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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

December 4, 2017

boy

  Bruno is nine years old and lives with his parents and his annoying sister in Berlin. His father is a very important man in the German army and after his boss, the Fury comes to visit, Bruno and his family have to leave Berlin and move to a new home. Bruno is understandably upset—their home is a marvel of hidden rooms, places to hide and an amazing bannister for sliding ... Read More...

11 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: childhood, historical fiction, literary, Nazis, WWII, young adult

We Were the Lucky Ones

November 20, 2017

lucky

According to Polish law, a person of Jewish heritage belongs not to Poland but to a Jewish nation. Just when I think I have read as much fiction about the Holocaust as I need to, when I’m sure there can’t be another permutation of the horror and struggle for survival, I’m proven wrong. This time it was the gentle nudging of my blogging friend, Sarah at Sarah’s Book Shelves, ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, family saga, Nazis, Viking, WWII

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

November 13, 2017

beartown

“You can’t live in this town, you can only survive it.” There’s only one thing you need to know about Beartown: hockey. Its people live, eat, and breathe by the laws of hockey. Beyond that there isn’t much to it—only a few steady jobs, no tourists, and surrounded by forest in a part of Sweden where the frigid air of winter only takes a break for a month or two in the summer. ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Atria Books, coming-of-age, family, social issues, sports

The Heart’s Invisible Furies

November 7, 2017

heart

  Cyril Avery’s birth was not a propitious one. He came into the world onto the floor of a tiny apartment, next to the unconscious body of his mother’s roommate, with the roommate’s lover lying dead on the stairs below. It was Ireland in 1945 and the roommate and the lover were also teens, but they were men and as such had been hunted down by one’s father. From this ... Read More...

16 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, childhood, coming-of-age, Hogarth, Ireland, literary, social issues

Paris in the Present Tense

October 23, 2017

paris

  Despite seeing his parents murdered by Nazis in a city outside of Paris when he was four, Jules Lacour has remained a loyal Frenchman his entire life. A classical musician, now in his 70s, he lives quietly, teaching at the Sorbonne and spending time with his daughter and her young son, who has leukemia. In short order startling events turn the quiet into chaos and he ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: literary, Paris, suspense, The Overlook Press

My Absolute Darling

October 11, 2017

absolute

  What do you need to know about Turtle Alveston beyond her weird name? Well, she knows her way around almost every firearm there is and she eats raw eggs for breakfast. She is fourteen, but while she goes to school she doesn’t talk and is about to be held back from high school. She lives with her father in the woods of Mendocino. These simple facts might sound like ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, contemporary life, debut, literary, Riverhead Books

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