Category Archives: Home

January Blues

Posted on January 29, 2024 by jfkaufmann

I don’t like January, that time after holidays when life tries to get back to a normal routine but somehow fails. At work, this is the beginning of a new fiscal year; in other words, work soars up after the … Continue reading →

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2023 in books: “Meh.”

Posted on December 18, 2023 by jfkaufmann

This parting year was a bland reading experience. I couldn’t pick out more than a few books that made a lasting impression on me. I re-read a lot, though, which gave me some balance. I kicked off my 2023 reading … Continue reading →

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Who Is Your Dostoevsky?

Posted on November 26, 2023 by jfkaufmann

What do you not like that most people seem to like? I stumbled upon a YouTube clip in which someone asked Emma Thompson this question and stayed long enough to hear her answer – cupcakes. For me, when we talk … Continue reading →

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Secret Sorrows and a Few Joys of Linguistic Duality

Posted on November 12, 2023 by jfkaufmann

To exist in two languages, in my case my native tongue and English, implies having two identities. Learning a foreign language as an adult is a tough mission. Even describing the process of learning a foreign language is not easy. … Continue reading →

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Go Tell Diana that I’m gone

Posted on October 28, 2023 by jfkaufmann

Last month I had the pleasure and privilege to read JP McLean’s newest novel, still in manuscripts, Scorch Marks. My job was simple – to read it and catch small errors and inconsistencies before the book goes to a proofreader. … Continue reading →

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The Enchanting World of Comic Books

Posted on February 14, 2023 by jfkaufmann

When I was a teenager and later as a young woman, I loved reading comic books. There was a special time and place for it–summer holidays in my home city, where my “other family” lived: my father and stepmother, my … Continue reading →

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The Dubious Art of Book Reviewing

Posted on January 26, 2023 by jfkaufmann

I don’t write reviews often; it takes time and effort to come up with a meaningful retrospection. When I do write them, I have different rules for different types of books, and this customized approach is most apparent within two … Continue reading →

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Christmas Review No. 4: Ghost Mark by JP McLean

Posted on December 18, 2022 by jfkaufmann

I’ll conclude this miniseries of minireviews with one of my favourite authors of urban fantasy/supernatural fiction, JP McLean. I’ve been following her for years. I reviewed all of her books and it’s never been a difficult task: you only need … Continue reading →

Posted in A closer look, Home, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Free on Smashwords

Posted on December 16, 2022 by jfkaufmann

Just a quick announcement that I will Be Waiting for You… is free on Smashwords until January 1st. Here is Chapter 1, so if you like it, go ahead and download the full book. Also, my last Christmas review is … Continue reading →

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Review No. 3: Dog Meat by Priscilla Bettis

Posted on December 15, 2022 by jfkaufmann

Priscilla Bettis’s novella is a fascinating journey into the blackness of totalitarian regime—a literary sublimation and a paradigm that we have seen before, from Romania between 1945 and 1989 and Stalin’s gulags to the crazy, murderous dictatorship of Pol Pot … Continue reading →

Posted in A closer look, Home, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments