4 stars
jf/yf
short story/novella
received for review (not even all that long ago)
bookclub
A cute story about a dog, 2 kids, and poets.
As is often the case with short stories (technically this is probably a novella, but it feels like a short story) I'm left wanting a little more.
But in this case only a very little. ;)
Overall, short and sweet and you should pick it up.
Showing posts with label novella. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novella. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Monday, June 5, 2017
The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse
5 stars
R- 1? maybe
received for review (an embarrassingly long time ago... I think it's older than 3 of my children)
Haunting. Amazing.
I don't usually completely love short story/novella type works. They either just fall short entirely or leave me so badly wishing for more that I'm totally disappointed in their depth.
(Exceptions to this would be Connie Willis and Poe... and a few others.)
Not so here.
What Mosse managed to accomplish in such a small number of pages is pretty darn amazing.
That said-- I meant it when I said haunting.
This is not the easiest read emotionally.
But it's so worth it.
Try it.
Friday, March 24, 2017
The Vessel by Taylor Stevens
A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novella (#3.5)
3.5 stars
R- 2
violence, some language
Listened to audio version
Audio was good. Wouldn't have been my first choice, but e-audio was the option the library had, so....
Like the other Munroe stories, this is dark.
You absolutely must read book 3 first-- this is a follow-up to certain aspects of that one.
Really, you should read them all in order though.
Obviously.
Anyway.... interesting as always.
3.5 stars
R- 2
violence, some language
Listened to audio version
Audio was good. Wouldn't have been my first choice, but e-audio was the option the library had, so....
Like the other Munroe stories, this is dark.
You absolutely must read book 3 first-- this is a follow-up to certain aspects of that one.
Really, you should read them all in order though.
Obviously.
Anyway.... interesting as always.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Still Night in L.A. by Aram Saroyan
3 stars
r- 2?
copy received for review
So the subtitle is "A Detective Novel" but really it's more of a novella. Very quick read.
It was interesting, and I liked the concept of the the cell phone photos throughout, though I wished they had seemed like they had anything to do with what was going on.
Also, there was a lot of random stray threads. Normally I would say this is a "first novel" poor editing kind of problem, but in this case they actually seemed intentional in a "poetic chaos" kind of a way.
(Yeah, I know, poetic chaos probably isn't a thing. I made it up. It was the best descriptor I could come up with.)
All in all, not a bad mystery but not quite my thing.
r- 2?
copy received for review
So the subtitle is "A Detective Novel" but really it's more of a novella. Very quick read.
It was interesting, and I liked the concept of the the cell phone photos throughout, though I wished they had seemed like they had anything to do with what was going on.
Also, there was a lot of random stray threads. Normally I would say this is a "first novel" poor editing kind of problem, but in this case they actually seemed intentional in a "poetic chaos" kind of a way.
(Yeah, I know, poetic chaos probably isn't a thing. I made it up. It was the best descriptor I could come up with.)
All in all, not a bad mystery but not quite my thing.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Lo! Jacaranda: A Spanish Gypsy's Conte Jondo
(Deep Song of the Caves)
by Harry Freiermuth
2 stars for the novella, 4 stars for the illustrations
R-2
novella
received for review
Where to even start?
This novella was strange. Bawdy and disjointed and with a jumpy, inconsistent point-of-view.
I seldom read novellas or short stories, kind of specifically because I come away feeling like they lacked depth, and this was no exception. Also, the coincidences boggled the mind and the completely random conversations (what can a person's gas passing tell us about them?... Let me randomly, out of nowhere, advise you girls to strengthen your vaginal muscles.... Look at how these natives even accept homosexual marriages! [that one REALLY came out of NOWHERE]) didn't do anything for me.
The title makes more sense in terms of the author's inspiration than the actual story, and there were many instances where things characters did or said seemed completely unlikely for the setting/story.
Overall, I didn't love the story and it just felt really odd.
The paintings, however, are an entirely different matter. Freiermuth has illustrated his novella with his own oil and watercolor paintings and they are awesome. If this were just an art book (and I will confess the art was a main reason for requesting it for review) it would get 4 stars.
In fact, the only reason the art wouldn't get 5 is because it felt like some of the art was repetitive-- as though we were looking at a slightly different section of the same painting.
I really enjoyed the art-- I would love to see a book of just art from Freiermuth, or even an offering of cards with the prints or something.
At the end of the day, the writing was a miss for me, but the art was great.
by Harry Freiermuth
2 stars for the novella, 4 stars for the illustrations
R-2
novella
received for review
Where to even start?
This novella was strange. Bawdy and disjointed and with a jumpy, inconsistent point-of-view.
I seldom read novellas or short stories, kind of specifically because I come away feeling like they lacked depth, and this was no exception. Also, the coincidences boggled the mind and the completely random conversations (what can a person's gas passing tell us about them?... Let me randomly, out of nowhere, advise you girls to strengthen your vaginal muscles.... Look at how these natives even accept homosexual marriages! [that one REALLY came out of NOWHERE]) didn't do anything for me.
The title makes more sense in terms of the author's inspiration than the actual story, and there were many instances where things characters did or said seemed completely unlikely for the setting/story.
Overall, I didn't love the story and it just felt really odd.
The paintings, however, are an entirely different matter. Freiermuth has illustrated his novella with his own oil and watercolor paintings and they are awesome. If this were just an art book (and I will confess the art was a main reason for requesting it for review) it would get 4 stars.
