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The Barbarian

The Barbarian

By Judith E French Read: February 2010 Rating: A bit muddled I bought this book because, well, it’s called The Barbarian and it has a laughably swoony cover. I mean, c’mon, what’s more classically romance novel than a dude’s face all up close and personal while he gaze intensely at you, all the while holding [...]

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The Photographer

The Photographer

By Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, Frédéric Lemercier Read: October 2009 Rating: Wow There’s no other word for it than, “Wow.” Every few pages, there it is again–Wow. Didier Lefèvre was a photographer, who became involved with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). In 1986, he accepted an assignment to enter Afghanistan with an MSF mission, [...]

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Sheikh's Ransom

Sheikh’s Ransom

By Alexandra Sellers Read: November 2006 Rating: BLECH. (This one has some bad language. Sorry.) Remember that school project about Christian Romance Novels? Well, I got an A on it. But my punishment was having to read this garbage. I’m not a stranger to fantasies that involve the dangerous, the forbidden, submission, and the otherwise [...]

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Iphigeneia at Aulis

Iphigeneia at Aulis

By Euripides. Translated by W. S. Merwin & George E. Dimock. Read: October 2006 Rating: Mixed. This is the Oxford University Press edition, with both a scholar and a poet working on the translation. The play itself is only, say, 1/3 of the book itself. (Brings back memories of Ayn Rand’s Anthem.) This was a [...]

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The Temeraire Series (Books 1-3)

The Temeraire Series (Books 1-3)

By Naomi Novik Read: September 2006 Rating: Faboo!! Every so often, the grocery store rewards my endless browsing with a shiny pearl. This is some of the coolest stuff you could ever present to me: Historical novel. With dragons. !!!!! of JOY! Some of the only ”traveling” books I have ever liked! And you know [...]

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Beast

Beast

By Donna Jo Napoli Read: August 2006 Rating: Charming I love retellings of fairy tales. My mother built me a collection of really gorgeously illustrated books when I was very young, and my edition of Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorites. Of course I had to read this rendition by Donna Jo [...]

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Queen of the Amazons

Queen of the Amazons

By Judith Tarr Rating: Ixcelsiooor! Read: June 2006 This one came from Strand Books, my beloved second-hand goldmine. The description was interesting, the cover art is gorgeous (her neck piece looks like mother of pearl) and the story is well-told and thoroughly unusual. Very good.

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Pandora

Pandora

By Anne Rice Rating: Enjoyable. Read: June 2005 I am not a fan of Anne Rice. I tried to read Interview With the Vampire years ago and failed miserably. There is nothing in her writing that goes unsaid- everything is laid out on the table. Sorry, but that’s boring, and makes for lousy prose. Pandora [...]

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