Having read pretty much everything that Silva Moreno-Garcia has written, including a few of her most excellent short stories, I was prepared to love Velvet was the Night, if only for the noir-ish title and the gorgeous cover. I love noir in both literature and film, and of course I fell madly in love with … Continue reading Velvet was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Tag: Books
Burning Última: Rudolfo Anaya and the Impact of Book Bans on Democracy Article for the NM Humanities Council
I'm pleased to share my latest article for the NM Humanities Council on the subject of book banning and its effect on democracy and my dear friend and mentor, Rudolfo Anaya whose novel Bless Me, Última, was banned many times. Check it out at: https://nmhumanities.org/?blogId=1926
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
I'm a sucker for any fiction set in the world of college academia, and I don't know why. It's maybe that romantic, old-world sense I get when reading about Ivy League universities or the dreaming spires of Oxford. I suppose it's also because they are so removed from the very modern universities and colleges that … Continue reading The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I have a secret fondness for books set in Ivy League environments, probably because there is something so romantically removed and ivory-tower-academia about them. Two other books that I love and which are set in these same environments are A Discovery of Witches and Ninth House, both of which I've previously blogged. Donna Tartt, whose … Continue reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Final Girl’s Support Group by Grady Hendrix
I first got this book back in late September, intending to blog it for Halloween. Hah! So much for that brilliant idea! I seem to be behind on many things lately.....can't tell if it's due to seasonal depression or just a general sense of blah-ness. Oh well, so I missed the season of ghosts, goblins, … Continue reading The Final Girl’s Support Group by Grady Hendrix
The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga
Un uomo mediterraneo. Doesn't that have the loveliest ring to it? It translates from the Italian to "a Mediterranean man" but it means so much more than that bland phrase. Un uomo mediterraneo is elegant, dapper, romantic, tips his hat to ladies, dresses immaculately, does not rush through life but rather meanders joyfully, enjoys all … Continue reading The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga
The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice
Being the horror aficionado that I am, and having read so much horror literature in my life (good and bad), I feel pretty comfortable in my own literary criticism and analysis of the horror genre. Any horror writer worth his or her salt is going to prove their worth when they take on the typical … Continue reading The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice
Circe by Madeline Miller
Western culture is by definition patriarchal. You see it in our art, our music, our religion, our family genealogy, our rituals, our language, and of course, in our literature. Much of our culture is predicated on what we learned from ancient cultures such as the Hebrews, the Romans, the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons; and particularly, the … Continue reading Circe by Madeline Miller
The Master’s Apprentice by Oliver Pötzsch
We are all familiar with the age-old concept of selling your soul to the Devil, right? I think all of us, at one time or another have had that secret desire to wish for and get our soul's deepest desire and even considered to what lengths we would go to have our heart's greatest wish. … Continue reading The Master’s Apprentice by Oliver Pötzsch
Zia Summer by Rudolfo Anaya
Those of you who have followed my blog since its inception know of my great and abiding love for the works, and for he himself, the late, great Chicano author Rudolfo Anaya, and particularly, today's literary choice of Zia Summer. Rudy, as he was affectionately known, was not only someone I admired greatly, he was … Continue reading Zia Summer by Rudolfo Anaya









