Although we generally associate ghost stories with Halloween and October, there is a long tradition in Great Britain of telling ghost stories around the Christmas season. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a classic example, with Scrooge being haunted by spirits who offer him one last chance to see the error of his ways. Robertson [...]
Archive for the ‘Academic fiction’ Category
The Magicians, by Lev Grossman
Posted in Academic fiction, Books, Charlotte's Picks, Fantasy, Literary fiction, Magical realism, Readers' advisory on August 26, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable, but when Quentin Coldwater is recruited by Brakebills, a magical university hidden in upstate New York, he’s no wide-eyed eleven year old. Smart, anti-social, competitive, and melancholy, he’s designed his life to please Princeton’s admissions office. He took up performing magic tricks so that he could claim an [...]
Rebel Angels, by Robertson Davies
Posted in Academic fiction, Characters, Literary fiction, Readers' advisory, Setting on November 3, 2008 | 1 Comment »
They say, whoever “they” are, that good things come in threes. In the world of fiction, good things often come in trilogies, but they also come in fours, fives, or even greater numbers. This week, we’ll look at books in series that give readers the chance to enjoy characters over the course of three, or [...]
Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith
Posted in Academic fiction, Books, Characters, Humor, Jessica's Picks, Quick read, Readers' advisory on September 4, 2007 | 7 Comments »
For the second entry in my week of humor books, I’m going to do something very stupid. I am going to recommend a book that I have never, ever, ever* been able to get anyone to read. The one person who tried gave up in disgust after a few pages. There is nothing to suggest [...]
Gaudy Night, by Dorothy L. Sayers
Posted in Academic fiction, Audiobook, Books, Characters, Clever dialogue, Crime fiction, Jinker's Picks, Literary fiction, Mysteries, Readers' advisory, Sense of place, Setting on May 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I love those Golden Age mysteries! I particularly love Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey series because she combines the Classic mystery story with a level of character development you do not generally see with Christie or Allingham. Sayers was ahead of her time, with the kind of complexity of personal relationships and empathy with the [...]

