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Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography

November 10, 2021

bourdain

Suicide is always shocking to those left behind, but when it’s someone famous, someone with what looks to be a “dream” life, it feels even more inexplicable. This was the case June 2018 when Anthony Bourdain killed himself. Bourdain was a chef turned television personality who created the iconic No Reservations and Parts Unknown series. He traveled globally in search of great ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: biography, contemporary life, food

October Reading Wrap-Up

November 1, 2021

October

  My October reading was as mercurial as the month itself. Here in Michigan we had high humidity, heat, and mosquitos right up until last week, meaning I was cranky and battling hair frizz that made me look like the bride of Frankenstein. Now, I’m bundled up in fleece and socks. In the same way that the weather was unpredictable my reading ping ponged between wonderful ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: literary, mini-reviews, mystery, thriller, Vietnam War

The Comfort of Monsters

August 11, 2021

comfort

Milwaukee in the summer of 1991 was focused on one thing only—the arrest and investigation of Jeffrey Dahmer. The scope of his crimes dominated not only the local news but national as well. For Peg and her family, it meant the disappearance of her younger sister got no media attention and only limited help from the police. The Comfort of Monsters moves between that hard, heavy ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, literary, mystery

God Spare the Girls

June 23, 2021

god spare

What do you do when your entire family is perfect, but you’re 18 and confused? For Caroline Nolan, in God Spare the Girls, it’s an especially complicated question because her father is Luke Nolan, pastor of a megachurch in Texas. Her mother Ruthie is the perfect matriarch, calm and always perfectly coiffed. Worst of all, is her older sister Abigail, her father’s favorite for ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, family, religion

May Reading Recap

May 31, 2021

May

  I’ve only experienced one Michigan spring, but this May felt very different. We’ve had almost no rain and the temperatures jumped from the 50s to the 80s in days. Ugh. Except, as I write this, the heat is on again (after a/c for two weeks), I’m wearing a sweater and it’s pouring. Go figure. As far as reading goes, I was on a tear this month. Lots and lots of books, ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: contemporary life, friendship, mini-reviews, mystery, women

Sorrow and Bliss: A Novel

May 5, 2021

sorrow

Sorrow and Bliss opens after Martha and her husband Patrick have returned from a party he threw for her 40th birthday. It did not go well and two days later Patrick says he’s leaving. It’s both an ending and a beginning for Martha as she grapples with what to do next in a life that often feels like too much to bear. When she’s 17 Martha is suddenly under such physical, ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, mental health, relationships

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