A Well-Read Tart

A Food and Book Lover’s Blog

Cursed Bread: Podcast Episode 4 on Dark Side of the Word

Hello, Tartlets and Darksiders! A new podcast episode is up on Dark Side of the Word. Join me and Kait as we discuss Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh. The story is set around one woman in the midst of the (real life) 1951 unsolved mass poisoning of a French village. When we picked up the book, we thought we were in for dark historical fiction with some occult-y vibes -- but, boy, were we wrong. SO WRONG.   Listen as we try our best to piece...

My Triumphant Return to Blogging: a.k.a, Where I’ve Been

Hey there, Tartlets. So, yeah... I've been away a little longer than I anticipated. I was halfway through my traditional January blogging break when I realized.... I needed a longer break.    I won't bore you with the details of the last, oh, five months. All you really need to know is that I was away for three main reasons:    1) I was writing a novel, and it demanded my full attention 2) I'm recovering from spinal fusion surgery 3) I was...

Book Review of ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE

A friend with whom I regularly chat about books warned me against reading Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. We have similar reading tastes -- she's the one who introduced me to Things You Save In A Fire -- and she said she couldn't get into the book, despite all the positive hype around it. As a result, I delved into Eleanor Oliphant with a slightly closed mind and a heavy bout of skepticism. And, to be honest, I wasn’t greatly intrigued...

Book Review of THE EXILES

It's not often I yell out "Holy Crap!" while reading historical fiction. But that's exactly what I did smack in the middle of The Exiles. Let's just say the story took a very unexpected turn. Bravo, Christina Baker Kline, for such a bold move. I continually seek out historical fiction novels that doesn't revolve around WW2, and when I saw the ad for The Exiles  -- a story about English female convicts and an Aboriginal girl set in 1840s...