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Upgrade: A Novel by Blake Crouch

August 24, 2022

upgrade

As summer winds down, it’s time for one last hurrah of propulsive, can’t-put-down, vacation reading. For me, it was Upgrade by Blake Crouch. In the novel, Agent Logan Ramsey shares his troublesome past and the present that’s shattered his life as he knew it. It’s an unspecified time in the future and he’s on the run trying to find and stop the person who believes their idea of ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, science fiction, thriller, vacation reading

Nightcrawling: A Novel

August 22, 2022

nightcrawling

At a time when most teenage girls are busy with dating, hanging out with friends, and choosing colleges, 17-year-old Kiara is facing a rent increase that is likely to render her homeless. She lives in a rundown East Oakland apartment with her older brother Marcus. Their father is dead and their mother is in prison. This is the world explored in Leila Mottley’s gritty debut ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, social issues, teen years

The Year of the Horses: A Memoir

August 17, 2022

horses

Courtney Maum’s memoir opens with a scene of a young daughter refusing her mother’s help to put on her socks despite the fact that they’re going to be late for an appointment. Maum is the mother and her frustration, veering into internal rage and the immediate weight of guilt, is so well-written my jaw clenched reading it and I don’t even have children. The book is called The ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, marriage, memoir, motherhood, women, writers' lives

Joan: A Novel by Katherine J. Chen

August 15, 2022

joan

Fresh week and time to really start sharing my summer reading. I’m coming in hot with a 5-star novel that is on track to be a favorite of the year. It’s Joan by Katherine Chen. The novel is about Joan of Arc, but is cast from the same mold as renderings of great men from historical times with few written records. Embellishing? Maybe, only this time, I’m here for it. What is ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 15th century, France, historical fiction

This Time Tomorrow

June 9, 2022

tomorrow

I’ve had mixed success with time travel novels this summer (I’m looking at you, One Italian Summer) so I was a bit hesitant to pick up This Time Tomorrow. What swayed me is that it’s by Emma Straub, whose last novel All Adults Here was a favorite of mine. Thankfully, while I may not have loved everything about this father-daughter novel I did appreciate the relationship and how ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, family, science fiction

Marrying the Ketchups

June 3, 2022

marrying

After my frank opinions in the May recap let’s start June off with some breezy family drama, shall we? Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close is the story of the Sullivans, a restaurant-owning family in Chicago’s Oak Park neighborhood. The novel is cemented in place at the volatile end of 2016, when the Cubs win their first World Series in 100 years and America’s political ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, family, Midwest

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