Mark Schiffer
I was pretty excited to read When Books Went to War, because I love mass-market paperbacks. Getting books in the hands of as many people as possible is dope. The Armed Service Editions played a massive role in genre fiction history. Unfortunately, this book was a little light on meat and potatoes, and a little heavy on gushing testimonials about the program. Still, the story itself is a valuable one. Whatever caveats I might have about its lack of weightiness, When Books Went to War is still a digestible and engaging read.
Definitely an exhaustive resource about Frank. If you wanna know, like, beat for beat what he did on any given day of his life this is the way to go. I feel like I know more about what Frank and Bev ate on any given one of their vacations than I do about the world of Dune. Also kind of reads like a memoir from Brian.
Psychologically quite dark, with a fascinatingly well realized geography of flats and yards which really makes the setting come to life. But for me, Rendell really works best when there's active “incidents,” and in that respect this work doesn't really add up to much. When ya come down to it Phillip and Senta are just shouting at each other in dark rooms about things which may or may not have happened. Not my favorite, but still worth a read.
A community of women in a Mennonite cult hold a debate in a barn about whether to leave their abusers or stay and fight.
I couldn't put this one down. Short, powerful, vital. I can't wait to see the movie, though so much of this story's power comes from its form in the written word. Definitely going to read more Toews.
