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Barren Ground by Ellen Glasgow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


How did I not know about Ellen Glasgow? How have I only just read this book?

It is glorious, and you all should go read it right now.

It's set beginning in post-Civil War Reconstruction Era and goes through WWI, telling the coming of age story of Dorinda--the daughter trapped in a poor, Virginia farming family.

The way this book handles gender issues is so surprising and exciting for a book written in 1925. Dorinda is an astonishing woman.

I am also completely besotted with the way this novel uses descriptions of the natural world. It's masterfully done--on every page, in Dorinda's every thought. The land is another character. Barren Ground is one of the best examples of nature writing I've ever read.

(Contains period-specific racism)



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The New Life by Tom Crewe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Absolutely love this fictional account of Havelock Ellis and John Addington Symonds writing Sexual Inversion.

The characters are vivid and interesting, the social questions presented in a very engaging way, and the writing beautiful.

Anyone interested in the neoVictorian and in the queer 19th century should find this novel a must-read.



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Skullcrack City by Jeremy Robert Johnson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I think Johnson is becoming one of my favorite authors. He's so funny and weird and genre-bending. Is it horror or sci-fi, drama or a thriller?

The protagonist of this book is hilarious and horrible and endearing despite that; I'm rooting for him the whole way.

This novel is set in the world of a story from one of his short story collections in which people modify their bodies in grotesque and unbelievable ways for fame on reality TV shows. This novel skewers influencer culture and corporate America, and it's an absolute blast.



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The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this novel. The protagonist, a high school girl named Lucy, is very deftly drawn and so are the other characters in the book.

Johnson's fiction is always a clever send up of the issues plaguing the day, and this novel is no different; here he tackles big pharma and big tech, wealth disparity and income inequality, immigration and racism, and all the angst that comes from being a teenager.

I especially like the way that even though Lucy and Bucket are friends, she is still bothered by his instances of sexism privately where he can't see. I also like the recognition that the petty injustices of high school become the petty injustices of adulthood in a small town where nobody leaves.

Is this YA? I don't know. Is something YA just because the characters are in high school? It's really, really, really violent. I've never read this sort of violence in a YA novel. One scene in particular deeply disturbed me. However, none of the violence is sexual.



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( spoilers for The Loop; don't read if you don't want to be spoiled )