Becky Doherty - Bookseller in Saratoga Springs
Submitted by bdoherty@norths... on Sat, 11/09/2013 - 11:33am
"If I'm honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales, and I like them best of all."
- Audrey Hepburn
Small in size, epic in style, an absolute jewel of a novel. Porter’s writing can convey so much in just a few well chosen words, and his new work hits the sweet spot. We experience the last dying days of the master painter, through his alternating bursts of hallucination and lucidity. What results is a heady concoction of memories, dreams, and present, and it’s stunning. ~ Reviewed by Becky Doherty
A wonderful, and thought provoking, book about our finite life as humans. If we live to be eighty years old, we’ll have had four thousand weeks to grow, age, and everything in between. Burkeman explores ways we should think about our time, pulling in wisdom and thoughts from many different sources, be it philosophers, spiritual practitioners or time-management gurus. In an age when social media, combined with the ease of global travel, makes our bucket lists longer, and our possibilities endless, he brings insight into the many ways we can stop ourselves from going mad with FOMO, and instead take joy in the things we do have time for. ~ Reviewed by Becky Doherty
Wow, what a read! This is fantasy writing at it’s finest. I simply adore Rogerson’s new world, and the characters and her female protagonist are outstanding! The first in a series, we encounter our lead character, Artemisia, happily living a monastic life, training to be a Gray Sister, it’s everything she wants to be in life, and no more. However, Our Lady has other plans for her, and soon she finds herself heralded as a Saint, and wielding the immense power of a long forgotten spirit. When Old Magic comes into play, and past evil resurfaces, it is a race to save everyone from being killed, or worse, possessed. Highly, highly, recommend! ~ Reviewed by Becky Doherty
Whip smart, deep dive of a novel into modern day dating, and all the tricks and traps that that brings with it. Our protagonist is coming back into the dating world after a long term relationship ends, and her best single friend gets her to download a dating app. Thrown into this new experience, she finds that there are a lot of aspects to this kind of dating, that just were not around when she began dating her last boyfriend straight out of school, and ghosting being a top one. We follow her along on a roller coaster ride of emotions, as she navigates this new world, alongside her coming to terms with her father’s dementia, and her mother’s midlife crisis. Highly entertaining and thoughtful, I definitely recommend it. ~ Reviewed by Becky Doherty
Novik certainly begins this novel, the sequel to A Deadly Education, running and you’ll be turning the pages as quick to keep up as the action reaches fever pitch. We revisit El, Orion and the other students at the Scholomance in their final year of school as they are hurtling toward graduation, which in past years has proved to be quite deadly for a high percentage of them. However, El has a plan forming, and it means throwing out all the rules, will she get the others to go along with her, or plot against her? Novik has created the most satisfying kick-ass wizard-school world, so open it up and breathe it in! ~ Reviewed by Becky Doherty
