![]() ![]() ![]() Bill connected the novel’s conclusion to an odd and tantalizing Douglas Rushkoff article, while drawing a link to David Graeber’s important work on debt and debt jubilees and also finding this Kim Stanley Robinson thought about how science fiction works on the present and future.īill also published an extensive reflection on how the novel imagines and responds to the present and the future. Vanessa pointed us to the great archy and mehitabel. In response to last week’s blog post Paul meditated on comparisons to other novels. The novel was up for a Hugo award this year, but lost out last night to The Stone Sky. And there’s been plenty! Once again the online, distributed book club model proves itself. Let me begin by pulling together online commentary and links from readers so far. ![]() For all posts on this reading, click here.) ![]() (If you’d like more information on the reading plan and the schedule we followed, click here. Now I’d like to make space for some additional reflections, both mine and yours. Today I’d like to wrap up our online book club‘s reading of Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140.*įor weeks we’ve been working through the novel, chapter by chapter. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Here, on desolate Quoyle's Point, in a house empty except for a few mementos of the family's unsavory past, the battered members of three generations try to cobble up new lives. An aunt convinces Quoyle and his two emotionally disturbed daughters to return with her to the starkly beautiful coastal landscape of their ancestral home in Newfoundland. Quoyle, a third-rate newspaper hack, with a "head shaped like a crenshaw, no neck, reddish hair.features as bunched as kissed fingertips," is wrenched violently out of his workaday life when his two-timing wife meets her just desserts. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Annie Proulx's The Shipping News is a vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary North American family. ![]() ![]() ![]() How do you get into the right mindset to sit down and write such dark material? In Ninth House, there are gruesome depictions of violence, its aftermath and dead bodies. The more I peeled back the layers, the more I discovered, and so it wasn’t really a difficulty so much as it was a different kind of exploration than what I had done in writing secondary world fantasy. It has this extraordinary history full of strange stories and mysteries. However, I was very lucky, because as it turns out New Haven is a city that rewards the people who get to know it. There were certainly inconveniences of distance and understanding the map of New Haven that came into play. It is a challenge to write in the real world once you’ve had the advantage of being able to create your own world. ![]() ![]() ![]() “Still Holding My Hand” plays while the two approach their new home, the same house Miss Trunchbull once stole from Miss Honey. “And right by my side there was you, quietly taking a stand and you are holding my hand.” “One day I opened my eyes and looked up to find that the sky had turned blindingly blue,” they sing in unison, Miss Honey with happy tears forming in her eyes. Titled “Still Holding My Hand,” the new song has Matilda and Miss Honey singing about how each thought her unfortunate fate was sealed but, instead, they’re delighted to discover they’ve been there for each other all along. “We did try and end the film in different ways, but what this moment needed was a song, a joyful release for this little family created by these two people.” The stage musical closes with a broad, comedic section and “ends with two people holding hands and then a cartwheel, which is a beautiful, simple gesture, but you don’t get to see past the moment where they come together,” said Dennis Kelly, writer of both the stage and screen versions. ![]() Roald Dahl’s terrifying headmistress gets a multifaceted portrayal by Emma Thompson in the Netflix movie-musical. ![]() Movies Why Emma Thompson’s Trunchbull is genuinely unsettling in Netflix’s ‘Matilda’ ![]() ![]() ![]() Of course, this could mean many things, but it may point to the Joker ushering a young, disturbed woman into his way of thinking and her descent into his brand of madness. In fact, there are a number of guesses as to how it will work, with word coming out that it will have a A Star Is Born feel. Gaga is obviously suited to a musical, but this approach has not been tackled before. Related: Joker: Folie à Deux Set Video Reveals Lady Gaga's Signing as Harley Quinn Not only that but Joker: Folie à Deux will be a musical. No longer the cartoon crazy or the Margo Robbie silly-but-empowered versions, Gaga’s Harley will be a dark and disturbed version of her predecessors. ![]() In this version, we are getting an entirely different version of Harley Quinn. She seems to be attempting the same thing with the role of Harley Quinn. Her career in film began with A Star Is Born, where she received acclaim for creating an updated version of a character played by five actors in films for over fifty years. Now, with a sequel on the way, we are getting a Todd Phillips version of Harley Quinn, played by Lady Gaga. ![]() ![]() ![]() Their naïveté plays against the community’s hatred and cynicism and creates a sense of foreboding that propels the narrative to its inevitable conclusion. Saroja is a city girl, and her transition to farming life would have been difficult even without the explicit derision and antagonism that the couple experiences from everyone in the village, including Kumaresan’s mother, extended family, and the