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I Hope This Finds You Well: Finding the love that’s been there all along
Given my recent two-year anniversary, it feels fitting to write about a book that deals with modern office work. After all, I started this journey as a response to some major professional burnout. And it can be majorly cathartic to read about the universality of white collar work. From HR trainings to the interpersonal dynamics,…
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Masters of multimedia murder in Janice Hallett’s The Examiner
Long-time readers will know that I am an avid reader of everything Janice Hallett writes. Hallett is a master of the modern epistolary, constantly coming up with creative new ways to hide information in plain sight. And so I’m thrilled to wish a Very Happy Book Birthday to her latest and greatest, The Examiner! What…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 12: The Christmas Appeal
It’s Christmas Eve and we’ve got a real treat for today. Long-time readers will know I am an avid fan of Janice Hallett and have been since she first wrote The Appeal. So when I heard about The Christmas Appeal, a holiday spin-off of that novel, I knew I had to read it. The Christmas…
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TCO Reviews: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies is an Autumn book in spirit, but not in practice. Despite the academic vibes, the book actually takes place over a dark, frigid, Norwegian winter. But the latest entry in the series, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is a perfect fireside material. (Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for…
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An introverted adventurer: Emily Wilde and pushing boundaries
The start of Fall is, for me, inextricably linked with Academia, not just because it’s the start of school. When the wind gets nippy there’s no better place to escape than a library, full of books and blankets. Warm sweaters and overcoats are Peak School Vibes. And the candles of Autumn decor seem to mesh…
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Exploring voice and tension in Murder Your Employer
Growing up, A Series of Unfortunate Events was probably my second-favorite series. Every time a new entry came out, I’d try to get my hands on a copy at our Costco run, racing through the pages to see if I could finish even before we made it through the store. It was great to find…
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Interior Chinatown as a dreamy introspective epistolary
This epistolary challenge has led me to really push my reading boundaries, even within a genre I love. I kicked the year off with Piranesi, a haunting and creative story told through journal entries – and a long-overdue read. And this month, I’ve had the pleasure to read Interior Chinatown, a novel written as a…
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Epistolaries and choice: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
Those who follow the blog will know I am a HUGE fan of Janice Hallett – so much so that I import her books from the UK just to read them ahead of schedule. And despite some shenanigans, my Waterstones order of The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels has finally hit my mailbox. I’ve…
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The Twyford Code: How to re-read a twist ending
First of all, time for a mini-celebration. If you’d told me back in October that I’d write 50 posts – at all, let alone before 6 months were over – I wouldn’t have believed you. The idea that I could find the time to regularly write and edit and share 50 essays of Thoughts on…
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Piranesi: the loneliness and dramatic irony of journal entries
Have you ever seen a piece of art get so hyped up that you avoid it, because you’re worried that there’s no way it can live up to it? This is how I felt about Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, a weird and wonderful novel that unfolds via journal entries. Despite seemingly everyone in the entire…