Paul DeSantis

The God of the Woods was a very enjoyable read. I got my copy from Book of the Month Club after seeing it was highly rated there, and I think it's worth the praise it's been getting.

It's a mystery novel at its core and it does a great job of presenting facts from a few different perspectives and encouraging you to solve the crime with the characters. There are definitely clues that end up being red herrings, but never in a way that feels disingenuous to the reader. I felt strongly about my own (incorrect) theory, but I was still very pleased with the conclusion.

It was a bit longer than what I am used to reading (at nearly 500 pages), but I was very engrossed and finished it over just a few days. Definitely would recommend!

The Handmaid's Tale is an increasingly relevant novel that discusses the experience of women in a post-USA Christian fascist country called Gilead. Much of the way society is run in Gilead could be implemented in a short time if people are not careful-- relegating women & people of color to the absolute bottom of society, rejecting technology & literature, frivolous use of capital punishment-- the list goes on. In some ways you wonder how Gilead could have become that way, but in reality America inches closer all the time.

I praise Margaret Atwood's world building with Gilead and I think she does a lot with a very reasonable length book. I believe some of the characters are a bit underdeveloped, and I think it's an improvement made in the Hulu series based on the novel and in the sequel, the Testaments. So much time is taken to discuss the different classes in society, the government, and the history of the world that there wasn't enough room to explore how the characters relate to each other. For example, Moira's actions before and after becoming a Handmaid are touched upon in the novel, but her character's personality and motivations are really fleshed out in the series. It more than evident that Moira and Offred are best friends, where the book isn't able to explore their relationship as much.

I would definitely recommend this book and it's sequel. I hope it can open some people's eyes to how women deserve to be respected and to feel safe in our world.

Invisible Cities is an interesting experiment in world building and imagination. Calvino envisions many wonderous cities through the words of Marco Polo and it's interesting to picture yourself in these spaces-- to gleam the best of each city to include in your own life while rejecting what makes a city grim and glum.

The novel is overall brief, but written beautifully-- somewhere between poetry and prose. It's short length makes me believe it's a must read for everyone. Everyone will find something within its passages that resonates with them and makes them ponder.

I'm looking forward to reading more of his work, likely The Complete Cosmicomics next.

Reading The Eye of the World was certainly an experience. It definitely follows the story beats of The Hobbit and other epic fantasies, but it makes a lot of unique choices and does a lot of strong world building along the way. I found myself endeared to many of the main characters and I appreciated the focus on strong female leads.

Upon completion, I was torn on whether I wanted to continue my journey with the rest of the Wheel of Time books, but for now I think I would like to continue. My hope is that much of the basis of the world has been laid out so far, and now it can be expanded upon in a more interesting way. The setting of the beginning of the book is indistinguishable from many other fantasy novels, but by the end there is a lot that feels unique to Robert Jordan's world.

There is a lot of online discourse about Wheel of Time as a whole. I know many love it and many have given up on it. I am remaining neutral so far, but I think it needs to be stated that there are lots of novels out there (including those in the fantasy genre) that have made me feel more with much fewer words.

Invisible Cities is an interesting experiment in world building and imagination. Calvino envisions many wonderous cities through the words of Marco Polo and it's interesting to picture yourself in these spaces-- to gleam the best of each city to include in your own life while rejecting what makes a city grim and glum.

The novel is overall brief, but written beautifully-- somewhere between poetry and prose. It's short length makes me believe it's a must read for everyone. Everyone will find something within its passages that resonates with them and makes them ponder.

I'm looking forward to reading more of his work, likely The Complete Cosmicomics next.

The Handmaid's Tale is an increasingly relevant novel that discusses the experience of women in a post-USA Christian fascist country called Gilead. Much of the way society is run in Gilead could be implemented in a short time if people are not careful-- relegating women & people of color to the absolute bottom of society, rejecting technology & literature, frivolous use of capital punishment-- the list goes on. In some ways you wonder how Gilead could have become that way, but in reality America inches closer all the time.

I praise Margaret Atwood's world building with Gilead and I think she does a lot with a very reasonable length book. I believe some of the characters are a bit underdeveloped, and I think it's an improvement made in the Hulu series based on the novel and in the sequel, the Testaments. So much time is taken to discuss the different classes in society, the government, and the history of the world that there wasn't enough room to explore how the characters relate to each other. For example, Moira's actions before and after becoming a Handmaid are touched upon in the novel, but her character's personality and motivations are really fleshed out in the series. It more than evident that Moira and Offred are best friends, where the book isn't able to explore their relationship as much.

I would definitely recommend this book and it's sequel. I hope it can open some people's eyes to how women deserve to be respected and to feel safe in our world.

The Things She's Seen (AKA Catching Teller Crow) is aimed at young adults, but still delivers a captivating story with a lot of adult themes. It features a strong premise and a unique writing style that consistently kept me interested.

I am unsure how an actual young adult might react to this story, but I think the themes of dealing with abuse, racism, and the fallibility of police would make it a great book for a classroom, but there are a few scenes that are quite graphic--possibly too much. This book also covers the experience of Aboriginal people in Australia, a topic that I think deserves even more attention in literature.

The book's short length made it a quick read, but definitely delivered a fully fleshed out story. Very reminiscient of The Lovely Bones, but with an additional hint of The Sixth Sense. Definitely would recommend!