The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien

Synopsis
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, …

Watchmen: Comic vs. Film

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”  “Who watches the watchmen?
*WARNING* The comic and film discussed in this post feature some suggestive language and content, including themes of sexual assault and violence. Proceed at your own risk.
I feel I have to preface this post by saying 1) the title suggests t…

10 Books That Might As Well Be Desserts

Forget Valentine's Day and real-life love and romance, read a book! Why concern yourself with finding a good and viable match or take careful pains to keep with the tradition of granting your significant other all of the associated attentions, when you can immerse yourself in works of fiction t…

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George R.R Martin

Synopsis:Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massi…

Goodnight & Good Luck: A 2020 End-of-Year Post

So, the year has come to an end. To me, it seems like just yesterday we were bidding farewell to 2019 and shooing in the top of 2020 with the ever-concurrent displays of fireworks and ball drops. To others, perhaps yourself, this year was the most long-winded chapter of their lives, thus far. Barel…

Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Synopsis: 
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole …

(No) Thank You, Next: An Unlamented Farewell + Post-Election Reflections

*DISCLAIMER*: 1) I try not discuss politically charged topics on the blog because I know they can be incredibly polarizing and I want to keep this space as light-hearted as possible, but this was something I wanted to respond to 2) I don't claim to be a particularly good writer, but this may be…

Monthly Wrap-Up: October 2020

Honestly, I don't know why I bother titling these wrap-ups "monthly wraps", when I clearly don't post them consistently. When I don't wrap-up a month, more often than not, its because there isn't really much to wrap-up. But September and October have been relatively fruitf…

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One) by Patrick Rothfuss

Synopsis



4.5 out of 5 stars
I had read and heard glowing reviews of The Name of the Wind long before officially picking it up to read. That said, it was not what I had expected. At the advent, we find our protagonist wasting away as an innkeeper despite all he claims to have accomplished in his youth…

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodsen

Synopsis:

Both Elisha (Ellie) and Jeremiah (Miah) attend Percy Academy, a private school where neither quite fits in. Ellie is wrestling with family demons, and Miah is one of the few African American students. The two of them find each other, and fall in love -- but they are hesitant to share thei…

Five Rad Books to Read While Self-Isolating

Most of us are going into week 8747594 of self-isolation/quarantine, are just about going crazy from lack of a change of scenery, no diversity in the number of faces we see everyday, and how the pandemic is changing life as we once knew it. That said though, all things considered, I've been ta…