Nice girls don't wear cha-cha heels.

The story of the Fat Charlie, the son of a god, and his first invited, then uninvited brother,  Anansi Boys is typical Neil Gaiman fare: it's beautifully and occasionally hilariously written, fantastical and poignant. All the stuff he usually does. It is all over the map in the best way possible. I hope that none of this makes it sound like he just cranks these wild fantasies out, because I don't believe for a moment that is the case. It is more that I believe that this story, like every other story of Gaiman's that I have ever read (and there are many), contains a little bit of the heart and the soul of the author, and his heart and soul are still the same wonderful, fluffy, slippery little bits of magic that they always have been. I loved this book. I absolutely devoured it (metaphorically, of course). I don't know how he does it in story after story, book after book, but every word he writes is a joy to read. There's dimension-shifting, bird ladies (go...

Expected Publication January 1, 2020, Hachette Books *Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review* I have never included spoiler information in a review, and I'm not about to start here, so I will just give you the publisher's description: In the early evening of June 25, 1980, Vicki Durian, 26, and Nancy Santomero, 19, were killed in an isolated clearing in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. They were hitchhiking to a festival known as the Rainbow Gathering but never arrived. For thirteen years no one was prosecuted for the “Rainbow Murders,” though suspicion was cast on a succession of local men. In 1993, a local farmer was convicted, only to be released when a known serial killer and diagnosed schizophrenic named Joseph Paul Franklin claimed responsibility. With the passage of time, as the truth seemed to slip away, the toll became more inescapable–the unsolved murders were a trauma, exper...

We saw Ari Aster's Midsommar  last night, and I am so glad we did. It was everything I had hoped for and so much more. At 2h 27m, you kind of have to make a whole big thing of it, but honestly there wasn't a single wasted moment. It all went toward furthering the story and/or building tension.  Here's the synopsis from A24's website : " Dani and Christian are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, a grieving Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing. From the visionary mind of Ari Aster comes a dre...

Annabel is the sort of book that you can really lose yourself in. It took me several days to finish, but only because between school, work, and life, I haven't got much in the way of free time. Every time I sat down to read it, I found myself devouring it. Kathleen Winter's style of writing is lovely. It is free-flowing and poetic without being overly flowery or ostentatious. I hesitate to say too much lest I give anything away, but suffice to say that this novel is truly surprising. Nothing happened quite as I expected it to. At every turn I was waiting for something that never came - and it was incredibly refreshing. If you're looking for a novel that explores one of the limitless paths life as an intersex individual can take, I highly recommend this one. Four out of five items of rating. I really liked this story - it's by no means perfect, but it is still quite good. If you've read it and have thoughts of your own, I'd love to discuss it. Let me...