bandherbooks's Reviews (3.65k)

Night Film really reminded me of a supernatural "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." A disgraced, middle-aged journalist finds himself drawn back into the story that lost him his credibility in the first place, and finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a creepy mystery that he needs the help of some younger folks to figure out. Despite this plot similarity I still found myself captivated with trying to figure out why this myseterious filmmaker's daughter died. I found the figure of Cordova, a director with an under-group cult following to be the most intriguing aspect of this tale. I wasn't so enchanted by Ashley (the daughter) as the rest of the character's seemed to be, and the ending really made me want to throw the book across the room. Spooky times though! Didn't expect the supernatural turn this book took either.

Lush, dense, and immaculately detailed portrayal of the early years of the future Saint Hilda. Little is actually know about Hild's early life before she joined the hierarchy of the burgeoning Christian church, but Nicola Griffith does an amazing job filling in the gaps. The amount of research that went into this endeavour is so apparent, but in the best possible way.

The best part of Griffith's story was how Hild's mother maneuvered her into becoming an integral part of King Edwin's court, as his seer, and how Hild continued to pull this off as she grew older. Everything about this was based in reality however, and not magic. Griffith simply showed that Hild was taught from a young age to be observant, to listen, and to grow a network of spies and people that she could rely on to maker her 'predictions' and soothe the egos of powerful men.

Since this tale ended way before the actual time of historical record for Hild (before she became a Saint), I'm sure there will be more to come!

In 1910 on a cold, snowy night in England, baby Ursula is born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and does not live. But, on the next page, Ursula is saved by the Doctor who this time made it despite the snow.
This is how Kate Atkinson plays with time, reincarnation, life, and death. Choices made influence the outcomes of Ursula's life, but despite many deaths Ursula seems to always get a chance to retry.
Ms. Atkinson does not attempt to give reason why this is happening to Ursula, but does imbue her character with a hazy understanding of what is happening to her. This is the true beauty of the story, along with the lack of moralizing and effort to prove there is only one correct way for Ursula to live her life.
My only quibble with the story is I felt the addition of a life that included first hand encounters with Hitler during WWII was a bit overwrought. Otherwise, a fantastic read for this rainy weather.

Light and fluffy, like snow, but fun. I enjoyed that the three authors intertwined their stories so characters could re-occur.

Pretty decent Jodi Picoult book. Not one of my favorites however. It seemed short, and the ending was very abrupt.

The cover and title really drew me in, but the art and plots inside didn't keep my attention as much as I had hoped. I did enjoy the repetition of "This doesn't look very good" at the beginning of each volume and the banter between Hawkeye and his teammate Kate. I think I may be missing out a little as I'm a newbie to traditional super hero 'verse, so some of the back story wasn't as clear to me. I did like it enough to order Volume 2.

According to so many I know this is a seminal work in the comic book verse. I see why, but for someone who is pretty new to the field I was a bit lost. I enjoyed some of the characters, especially Dr. Manhattan, but found the few female characters superficial. The ending felt a bit rushed after the lengthy lead-up. Thanks has to go to Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell for inspiring me to read this in the first place :)

Super cute and awesomely well written short story about how Zuzana and Mik finally got together. It is nice to see these characters get a little extra time. Laini Taylor is a master word-smith. Can't get enough.