The cronista hunts big game with a pocketknife. A brief description of the old neighborhood soccer team suggests the unrelenting passage of time; a glimpse of a stranger’s arm during a turbulent flight leads to a reflection on life and death. “There’s a right way to start a crônica by using a triviality,” Machado de […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/04/06/the-unbearable-weight-of-levity-clarice-lispector/
A little over twenty years ago, the New-York Historical Society mounted “Without Sanctuary,” a remarkable exhibition of photographs of lynchings in the American South. The images of mobs torturing and murdering Black citizens, some widely circulated as souvenir postcards, revealed a depravity that had long been shrouded by historical amnesia. Since then, the roughly 3,500 […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/04/06/a-regional-reign-of-terror-jim-crow-by-hands-now-known/
Early in Maggie Millner’s Couplets, a book-length narrative poem that might also be called (or so its author suggests) True Life: Turning Twenty-Eight in Brooklyn, a young woman meets up with another young woman at a bar. The first woman is reading Middlemarch. Like George Eliot’s heroine, Dorothea Brooke, she is passionate and restless, qualities […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/04/06/the-couple-form-couplets-maggie-millner/
Although Beijing and Hollywood inhabit political and cultural universes that have little in common, they are similar in one important respect: both have expended vast amounts of energy, time, and capital confecting imaginary universes. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long proselytized for sundry versions of its Maoist/Marxist/Leninist revolution through state-sponsored propaganda campaigns that have […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/04/06/appeasement-at-the-cineplex-hollywood-in-china-ying-zhu/
Bret Easton Ellis first saw the Paul Schrader film American Gigolo in February 1980, the month it opened, when he was fifteen years old. He has since seen it more than thirty-five times. “Looking back,” he wrote in the essay collection White (2019), “the impact American Gigolo had on me is impossible to tally.” Many […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/04/06/the-exorcist-the-shards-bret-easton-ellis/
Small Bones by Kerry Buchanan is the second audiobook in the Harvey and Birch Irish crime thriller series. The cover boasts that it’s utterly addictive and I would have to agree. Narrated by Esther Wane, I could not set this one down….
Small Bones
by Kerry Buchanan
Narrator: Esther Wane
Length: 9 hours and 32 minutes
Genres: Crime Fiction, Thriller
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Audible *affiliate
Rating: 
Narration: 5 cups Speed: 1.4x
If you can’t trust your father and you can’t trust the police, who can you trust?
Sue Hearn is planting a herb garden on the site of her grandfather’s old greenhouse. She’s spent the morning digging up all sorts of odds and ends already. But she doesn’t expect this grisly find.
A skull.
Could it be the remains of her mother, Monica, who went missing thirty years ago?
Sue’s father, in hospital with dementia, insinuates that a police officer was involved in her mother’s disappearance. But can he be trusted?
So now Detectives Asha Harvey and Aaron Birch might be looking for a bent copper.
As they dig deeper into the past, Sue and Asha find secrets so dangerous it will put all their lives in danger.
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We are back with Acting Detective Inspector Asha Harvey and Detective Constable Aaron Birch. The tale is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It begins with an intriguing prologue set in 1992, before we fast forward to the backyard of Sue Hearn, well technically her father’s backyard, but he is suffering from dementia and the land has been in the family for generations. She is overturning the earth to put in an herb garden when she makes a discovery. The tale that unfolds was gripping with plenty of twists and surprises to keep the listener guessing.
I am really enjoying this crime thriller series. Asha is now the Acting Inspector, and the case before them is more complicated than bones in a garden. Buchanan does a stellar job of building the case, giving us the backstory and sending our detectives on a merry hunt.
The tale can get dark and gritty, but the author keeps it grounded and realistic. When Sue mentions that her mother went missing in 1992, the detectives search for a link between the bones and Monica Hearn. Things are complicated because Sue’s father suffers from dementia. He keeps telling Sue it’s all his fault… but for what? Was he involved in the murder?