village leaders. ![]() Despite the taboo against intercaste marriage, Kumaresan believes that they can settle happily there and that his community will eventually embrace the lovely Saroja just as he has. He instructs Saroja to say nothing of her caste identity, but given her fair complexion, the farming villagers immediately suspect she is not one of them. Murugan’s novel opens with the just-married Saroja and Kumaresan stepping off a bus in rural Tamil Nadu to walk a mile to Kumaresan’s mother’s home, located in his ancestral village. A young intercaste couple elopes in rural Southern India, braving the anger of their families and the fatal restrictions of society. ![]() ![]() ![]() The job is his…if he helps Ashiya manage her new business. He’s been desperate to solve the disappearance of his brother, Roderick, for years, and the Robidoux influence could finally turn this cold case hot-and give his family some much-needed closure. Russell Gilchrist would do anything to be named COO of Robidoux Holdings-with all of the power and money that comes along with it. But when her grandmother unexpectedly dies, leaving Ashiya in charge of a multimillion-dollar company, Russell is the only one who can help her…and things get complicated fast. ![]() Love isn’t meant to last…and nobody taught her that better than her own family. She knows she shouldn’t dwell on the past. It’s been three years since Ashiya Waters walked away from Russell-and made the biggest mistake of her life. Be sure to tag me in any pictures you post on social media. I hope you enjoy Ashiya and Russell’s bumpy road to happily ever after. I had a ton of fun writing this soapy, messy, dramatic, and spicy series. Thank you to everyone who read and spread the word on these novels. Wow!įoolish Hearts is the bittersweet end to the Jackson Falls Series. Today is the day! Foolish Hearts is now available! It’s my twenty-third book. ![]() ![]() But when the Keepers order the sacrifice of Shay during Calla and Ren’s joining ceremony, Calla can’t follow through. Together the two will lead a new pack, guarding sites sacred to the Keepers. Saving Shay not only violates Keeper’s law, it also sets in motion events Calla never expected.Ĭalla is the intended mate of alpha wolf Ren Laroche. At least she didn’t until she saves Shay, a human who befalls danger while hiking. ![]() It’s all she’s ever known and she’s never questioned it. Because, when it comes down to it, fans of “Nightshade” would read “Wolfsbane” even if the cover were solid black with no picture at all.įor those of you who are wondering what all the fuss about, here’s a quick and dirty synopsis of what you’ve been missing.Ĭalla Tor is a werewolf. ![]() Now that “Wolfsbane” is out, readers can turn their focus to the story within the covers instead of squabbling over something that doesn’t change whether they’d read the book or not. When the publisher decided to change up the design not only for paperback versions, but for print as well, fans responded. There’s been a lot of buzz about “Wolfsbane,” mostly because of a change in cover art. ![]() Well, more is now available with “Wolfsbane,” the second book in the Nightshade series. One of the most talked about teen books of 2010 was Andrea Cremer‘s “Nightshade.” Fans gobbled up the tale of teenage werewolves and clamored for more. “WOLFSBANE,” by Andrea Cremer, Philomel, July 26, 2011, $17.99 (young adult) ![]() ![]() ![]() There was a point when I wondered if I would be able to finish this book. It's only the charms of the gardener that keep her in the job. Desperate for somewhere to stay she accepts the job despite the fact that she can't cook, launder or do anything else remotely domesticated. There's a beautiful house nearby and she knocks on the door hoping for a glass of water, but the owner thinks that she's come for an interview for the post of housekeeper. She gets on a train - the first train to anywhere - and finds herself stranded in a Cotswold village. Just as she's about to achieve this she apparently makes a massive error and runs away from it all. She is desperate to become a partner of the prestigious law firm for whom she works. Samantha Sweeting is a lawyer and all her adult life she's had just one ambition. It's formulaic chick lit, but if you want an easy, light-hearted read then you could do worse than to borrow it from the library. ![]() Summary: A top-flight lawyer becomes a housekeeper despite having no domestic skills. ![]() ![]() ![]() Strong economic data has helped pushed up bond yields, and has caused some central bankers to publicly make the case for more rate hikes. Germany's 2-year yield, which is sensitive to interest rate expectations, was down 1 bp at 2.778%. Italy's 10-year yield was roughly flat on Friday at 4.302%, putting it on track for a weekly increase of 13 bps. Europe's Stoxx 600 was up 0.46% for the week as of Friday. S&P 500 stock index has risen 1.79% so far this week. "There are more hopes now that it could be solved so that is boosting sentiment and lifting rates, and also affecting stock markets," said Jussi Hiljanen, head of European rates strategy at lender SEB. Yet a commitment from Democrats and Republicans this week to strike a deal on raising the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit, and avoid default, has improved the mood in markets. Investors had bought government bonds - pushing their yields lower - due to fears about the U.S. It has risen 16 bps since Monday, the biggest increase since the week ending April 14. Germany's 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone, was last up 2 basis points (bps) at 2.429%. ![]() |