In fact, the only reason the art wouldn't get 5 is because it felt like some of the art was repetitive-- as though we were looking at a slightly different section of the same painting.
I really enjoyed the art-- I would love to see a book of just art from Freiermuth, or even an offering of cards with the prints or something.
At the end of the day, the writing was a miss for me, but the art was great.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Verse In Arabic by Birgitte Rasine
4 stars
novella
Copy received for review
Fascinating novella.
Be warned that there is NO RESOLUTION WHATSOEVER. None. Zero. Nada.
And normally that drives me beyond all batty.
But somehow, it's okay. It works. It's so well-written that you don't mind.
Well, okay, maybe you mind a little.
But it works.
Bottom line: read it.
From GoodReads: (In case you're curious)
Can a patient's silence kill the doctor?
A respected physician in Cordoba, Spain, receives a mysterious phone call—a request to attend to the ailing daughter of a wealthy but secretive family in Madrid. What seems to be a routine house call quickly turns into a disturbing labyrinth of intrigue and mystery, and a fight for the girl’s life. The outcome of that battle will impact the doctor—and the journalist interviewing him—in ways neither imagined.
Set against the unstable political climate of General Franco’s Spain in the 1940’s and based on a bizarre real-life incident that remains unsolved to this day, “Verse in Arabic” twists medical ethics and psychosocial tyranny into a cord that pulls at your heart from both ends.
novella
Copy received for review
Fascinating novella.
Be warned that there is NO RESOLUTION WHATSOEVER. None. Zero. Nada.
And normally that drives me beyond all batty.
But somehow, it's okay. It works. It's so well-written that you don't mind.
Well, okay, maybe you mind a little.
But it works.
Bottom line: read it.
From GoodReads: (In case you're curious)
Can a patient's silence kill the doctor?
A respected physician in Cordoba, Spain, receives a mysterious phone call—a request to attend to the ailing daughter of a wealthy but secretive family in Madrid. What seems to be a routine house call quickly turns into a disturbing labyrinth of intrigue and mystery, and a fight for the girl’s life. The outcome of that battle will impact the doctor—and the journalist interviewing him—in ways neither imagined.
Set against the unstable political climate of General Franco’s Spain in the 1940’s and based on a bizarre real-life incident that remains unsolved to this day, “Verse in Arabic” twists medical ethics and psychosocial tyranny into a cord that pulls at your heart from both ends.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Coffee and Fate by R J Erbacher
3.5 stars
R- 2.5
Copy provided for review by the author.
First of all, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the cover. Very cool. Kinda subtle. You might have to click and go over to Amazon to see it bigger to get the full effect.
Intriguing premise. Sitting in a coffee shop, Val is startled when an old man she's never met enters and tells her not to do what she's about to do. All she's planning to do is study, but that's probably not what he means. :)
Soon the two become friends... and their friendship may be the only thing that can save mankind.
I will admit I spent half the book thinking "please don't go there, please please don't go there" and then, of course, they went there. (No I won't tell you where. Go read it.) Honestly, though, it wasn't too bad.
The editing wasn't fabulous, but it wasn't dreadful.
All in all, I enjoyed the story. It's really a novella, only 134 pages, and it does leave you hanging... and yet it doesn't. There's a certain feeling of "well how else could it have ended?"
R- 2.5
Copy provided for review by the author.
First of all, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the cover. Very cool. Kinda subtle. You might have to click and go over to Amazon to see it bigger to get the full effect.
Intriguing premise. Sitting in a coffee shop, Val is startled when an old man she's never met enters and tells her not to do what she's about to do. All she's planning to do is study, but that's probably not what he means. :)
Soon the two become friends... and their friendship may be the only thing that can save mankind.
I will admit I spent half the book thinking "please don't go there, please please don't go there" and then, of course, they went there. (No I won't tell you where. Go read it.) Honestly, though, it wasn't too bad.
The editing wasn't fabulous, but it wasn't dreadful.
All in all, I enjoyed the story. It's really a novella, only 134 pages, and it does leave you hanging... and yet it doesn't. There's a certain feeling of "well how else could it have ended?"
Thursday, January 21, 2010
D. A. by Connie Willis
4 stars
R-0
Novella
Short and quirky. :D
I love Connie Willis. I really do. Her stuff is hilarious and fun and weird.
This fits that bill.
Totally irreverent and quirky, this is the story of a girl who absolutely does not want to go to the Academy. She wants to go to UCLA.
So no one is more surprised than her when her name is called as the only cadet appointed from her school.
As she insists there must be some mistake, she's propelled forward as if it's everything she ever wanted.... but it's not.
But she's not leaving without an explanation.
Sort of sci-fi, but not really. Great quick read. It's shelved with the adult fiction, but I think it would have a lot of appeal to high schoolers... and even middle schoolers.
Counts for the Support Your Local Library Challenge!
R-0
Novella
Short and quirky. :D
I love Connie Willis. I really do. Her stuff is hilarious and fun and weird.
This fits that bill.
Totally irreverent and quirky, this is the story of a girl who absolutely does not want to go to the Academy. She wants to go to UCLA.
So no one is more surprised than her when her name is called as the only cadet appointed from her school.
As she insists there must be some mistake, she's propelled forward as if it's everything she ever wanted.... but it's not.
But she's not leaving without an explanation.
Sort of sci-fi, but not really. Great quick read. It's shelved with the adult fiction, but I think it would have a lot of appeal to high schoolers... and even middle schoolers.
Counts for the Support Your Local Library Challenge!
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