A teenage girl who lives on the beach amidst a colony of seals. Her older brother who plays the violin, loves whales, but has a temper so ferocious he boxes to exhaustion on a punching bag. Her younger brother knows more about the Earth’s plants and biodiversity than most scientists. These are the children of Dominic Salt, the caretaker on Shearwater Island, a remote isle near ... Read More...
The Heart of Winter
When Abe and Ruth meet on a blind date while students at the University of Washington it’s not love at first sight. In fact, it’s not even like. Ruth finds Abe to be stodgy, full of himself, and boring. He, on the other hand, is captivated by her vivacious personality and her varied interests, even if her ideas about the future seem flaky. From this inauspicious beginning, The ... Read More...
February Reading Wrap-Up
Hello, lovely readers! February was an erratic month—probably the new normal, both for my reading and life in America. For the reading, I’m still finding focus to be a problem, but when I have been able to home in on the page I’ve been rewarded by some lovely character study novels. The larger issue is, as it’s been for a while now, my ability to write about the books I’ve ... Read More...
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus
Monday I shared a literary novel I loved and now I’m back with another. The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is the witty, contemporary story of two friends and their freshman year at the University of Edinburgh. Alice and Penelope both have their reasons for wanting to leave Canada and go to this particular school. Alice’s is practical in that she hopes it will be the gateway ... Read More...
This is a Love Story
For someone who’s been leery about literary fiction for the past six months I have two novels this week that epitomize the genre and what I love about it. With Central Park as the backdrop, This is a Love Story unfolds in alternating chapters from the novel’s three main characters: Abe, Jane and Max. Abe and Jane are creatives—he’s a writer and she’s an artist and they ... Read More...
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
A novel that includes the Egyptian wing of the Metropolitan Museum, Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, and ancient Egypt is not one I’m likely to miss out on. Fiona Davis’s The Stolen Queen follows two women and two timelines right up until they intersect on the night of the Met Gala in 1978 when a priceless Egyptian heirloom is stolen. Charlotte Cross is a young woman who refuses ... Read More...
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