Suspense, twists and danger build as it looks more and more like someone from the department may be involved. I loved the tension. I admit I was pretty confident in my suspect, but enjoyed seeing the detectives provide proof. Fans of crime thrillers will want to grab Small Bones and the other titles in the Harvey & Birch series.
I highly recommend listening. Esther Wane brings the characters and stories to life from her accent to tones. The story itself lends perfectly to audio.
Amazon* | Audible
*Available in kindleunlimited/whispersynced.
Kerry Buchanan is a retired veterinary surgeon who lives with her family and a menagerie of animals on a farm in County Down. There are inspiring views of hills and lakes from every window. Kerry began writing fiction in 2014 and hasn’t stopped since. She writes fantasy, science fiction and crime. Her Harvey and Birch crime thriller series, set in Northern Ireland, is published by Joffe Books.
Esther Wane is a British actor and voice-over artist. After a career in finance Esther fulfilled a childhood dream of going to drama school in London, and her life as an actor began at age forty. She has a lifelong passion for literature and can often be found browsing bookshops at any spare moment. She owes her career in audiobooks to her impression of Joanna Lumley and has since narrated books in many genres, including memoir, politics, romantic fiction, and children’s literature. She enjoys taking her listeners on a journey in time and space and bringing the characters on the page to life in their imagination. She lives with her family and collection of books in Hertfordshire, just outside London, where she has built a professional voice studio in the bottom of her garden.
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Original source: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2023/03/small-bones-by-kerry-buchanan.html
Jetsam by Tracy Grogan is the third book in the A Divemaster Ricky Adventure series. It is a story about Ricky’s involvement in a mission where she was supposed to collect water samples to gauge the water pollutants in the sea. It seemed like a simple mission on the surface, but as Ricky dives deeper into the ocean, the mission begins to churn into a mill of deception and fake identities. With multiple close combats where she can lose her life, she surfs through several legal and illegal activities throughout the book.
The writing style of the book is engaging and fast-paced. I found myself stuck to the pages once the story caught momentum. Even though this is the third book of A Divemaster Ricky Adventure, you will find no difficulty in understanding the proceedings of the book. Multiple plots run throughout the story. The characters are well-developed. The twists of the stories never stop coming, and even when I predicted a few of them, reading them unfurl was an enjoyable experience.
The story is focused mainly on international waters and the Myanmar territory. Myanmar’s political and social conditions in 2016 form the central portion of the story setting. The terrorist groups, the smugglings, the role of US agencies, and the corruption prevailing in that have been explored by the author. It got heavy to read, at times, when things morphed into reality instead of fiction. The story is beautifully crafted, and the deaths keep the feeling of reality and morbidity alive in the narrative. I enjoyed the fun banter and the thrill that the book provides. Some heavy topics were explored in the book, but they add substance to the fictional events. Also, the in-depth discussions of the sea and the handling of the weapons left me with a feeling of actually being there with Captain Rich while he rants off about so many subjects he holds expertise in.
Overall, Jetsam is a thrilling mystery novel with nonstop action to keep readers hooked from start to finish. It will fill readers with a feeling of exhilaration and adrenaline rush after every ambush the characters step into. In addition, the book provides a heavy dose of reality checks with a shot of entertainment.
Pages: 358
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/03/17/jetsam/
Time Intertwined by Kaylon Bruner Tran is Book 1 in the Agent Orange Trilogy. This is a fictional novel with a twist of adventure, history, loss, and family secrets. Kaylon Bruner Tran beautifully portrays tension, family trauma, the effects of war, and self-discovery in an enthralling work of literature, sure to captivate the reader from start to finish. Well-written and surprising, this book details a saga of survival, relationships, and how life is impacted during and after the war. Kaylon Bruner Tran, though well-known in the medical research community, branches out into writing, and does a great job of remaining loyal to historical research, crafts a fascinating original story, and leaves readers wanting more.
