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Such Kindness: A Novel

June 13, 2023

kindness

I’ve been craving pace in my reading lately so am surprised to be here with an introspective novel spanning only a few days and very little action. Set in present-day Massachusetts, Such Kindness by Andre Dubus III is a tender, painful look at one man’s reckoning of an expansive life that once included marriage, a son, and owning his own business, but is now diminished to ... Read More...

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

The Guest: A Novel by Emma Cline

May 18, 2023

guest

Alex has spent her adult years learning from her mistakes, especially when it comes to men. More specifically, men with money, the only kind who interest her. She’s 22 and has been living in Manhattan for years working as an escort, trying to live out the Pretty Woman script, where a wildly wealthy man falls in love with her and all her dreams come true. Except, this is the ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, literary, vacation reading

Dances: A Novel by Nicole Cuffy

May 16, 2023

dances

CeCe Cordell is a 22-year-old ballerina who becomes the first Black principal dancer at the NYC Ballet. It should be a happy time for her, but in addition to pride and excitement CeCe feels lonely and unable to shake the feeling she’s an imposter. Her father left their family when she was little, she hasn’t seen her older brother in years, and her mother has never supported her ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut

You Are Here: A Novel

April 26, 2023

you are here

After a shockwave novel on Monday I was happy to shift back to easy reading so the straightforward premise of You Are Here seemed perfect. It’s the story of five people whose lives intersect in a rundown shopping center in Albany, New York. Debut author Karin Lin-Greenberg uses the mall’s impending closure as a tipping point for each as they reconcile where they are in their ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, vacation reading

The Trees by Percival Everett

April 24, 2023

trees

Percival Everett’s novel The Trees is a dark and darkly humorous look deep into the foul, blood-clogged engine of racism. Set in a small Mississippi town locked in the 1950s, the death of two good ole boys has left residents stunned. Not because they were particularly liked (they were not), but because the crimes are so gruesome, specifically the removal of certain body parts ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, literary, racism, satire, Southern life

Search: A Novel

April 20, 2023

search

I don’t read a lot of fiction with religion at its core, but Search by Michelle Huneven was recommended to me after a spate of heavy, challenging nonfiction. I knew nothing about the story, but was initially apprehensive about the premise of a woman joining the search committee for a new minister at her church. Thankfully, Huneven writes the realities of what happens when eight ... Read More...

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

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