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The Divines: A Novel

January 22, 2021

divines

Every year there it seems a different theme emerges in fiction. Last year it was twins (The Grammarians, The Vanishing Half, Thin Girls), but this year, although it’s only January, I have three novels in my winter reading that are about girls’ boarding schools. What is it about that subject that entices those of us who were no more likely to attend one than go into outer space? ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, coming-of-age, debut, literary

The House in the Cerulean Sea

January 11, 2021

cerulean

Often when it’s time to begin a book review I try and draw from the facts—plot, place, biographical details. Because I read so much (and don’t have the discipline I should) specifics tend to blur by the time I sit down to write so in starting there I bring the book back to me. All of that is moot when it comes to novels like The House in the Cerulean Sea. I can sum up the book ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, children, fantasy, young adult

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

December 18, 2020

midnight

Nora Seed is a very unhappy woman. At 35 she feels her life is mainly filled with regrets, that the future holds no hope, and that she contributes nothing to the world. When her beloved cat dies, it’s the last straw. She decides to kill herself with a drug overdose. What happens next is best explained by the book itself: “Between life and death there is a library”, she ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, fantasy

The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West

December 7, 2020

witches

  So fine, if you insist. This is a witch hunt. We’re the witches, and we’re hunting you. November and December are my months of backlist reading—the time of year when I abandon ferreting out great new reads from publishers and instead read based on my mood or other people’s recommendations. By-and-large the 2020 iteration has meant nonfiction and fiction about crime ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, essays, social issues, women

The Unraveling of Mercy Louis

November 23, 2020

mercy

Take high school sports, an oil refinery explosion, a grandmother ready for the Rapture, and layer in a fetus found in a dumpster and a Purity Ball and you have the world that is The Unraveling of Mercy Louis. Ostensibly, the novel is about Mercy, a high school senior who is one of the best basketball players in the state of Texas, but the events listed create a vortex of ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, coming-of-age, friendship, literary

More Than A Woman by Caitlin Moran

October 26, 2020

more than

  I’ve loved all of Caitlin Moran’s fiction (How to Build a Girl, How to Be Famous) but had never read any of her nonfiction, so was interested to see she has a new book out. More Than a Woman is her follow-up to How to Be a Woman, which she wrote when she was in her 30s. A time when she was sure she had life all figured out. A decade later and she’s back, sharing her ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: contemporary life, essays, humor, women

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