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The Queen of Dirt Island

March 8, 2023

queen

The week Saoirse Aylward is born her father is killed in an accident, leaving her mother, Eileen alone to raise her. Their lives in a small village in western Ireland are at the heart of Donal Ryan’s boisterous, tender novel The Queen of Dirt Island. Although the novel stays within the village’s borders it’s an expansive story encompassing four generations of Irish women with ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, humor, Ireland, literary

This Other Eden

February 21, 2023

other eden

In 1911 there was a small island off the coast of Maine comprised of a group of families who were the descendants of the island’s original 1792 settlers—an escaped slave, his Irish wife, and later, other refugees from society. The island is still there, but its inhabitants are long gone. Paul Harding’s novel, This Other Eden, is the elegiac recounting of their history, lives, ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical fiction, literary

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

February 7, 2023

stone

How wonderful to start the week with a book I loved so much I’m ready to read it again. Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes is her latest foray into the retelling of famous Greek myths from a female perspective. In this case it is the fearsome Medusa, known as one of the most terrifying monsters in the ancient Greek world. One look from her turned any living object into stone. In the ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, literary, mythology, retellings

Ghost Season by Fatin Abbas

January 18, 2023

ghost season

Ghost Season by Fatin Abbas opens with a charred corpse being found near a humanitarian aid compound that sits in a remote village on the border between north and South Sudan. The body’s discovery is the grim reminder that violent clashes between the government and rebels are increasing. This is the first in a series of events that upsets the fragile balance between the ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: cultural, debut, literary, Middle East

Indian Horse: A Novel

December 20, 2022

indian horse

I love discovering new writers, the voices of people with stories I’ve never imagined. In the past two years I’ve been fortunate to read more from Native American authors like Tommy Orange and Oscar Hokeah, with their singular style. I can now add Richard Wagamese to this list. A Canadian writer and member of the Ojibway tribe, his novel, Indian Horse is a stunning portrayal of ... Read More...

7 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, literary, Native Americans, racism, sports

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

December 13, 2022

tomorrow

Gaming has never been my thing, aside from a brief flirtation with Centipede when I was working alone as a bartender and could play for free during the slow hours. For this reason, I had no interest in reading, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, a novel about two gamers. The premise of nerdy guy meets nerdy girl and they create video games left me cold. Yes, ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, friendship, literary

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