Startlingly Original and Deeply Familiar

Mon 8 Oct 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

I slept through most of Saturday due to having a cold, yay! Would I have slept the day away if it wasn’t the weekend, who knows? I could be a good bot and go to work and ship stuff out and infect everyone. But the question was moot, so sleep it was. Phew.

Sunday brought a relief from the cold and — ignoring for a moment the stupidity of the fools in charge — something good to read: the New York Times, which included a fantastic review by Amal El-Mohtar of John Schoffstall’s debut novel Half-Witch. Although if I’m honest, as per usual I read the business section first (I recommend the interview with Eileen Fisher) and the review section — where you owe it to yourself and this world to read Emma Gonzalez’s advice.

Later I found the review of John’s novel and took this photo with flowers that had been sent to Kelly in the background:

Half-Witch cover“John Schoffstall’s Half-Witch is one of those books that are simultaneously so startlingly original and deeply familiar I can’t quite believe they’re debuts. . . . Half-Witch is a marvel of storytelling, balancing humor, terror and grace. Lizbet is so earnestly good, in a way that I think has fallen out of fashion but that I loved reading. She and Strix are a perfect double act, and the shape and texture of the friendship they build is a joy to discover. . . . This is a book of crossing and mixing, of mashing and counter-mashing, with surprise and wonder the result. The ending suggests a sequel, which I hope comes about; the book’s last act is full of revelations (as it were) about the especially strange nature of Lizbet’s world that I’m keen to see Schoffstall develop and explore. But Half-Witch is also fully satisfying in and of itself.”
— Amal El-Mohtar, New York Times Book Review