The story of Time Intertwined follows Anh and Mikayla, a mom and daughter separated in the fall of Saigon and the end of two decades of the Vietnam War. The book chronicles the story of Mikayla discovering who she is after growing up in the U.S. and unexpectedly finding out she was adopted. Anh, on the other hand, works towards rebuilding her life, with the looming threat of destruction to a legacy, the resulting complications of sickness, and the revelation of dark family secrets uncovered.
Touching, beautiful, and heart-wrenching, Time Intertwined, Book 1 of the Agent Orange Trilogy is a must-read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the Vietnam War, historical fiction, cross-cultural settings, or family trauma. This book is complex and relays the lasting effects of war on humanity. This book has excellent character development, historical details, heartwarming moments, and an intensely intricate plot. This book is perfect for people who are looking for a story that is suspenseful and touching all at once.
Pages: 232 | ASIN : B094PP2HXH
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/03/17/time-intertwined/
Mumentous by Amy Schultz takes us into the heart of Southern high school culture and gives us a warming glimpse into the tradition of the homecoming mum. But is this tradition something worth continuing? What does it truly represent? Is it just a showcase of modern consumerism? Or does it stand for something much deeper? No matter where on the spectrum of thinking you fall into, taking a deep dive into Southern United States culture can be an enjoyable ride. So let’s take a dive into the stunning photos and unique commentary writing of Amy Schultz in Mumentous!
When we’re talking about the focus topic of Mumentous, we are discussing someone’s local culture, and as I am not immersed in that culture, it can be hard to understand the infamous tradition. This charming book of fascinating stories takes readers into the culture that embraces homecoming mums with gusto. One of the highlights of this unique book is the black-and-white photography showcasing modern high school culture; it has a profound effect on the book as a whole. It made the book feel more immersive and was the added touch that sent this book from an average diary-like piece to an almost Joan Didion-esque piece of journalism. Additionally, I enjoyed the artistic spins on true stories that Schultz openly admits to. Her quote about being an artist and not a historian was cheeky and admirable. I could relate to the sentiment as a fellow writer who enjoys writing about real life. I will say that if you’re looking for some big ah-ha moment that is going to somehow expose unheard-of news, this book is not for you. It is simply an artistic and heartfelt view of a popular piece of Texan culture. It’s real everyday stories.
Mumentous by Amy Schultz is a well-written book about the history of the homecoming mum in Texas. It’s a book that I enjoy having on the shelf to simply pull down and flip through every now and then, to slowly pick through when you want something lighthearted and intriguing. But, if anything, simply buy it for the photographs; they are beautiful!
Pages: 178 | ISBN : 163988565X
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/03/17/mumentous/
The LGBTQ+ community has made significant strides in achieving greater rights and acceptance in the United States. However, anti-gay attitudes still persist in certain pockets of the country, particularly in small towns located in the south. This can force individuals to remain in the closet, fearing the potential backlash from family, friends, and the community at large. Enter Redmond Cole, the protagonist in Courtney Maguire’s captivating novel Drive. Redmond lives in a tiny town in Texas and has yet to come out of the closet. He spends his days working at a garage and caring for his sister, Katie. But his life takes an unexpected turn when he meets two men, Victor Itachi, a wealthy man, and Sean, the only openly gay man in town.
As Redmond begins to engage in sexual and romantic relationships, he is forced to confront his true feelings and question his happiness with his current situation. Courtney Maguire brings to life the difficulties of being gay in a small town and Redmond’s journey toward self-discovery and acceptance. The intimate scenes between Redmond and Victor are both sensual and realistic, showcasing the growth and development of Redmond’s character as he navigates this new territory. Maguire expertly portrays the challenges and complexities of being a gay man in a conservative town while also highlighting the importance of love and acceptance.
Overall, Drive by Courtney Maguire is a captivating and sensual portrayal of the realities faced by many LGBTQ+ individuals living in conservative towns. It is a compelling story of growth, self-discovery, and acceptance that will leave readers both moved and entertained. I highly recommend this book.
Pages: 238 | ASIN : B0BTMMZWZN
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/03/17/drive/