Review:...I totally enjoyed the experience. The cover is beautiful and that's why I picked up the book in the first place. I had heard about him and the Satanic Verses and Midnight's Children, but had never sought to read them. I will now. He writes very languid, flowing verse that seem more like prose or poetry. The dialogue is exceptual and thought-provoking. I enjoyed the exchanges between the Sultan and his most "honorable advisor" (esp. how to prove there is no God) and the fable quality of the no... Read more

Review:Christmas at the Vicarage spans three decades of memories for Rosamunde on her return to the small coastal town after travelling around the world for fifteen years. During the build up to Christmas Rosamunde's preparations are intertwined with her memories of the past.

Starting in 2014 and going back and forth in time from 1978 as Rosamunde remembers living in the Vicarage with her sister and father after her mother died. She thinks of her first love, of how her life may have been, if cir... Read more

Review:This is possibly my favorite book of all time - a tender coming of age story set in World War Two England. It's not an adventure, or a mystery - but it's a story about an amazing cast of characters living through an extraordinary time.

The only reason I only gave it 4 stars is that the translation to Kindle format is a bit sloppy - they needed a good proof reader. Read more

Review:Totalitarianism. It’s not a concept that we are very familiar with; those of us who have been born free. The sludge of fear, every decision weighed not against what is good and just and right, but instead against what the ‘powers’ will think; the battle to deny self but not lose your spirit in the process – tiny acts of rebellion unidentifiable to the minders but nevertheless something that is your own, a fake accent or a carefully planned ‘accident’; not sabotage but just orchestrated carelessn... Read more

Review:This is a "small" book. The scene is circumscribed, the characters few, and the action minor. Yet is is a beautifully written, achingly real book about the passage from girlhood to adulthood. And in the end, the story seems bigger than it is.
My only complaint about this book is that I can never again read it for the first time. Read more

Review:Originally posted at Fantasy Literature. Life's too short to read bad books!

The Jennifer Morgue, the second novel in Charles Stross’ LAUNDRY FILES, is a science fiction spy thriller that’s an obvious homage to Ian Fleming and H.P. Lovecraft. Bob has been sent to the Caribbean to try to find out why Ellis Billington, an evil megalomaniac billionaire, is interested in The Jennifer Morgue, a place deep in the ocean which may be an access point into our universe by tentacled eldritch horrors... Read more

Review:We depart from Bob's perspective to see Dominique's. Turns out shes an awful person. All she cares about is her emotions and status, and cites bob giving up on the marriage as the worst thing possible. That's immediately following her date with superman and a heavy makeout session! Her solipsism pissed me off something fierce, bob can do better. Read more

Review:This book will keep you hooked start to finish! The scenes are well painted, the
Characters are enchanting and well developed, and the story is intriguing. I would have given it 5 stars but I disliked the abrupt ending. Hoping to give The Apple a go and see if it has the answers I'm looking for. All in all, I recommend this very well written book to anyone interested in the time period. The historical details alone make it worth the effort! Read more

Review:Very shocking book. At the beginning you have no idea what the heroine is doing with the males she picks up. When the truth is revealed, it shocks and appalls. I dare not give it away, but this is a book that can definetly compete with the imaginations and story types of both Stephen King and Dean Koontz. It was a horror with a twist and a definite moral in the story, that we are all indeed, the same under the skin. I would also like to add, one will never look at a piece of steak the same a... Read more

Review:I recently viewed the Ronald Coleman movie, which didn't do a very good job following the story, but which ignited my desire to reread this wonderful fantasy. It's sort of a 'lost' classic -- forgotten by many readers, but well worth time it takes to fall into this wonderful and dramatic world Hilton imagined. Read more