Category Archives: book review

3 more books

Posted on August 8, 2025 by forstegrupp

The Cloisters by Katy Hays A murder mystery set in the 21st century. Narrated in the first person by an ambitious art historian of the Renaissance. Quite a twist at the end. Reminds me of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Trouble … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, books | Leave a comment

Svalbard — a world onto itself

Posted on June 3, 2025 by forstegrupp

Today sitting in the sunshine with my dog curled up beside me, I finished Cecilia Blomdahl’s book Life on Svalbard, in which she documents with photography and words her experience living in the northernmost human town. Svalbard belongs to Norway, … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, books | Leave a comment

Another Greek Mythology Fanbook

Posted on May 23, 2025 by forstegrupp

Atalanta is told from the point of view of the woman in Greek mythology famed for her fleetness of foot and her archery prowess. Jennifer Saint wrote this one in 2023. A fast, enjoyable read which sneers at the overly … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, books, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

2 more modern novels based on Greeek Myths

Posted on April 7, 2025 by forstegrupp

Stone Blind (2022) by Natalie Haynes: tells the story of Medusa, the human Gorgon whom Perseus slays to save his mother. Multiple voices and cynical feminism. Medusa and her two immortal Gorgon sisters live apart from all human and divine … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, books | Leave a comment

The Queen of the Tearling series

Posted on December 5, 2019 by forstegrupp

Recently I blew through all three books of Erika Johansen’s Tearling series. The novels narrate how the young woman Kelsea comes to power in the kingdom of the Tearling which is in thrall to the neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne, ruled … Continue reading →

Posted in book review | Leave a comment

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Posted on December 3, 2019 by forstegrupp

Some time in the last few months, I read Naomi Novik’s retelling of Rumplestiltskin, where the little gnome becomes a tall, handsome, emotionally distant elf. He rules a winter kingdom and periodically invades the human kingdom of green growing things. … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A fast but enjoyable YA read

Posted on September 5, 2019 by forstegrupp

Told in the first person by a teenager whose mother has died and whose father is addicted to opium, Yangsze Choo’s The Ghost Bride depends on the reader’s concern about her future: will she have to marry the ghost of … Continue reading →

Posted in book review | Leave a comment

Hansel and Gretel in a Concentration Camp

Posted on February 11, 2019 by forstegrupp

Jane Yolen has written the novel Mapping the Bones about Jewish children surviving the terrors of occupied Poland and a concentration camp and she uses the structural framework of the fairy tale of “Hansel and Gretel.” In both stories, the … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, fairy tales | Leave a comment

Bird’s Eye View of History

Posted on February 6, 2019 by forstegrupp

Yuval Noah Harari wrote his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind in 2015. The book provides an expansive overview of 202,000 years human pre-history and history in under 450 pages (including index). His most provocative tenet is that the … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, books | Leave a comment

A book uniting two passions: fairy tales and knitting

Posted on January 30, 2019 by forstegrupp

Yesterday on the new non-fiction shelf of our local public library, I found a book with a pebbled blue cover and gold gilded lettering and design. It was clearly a knitting book as you can see from the front cover … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, books, fairy tales, knitting, Uncategorized | Leave a comment