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The Guest Room

January 6, 2016

guest room

  Chris Bohjalian always manages to tell a great story and in a way that encompasses its truth, but in The Guest Room he delves into the kind of subjects that make us squeamish—the underbelly of our society, a place most of us never hear about. Richard Chamberlain is a happily married investment banker who agrees to host his younger brother’s bachelor party at his home in ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, Doubleday, social issues

Dryland: A Novel

November 13, 2015

dryland

  Julie Winter is a sophomore in high school and if navigating those waters is not enough, there are the perceptions of her by people at her school. Her brother Jordan was a swimmer of Olympic caliber and so everyone who meets her thinks she must be a potential swimming superstar. When she is asked to join the swim team, she does, but Julie is not Jordan. That Jordan now ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, literary, Tin House, young adult

The Improbability of Love

November 2, 2015

improbability

  When Annie buys a painting at a junk shop in London she has no idea what she’s getting herself into. It’s supposed to be a gift for a new boyfriend but when he’s a no-show she keeps it. The now ex-boyfriend is only one more disappointment in a life that seems to be stalled, in Hannah Rothschild’s new novel, The Improbability of Love. At 31 Annie has a temporary job ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: art, debut, Knopf, literary

City on Fire

October 21, 2015

city on fire

  If you follow the publishing world then you know that Garth Hallberg was paid 2 million dollars for his debut novel, City on Fire, a story of NYC, wrapped around a wealthy family, an attempted murder, and the blackout of 1977. The Hamilton-Sweeneys are the family, and are as dysfunctional as one would expect in a work of literary fiction. There are secrets, bad ... Read More...

11 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, historical fiction, Knopf, literary, Manhattan

A Window Opens

September 30, 2015

a window opens

  It seems that I stumbled into a payload of modern American life fiction. Two weeks ago I reviewed Days of Awe and now I’m back with A Window Opens by Elisabeth Egan, a female centric novel that may seem as if it is weighted with an overload of heavy events but it’s not. What it is is real, messy, complicated, and confusing with new jobs, shifting marital ... Read More...

11 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, contemporary fiction, debut, Simon & Schuster

Did You Ever Have a Family

September 21, 2015

did you ever have a family

  If you take a major event and separate out all the people involved in that event—whether responsible for it or impacted by it, you get wildly divergent impressions about what actually happened. This is what author Bill Clegg does so soulfully in his debut novel, Did You Ever Have a Family. June’s daughter Lolly, her daughter’s fiancé, June’s ex-husband, and her ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary fiction, debut, family, literary, Scout Press

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