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Untamed by Glennon Doyle

March 23, 2020

untamed

Several weeks ago, I enthused about a novel that I thought was outstanding even though it was DARK (The Road, which I would not recommend reading anytime soon). Now I’m back to balance the scales by going full-on evangelical about a book so bright it glows. Untamed is Glennon Doyle’s journey, extracted and distilled into a nourishing and energizing blend of inspiration, wisdom, ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, inspiration, memoir, social issues, women

My Dark Vanessa

March 18, 2020

five best

Fiction has always been known for expanding on fact so it’s not surprising that the fiction of the last four years, with all the political and social upheaval, has gotten more and more outsized. Author Kate Russell joins the fray with, My Dark Vanessa, her debut novel about a young woman who has an ongoing relationship with a man that began when she was 15 and he was 42. Not ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, literary

The Mountains Sing

March 16, 2020

mountains

If our stories survive, we will not die, even when our bodies are no longer here on this earth. Hương and her grandmother live alone in Hanoi until they are told to evacuate and move to a remote mountain village for their safety. It’s the 1970s and the midst of the Vietnam War. Hương’s parents and her six aunts and uncles are fighting for North Vietnam. Her grandmother ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Algonquin Books, cultural, historical fiction, Vietnam, Vietnam War

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

March 2, 2020

road

You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget. A man and his young son are walking on a desolate road surrounded by burnt trees and ashes. In the distance fires still burn. They are headed…where? To safety would seem to be the answer, but in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road there is no safe place. The world as we know it has gone up in flames. ... Read More...

14 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, dystopia, horror, literary, Pulitzer Prize, science fiction

A Different Viewpoint: Amnesty

February 26, 2020

amnesty

Last week I reviewed a light, bright novel set in 1950s Sydney, Australia. Today I’m back with another novel set in Sydney, but in recent times and with a much darker tone. Amnesty by Aravind Adiga is about Danny, an illegal immigrant from Sri Lanka. His visa expired three years ago when he dropped out from a for-profit college. He’s been living in the shadows as a cash-only ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, cultural, literary, Scribner, social issues

The Women in Black

February 19, 2020

women in black

Somehow February has become a dreary month, both for my reading…and well, everything. Bad news and toxicity all around. We’ve been fortunate not to get much snow here in Ann Arbor, but where we live there’s nothing but brown and gray for miles, with a sullen sky overhead. I’m grateful we’ve had very little snow and only a few days with temperatures in the teens, but these ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, historical fiction, Scribner

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