Book Review: Henry and June

NOTE TO READERS: Not only is it very long, but this review has adult content and language. The language used below is in the context of the work; Nin is totally frank and not delicate with her choice of words. If you’re not a grown-up, please click here to go over to Reddit and read about unicorns.

TL;DR: Henry and June is the journal of a passionate, often overwrought married woman who tells of overcoming inhibitions and freeing her inner self simultaneously through psychoanalysis, multiple sexual and/or emotional affairs (including with the psychoanalyst) and the pursuit of an intense romance with another writer who, at the end, re-unites with this wife.

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Whisky and Words Number 17: Lagavulin 16

Lagavulin 16 in a window darkly.
Lagavulin 16 in a window darkly.

The first expression in our peaty Island series is an old gentleman, Lagavulin. I’m starting here because I think ‘Laga’ is a damned fine whisky and, though a bit pricey, represents a benchmark for quality and complexity. It’s well-finished and very smooth despite the smokiness of the peat. They achieve smoothness and a full flavor without using sherry casks, and here is where the extra years in the barrel make a difference: most of its competitors (Islay whiskies) use a 10-year-old as their main expression. The extra six years Lagavulin spends in cask mellows the smokiness and allows lovely aromas to work in from the wood. You pay for that aging of course, this is about $90 a bottle in my area.

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Whisky and Words: Island Malts

The blog has covered a number of blends, and also eleven unpeated, mostly sherry-finished single-malts (see sidebar for the list and links). They all share similar influences in their flavoring.

It’s the water, and a lot more

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:_User:Stephan_Schulz
Jameson still, Cork (Photo: Stephan Schulz)

Some of those malts, Bunnahabhain* and Glenfarclas, for example, are notable for the taste of what the French would call terroir. Peat bogs, soil and rocks through which their water sources run flavor that water. In addition to the water, the spirit’s flavor is heavily influenced by the ingredients (mostly barley malt) and how they are treated at each step. In the preparation of what will become new make spirit, there is much attention to manipulating temperatures at each stage. The temperature of the wort is chosen to enhance the activities of enzymes converting sugars and later, to encourage fermentation. Variation in stages and their temperatures can affect flavor. One also reads of claims that the shape and composition of tuns, stills and washbacks will influence the flavor of the new-make spirit. Once distilled, the spirit meets the cask, where interaction with the oak (and its preparation, be it lightly toasted or charred) will have the second largest effect on flavor.

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Book review: Weakest Lynx

Fiona Quinn mixes authentic, nuts & bolts thriller with paranormal and romance.
Fiona Quinn mixes authentic, nuts & bolts thriller with paranormal and romance.

I need to preface this review with a level set on the target demographic, which in this case, is the female reader who is comfortable with her feminine character being a hard-charging hero who still capable of nurturing and love. Because that’s Lexi.

This is definitely a genre-crosser: dominantly thriller (cloak and dagger escapade and tension) with a strong female lead, with a generous dollop of paranormal and a healthy thread of romance. I was getting the latter part as soon as the romantic entanglement was introduced and the MC (first-person) started describing that guy. Definitely ‘female gaze’ oriented. Which is fine — I have read a few full-strength romance novels to get an idea what the Romance genre is about (those sell, so are worth studying!) and in this case, the romantic angle is worked in very delicately. But not my first pick in a theme for my books.

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Book review: In Midnight’s Silence

In Midnight's Silence -- Frohock delivers her characteristic moody vision
In Midnight’s Silence — Frohock delivers her characteristic moody vision

This first-of-three novella dives straight into the deep end, immersing the reader in a different time for Earth (pre-WWII Spain) and a different (paranormal) social structure, with politics, power grabs, and factions which use heavy-handed, even brutal tactics against even their own allies. Frohock gets the majority of this scene-setting done in the first two chapters, which is remarkable, as by this time the plot is in full swing, the MC is under pressure to rescue his lover and at the same time, frustrated by his own history tripping him up both directly (in the form of a secret which now must be revealed) and and indirectly (via another person who will be dear to him and presumably traded off the other).

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