London | Raging Biblio-holism

The Last Samurai

August 19, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: After a one-night stand, Sibylla – an American first studying at Oxford and then surviving on odd jobs in London – finds herself raising Ludo, a precocious young boy with a hunger for knowledge. She turns to the classics (languages, works of fiction and non-fiction, and Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai) to craft his education and by age 11, he is beyond ready to find his father. So he sets out to do so. The Review: The Last Samurai has developed […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Classics, Fiction, Film, Helen DeWitt, Literature, London, New Directions, Philosophy, Reviews, Seven Samurai, The Last Samurai

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2)

April 6, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Four months have passed since the events of A Darker Shade of Magic and the world of Red London has essentially recovered. But Prince Rhy and his magician brother Kell are chafing against their newfound magical bond and Delilah Bard, taken under the wing of a charismatic pirate, is already starting to think about running again. As their lives converge once more, in time for a massive magical tournament, a fourth life – from another London altogether – […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: A Gathering of Shadows, Adventure, Alternate Realities, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, London, Magic, Muse Monthly, Reviews, Shades of Magic, Subscription Box, Tea, Tea Reviews, V.E. Schwab

Un Lun Dun

March 11, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Two twelve year old girls discover a way into a strange city below / adjacent to / across from London, called UnLondon. One of them is apparently the chosen one, meant to save the city from a horrible Smog… but when the prophecy turns out to be maybe-not-quite-so-correct, it’s her friend who steps up to try and save the day. The Review: I’ll admit that I was a little worried when I heard about this particular Miéville. […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: Alternate Universes, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, China Miéville, Fantasy, Fiction, Literature, London, Magic, Reviews, Un Lun Dun, YA, Young Adult

Ban en Banlieue

February 24, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Bhanu Kapil’s exploration of the absence of a novel she had planned to write – the spaces around the edges of story, the place where performance cannot be captured in text, the research and preparation for a story not told here… except also told in outline, a negative of a story. The Review: The wonderful thing about the Tournament of Books is that it puts literature in front of me that I might never otherwise encounter or experience. Having […]

Categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry • Tags: ban en banlieue, Bhanu Kapil, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, London, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Semi-Fiction, The Tournament of Books 2016, Writing

Broken Homes (Rivers of London #4)

January 8, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: It starts like any ordinary day on the job for Peter Grant, London cop and trainee wizard: a suspicious murder, a Tube accident, and a newly discovered grimoire. But when all signs point to a strange housing block to the South of the river, he must risk life and limb (again) just in case the Faceless Man has plans for him and for London… The Review: Ah, my annual next installment of Ben Aaronovitch’s terrific Peter Grant […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: Ben Aaronovitch, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Broken Homes, Fantasy, Fiction, London, Peter Grant, Reviews, Rivers of London, The Folly

Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3)

November 27, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Things have been going well, on the whole, for Cormoran Strike and his PI business. But when Robin Ellacott, his intrepid partner/secretary, receives a woman’s severed leg in the mail, he’s plunged into a case that won’t pay and might not even pay off – and the villain has it out, not just for Cormoran but for Robin too… The Review: Robert Galbraith’s alter-ego recently gave an interview in which she stated that Galbraith is her private playground – […]

Categories: Crime, Fiction • Tags: Blue Oyster Cult, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Career of Evil, Cormoran Strike, Crime, Fiction, J.K. Rowling, London, Music, Mystery, review, Reviews, Robert Galbraith, Robin Ellacott

Mrs. Dalloway

March 16, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: On a June day in the 1920s in London, Clarissa Dalloway is throwing a party. From the morning to the evening, we follow her and several others about London through what is an ordinary – and completely extraordinary – day. The Review: For the first time, I’ve re-read something that I’ve already reviewed on this blog. Mrs. Dalloway was one of the first books I read and reviewed here, way back in fall 2009. This gives me a […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Literature, London, Modernism, Mrs. Dalloway, Re-Reads, Reviews, The Ten Year Catch-Up, Virginia Woolf, Woolf 2015

A Darker Shade of Magic

March 13, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Across four versions of London – all of them sharing only the name and a river cutting through them – magic is real. In our Grey London, King George III has gone mad and magic is nearly gone. But in Red and White London, it thrives (albeit in different ways), and in Black London, it was so strong it wiped them out. Kell, one of the few of a dying breed of magicians who can travel between Londons, […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: A Darker Shade of Magic, Adventure, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, London, Magic, Reviews, V.E. Schwab, Victoria Schwab, Will Staehle

Whispers Underground (Rivers of London #3)

January 7, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: When a body turns up dead at Baker Street Station with some… weirdness about it, DC Grant and the team at the Folly are called in. And when the body turns out to be the son of a US Senator, the FBI shows up. All the while, the Faceless Man is out there – but there might be a whole lot more to London than even Nightingale knows… The Review: I have, if you haven’t noticed, a soft […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: Ben Aaronovitch, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, London, Magic, Mystery, Peter Grant, Reviews, Rivers of London, The Folly, Whispers Under Ground, Whispers Underground

Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

Tag: London