You Should Read
More than just a book review, my book blog offers notes and context, as well as close reading and creative writing possibilities. If you’re looking for a summary and spoilers, look elsewhere.
But if you want to learn how to be an attentive reader and how to a use a mentor text to improve your own writing, check out my You Should Read posts!
You Should Read THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE by Rachel Beanland
Rachel Beanland’s characters fully inhabit their specific historical moment. Rather than using Trivial Pursuit-style historical facts and tidbits to drive their actions, Beanland allows their own personal desires to motivate them. The setting, rather than being a plot device, becomes what it should be: a backdrop.
You Should Read MEXICAN GOTHIC
But don’t worry: If you can’t recreate the atmosphere of High Place, the deteriorating mansion lording over a Mexican mountain town, you will still enjoy Mexican Gothic.