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The Chosen and the Beautiful

December 17, 2021

chosen

Wouldn’t you know it—as soon as I post my overlooked books of 2021 another slips in under the wire. I finished The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo Wednesday morning after my post went live. This marvelous novel is a retelling of The Great Gatsby but from the perspective of Jordan Baker, seen in the original story mostly as Daisy Buchanan’s sidekick. Now, she is Asian and ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1920s, debut, historical fiction, literary

2021 Underrated Gems

December 15, 2021

underrated

Every year I read books I loved, but that seemed to go under-the-radar for most people. Yes, reading is a very personal endeavor and what is 5 stars for me may not be 5 stars for you, but I’ve got 7 underrated gems I read this year that I’m almost evangelical about—I loved them that much. So, I’m spreading that love in the hopes that you might discover your next great read ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: book clubs, coming-of-age, favorite books, literary, marriage

Shiner: A Novel by Amy Jo Burns

December 6, 2021

shiner

Stories of contemporary Southern mountain men abound (Bull Mountain, The Line That Held Us), but examples of women are a bit harder to come by. The fact Amy Jo Burns brings three such women to life in her novel, Shiner, is just one outstanding element of many in this lush debut. Raised in isolation in the West Virginia mountains, Wren doesn’t know much of the outside world. ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, literary, Southern life

November Reading Wrap-Up

December 2, 2021

november

Goodbye, November, hello, December! Did anyone else find November to be a rather placid month? It went a bit faster, but as I age I always think that. I just can’t remember anything extra good or bad that happened—which is great, right? My reading felt the same way as I bounced between thrillers and literary fiction. A lot of enjoyable reading, but very little that wowed ... Read More...

11 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: memoir, mini-reviews

The Island of Missing Trees

November 30, 2021

island

Cyprus is a country literally divided, right down to its capital. In 1960 when the British finally left they repeated their practice of leaving a political vacuum by not resolving issues between existing groups to ensure a peaceful transition. As a result, the island’s population, mixed between a Greek majority and a Turkish minority, lived with simmering resentments until the ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, historical fiction, literary

Not All Diamonds and Rosé

November 26, 2021

diamonds

  Am I proud that I watch The Real Housewives series? No, but I console myself by the amount of high quality reading I do so there’s that. Now that I got that out of the way, let’s get on to the god stuff:  Not All Diamonds and Rosé is an oral history of the Real Housewives franchise. For some of you, just reading that is enough to make your eyes bleed (at least that’s ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: history, pop culture, vacation reading

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