April 2016 - Donnie J Burgess dot com

After reading the heady The Rules of Dreaming, I was looking for something a bit lighter to cleanse my palette. I found that book in Perfect Sex by Robin Storey, which I rated five stars on Reader’s Favorite.

While I’m sure this book was written for a very female market, I was intrigued enough by the cover blurb to give it a go and I’m very glad I did. Storey has a way with words and worked some of the best one-liners and turns of phrase I’ve ever seen into this book. My favorite single line is this one from early on: ‘If that profile puts me on a level playing field, then I’m lying at the goalpost with my legs open yelling, “come on fellas, score a goal!”’

Here is my official review Continue reading Perfect Sex→

The Rules of Dreaming is a very unique book. It has one of the most complex stories I have read in years, with equally important narratives from half a dozen primary characters. The amount of action and introspection from the primary characters makes keeping track of everything a bit laborious, but well worth the effort. The esoteric nature of arguing the merits of different schools of psychology and complex literary theory make for a recondite mental workout — If you’re looking for a light cozy mystery, this isn’t it.

Much of the story revolves around the interpretation of Jacques Offenbach’s opera The Tales of Hoffman (the 1951 version of which can be found online from a variety of movie archives if you’re interested). I can’t claim familiarity with the story, but the frequent references to the opera’s history almost make me want to watch it. Almost. Continue reading The Rules of Dreaming→