera from a parallel universe (i.e. Europe’s romantic period). While containing some terrific turns […]