Author: Ben

April 24, 2023

Ben Reviews: One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

One of Us Is Lying is a predictable, trope-laden, YA, American high school crime drama. I absolutely loved it. To be fair, though, I’m a bit of a connoisseur of such things. Karen McManus relies on so many tropes and cliches that it is not an exaggeration to say that once I had read each character’s perspective for the first...

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April 12, 2023

Ben Reviews – Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

This ain’t your grand daddy’s Thrawn. This is a new Thrawn, for a new for a new generation. This is Thrawnlock Holmes. There’s even a Moriarty figure that he has to go up against! In all seriousness, I have had my ups and downs with the Star Wars franchise. Truth be told, I have always enjoyed the Star Wars books...

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April 8, 2023

Ben Reviews – City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

I get the impression that the average reader’s fondness for City of Bones by Cassandra Clare is based at least a little bit on when they came across it in their reading journey. If this was among the first Urban Fantasies that a reader ever came across, then I understand why it might hold a special place in their heart....

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January 30, 2023

Review: How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

I think Bella Mackie said it best. “Christ, I’m rambling again.” Mackie, Bella. How to Kill Your Family: A Novel (p. 327). The Overlook Press. Kindle Edition. How to Kill Your Family is not really a book about a young woman killing her family. How to Kill Your Family is a book about a young woman moving through classist British...

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January 3, 2023

Book Barbarian: Sketchy Mailing List or Hidden Indie Gem?

The year was 2019. Little did I know how the world was about to change over the next few months. I was going to start a podcast! A few months after that it was 2020 and COVID destroyed all of our lives. At this stage of Words About Books’ development we were still trying to figure out exactly what our...

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December 19, 2022

Should You Read: The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey

Short answer: No. Long answer: What is Satanism? Anton LaVey founded The Church of Satan on Walpurgisnacht (which we all know is April 30th) 1966. Perhaps the most important thing to note right off the bat is that The Church of Satan does not worship a literal Satan. LaVeyan Satanists are essentially theatrical atheists who have adopted demonic imagery from...

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November 19, 2022

Review: The Faraway Paladin Volume 1

I’m new to the world of Light Novels. I imagine that most people looking at a review of The Faraway Paladin will know what a light novel is, but for the elderly people who follow me, I’ll define it real quickly. Light novels are a Japanese phenomenon that has caught on in other parts of Asia and is starting to...

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October 13, 2022

Should You Read: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I’ve been aware of Jennette McCurdy since her appearance on a Nickelodeon children’s show called iCarly. I was a freshman in college when iCarly first aired, but I have a sister who is 10-years younger than me. Through her, I came to see a few episodes of iCarly and Victorious. For kids’ shows, I thought they were pretty good. I...

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October 10, 2022

Honest Thoughts: The Haunting of Hill House

Recently on the podcast we covered Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House.” We also covered the Netflix series of the same name that was inspired by (not an adaptation of) the book. I wanted to talk a little more about my feelings on the book for a few reasons. The first reason is that the podcast is lighter in...

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September 16, 2022

November Book Club Choices

Over on Patreon we are asking our members to choose our November book club pick from the following: Memories of My Melancholy Whores by  Gabriel García Márquez “On the eve of his ninetieth birthday a bachelor decides to give himself a wild night of love with a virgin. As is his habit–he has purchased hundreds of women–he asks a madam...

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