Tuesday, February 18, 2025

High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver

First sentence:

"A hermit crab lives in my house."

Description:

"Barbara Kingsolver has entertained and touched the lives of legions of readers with her critically acclaimed and bestselling novels The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, and Pigs in Heaven.

In these twenty-five newly conceived essays, she returns once again to her favored literary terrain to explore the themes of family, community, and the natural world. With the eyes of a scientist and the vision of a poet, Kingsolver writes about notions as diverse as modern motherhood, the history of private property, and the suspended citizenship of humans in the animal kingdom. Her canny pursuit of meaning from an inscrutable world compels us to find instructions for life in surprising places: a museum of atomic bomb relics, a West African voodoo love charm, an iconographic family of paper dolls, the ethics of a wild pig who persistently invades a garden, a battle of wills with a two-year-old, or a troop of oysters who observe high tide in the middle of Illinois.

In sharing her thoughts about the urgent business of being alive, Kingsolver the essayist employs the same keen eyes, persuasive tongue, and understanding heart that characterize her acclaimed fiction."  -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. Kingsolver gives the reader a glimpse into her life and the many aspects that inspire her writing. 

Date read: 2/17/2025
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 5*/5

ISBN-10: 0060172916
ISBN-13: 9780060172916
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 1995
# of pages: 270
Binding: Hardcover
LibraryThing page


Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance

First sentence:

"Any day that starts off in a demon-filled bar in a casino designed to look like Hell isn't likely to turn out well."

Description:

A recent legacy made Cassandra Palmer heir to the title of Pythia, the world's chief clairvoyant. It's a position that usually comes with years of training, but Cassie's circumstances are a little. . .unusual. And now she's stuck with a whopping amount of power that every vamp, Fey, and mage in town wants to monopolize or eradicate--and that she herself doesn't dare use.

What's more, she's just discovered that a certain arrogant master vampire has put a geis on her--a magical claim that warns off any would-be suitors, and might also explain the rather. . .intense attraction between them. But Cassie's had it with being jerked around, and anyone who tries it from now on is going to find out that she makes a very bad enemy. . .." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this paranormal romantic thriller. Cassandra's journey into the world of the Fey both physically and mentally kept my attention throughout. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Embrace the Night.

Date read: 2/3/2025
Series: Cassandra Palmer, #2
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 0451461525
ISBN-13: 9780451461520
Imprint: ROC
Publisher: New American Library
Year: 2007
# of pages: 374
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page