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Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

June 5, 2019

searching

All her life Amy has looked up to her older sister Sylvie. She is the opposite of how Amy sees herself—pretty, intelligent, with a handsome husband, and fabulous job. She glows with success while Amy feels like lead—an inert, grey blob who still lives with her parents and has yet to make up her mind about what to do with her life. Add to this that Sylvie lived with their ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: mystery, William Morrow

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

June 3, 2019

city

Anyway, at some point in a woman's life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time. After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is. If you read Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic, you know she offers an unusual perspective on the creative process. Namely, that, beyond the discipline of writing every day there is a spiritual component—as in characters or ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical fiction, New York City, Riverhead Books, women

The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont

May 30, 2019

chateau

Everyone knows I’m not a big fan of non-fiction. It’s not that I think it’s all bad—I know it’s no different than fiction with lots of great stuff out there. It’s just that reading it makes me drowsy. I can’t get more than 10 pages in most non-fiction without wanting a nap. So, it’s got to have a big hook for me to bite and The Castle on Sunset does. It’s Shawn Levy’s history ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: Doubleday, history, Hollywood, pop culture

The River by Peter Heller

May 27, 2019

river

Books written by men and about men? No thanks. All about canoeing and camping? Hard pass. Set entirely in the wilderness? Nope. Peter Heller’s new novel, The River? 5 stars. Yes, you read that right. Nothing about this novel’s description appealed to me, but when my friend Susie recommended it I knew I had to let go of my prejudices and give it a go. 24 hours later I finished ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: friendship, Knopf, literary

Vessel: A Novel by Lisa Nichols

May 24, 2019

vessel

When Catherine Wells returns to Earth after 6 years of being presumed dead in space, it’s a big deal. And a great premise for a sci-fi novel, especially because she returns alone, without her five team members, AND she has no memory at all of what happened. She is the captain of a space vessel that not only went past Earth’s solar system, but landed on a planet beyond any we ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Atria Books, debut, science fiction

Fruit of the Drunken Tree

May 22, 2019

fruit

Petrona used to live on a farm in Colombia, with her nine brothers and her sister. Then the paramilitary showed up, burned down their house and their fields, and took her father and her three oldest brothers. Now, she, her mother, three of her brothers and her sister live in shack in the slums of Bogotá. At 13 she is sent to work as a maid for the Santiagos, a wealthy family in ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, debut, South America

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