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The English Wife by Lauren Willig

January 17, 2018

english

At a time when much of my reading seems centered on dystopia, trauma, or pathos it’s welcome to read a novel that is simply enjoyable. No hard thinking or difficult emotions to process, just a well-constructed story that you can settle into. It isn’t as easy as it sounds because often this kind of book can be badly written or just written without enough thought and so has gaps ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: historical fiction, mystery, St. Martin's Press

October Reading Wrap-Up

November 1, 2017

October

Goodbye, October! This was another one of those months where, when I looked up it was the 20th and I had no idea where the days went. Is that an age thing? Because I never used to notice it so much. Anyway, I didn’t read as many books in October, for two reasons. One, I’m continuing to pay less attention to new releases (which is kind of working, in part because I’m only ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: 19th century, England, historical fiction, lists, mini-reviews, Southern life

September Reading Wrap-Up

October 2, 2017

september

Goodbye summer! What an odd one it was—mostly chilly, but dry with only three days got that anywhere near hot. The worst of it was in with the fires in the Columbia Gorge when, even though we live up in Seattle, we had ash settling on our deck, trapping the heat and smoke for almost a week of hot, sticky, smelly weather. My reading was odd as well—four DNFs in June and mostly ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature, Fiction Tagged: ecco, family, historical fiction, mini-reviews, Riverhead Books, Scribner, social issues, St. Martin's Press

Emma in the Night

August 18, 2017

emma

  Apparently, I’ve moved from dystopian novels this summer to thrillers. On Monday I reviewed See What I Have Done a novel about Lizzie Borden, which I found fascinating more for its bizarre family dynamics than the actual murders. Now I’m back with Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker, a contemporary novel with a family that makes the Bordens look like the Brady Bunch. ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, family, mystery, psychology, St. Martin's Press

Goodbye, Vitamin: A Novel

July 10, 2017

goodbye

  Rachel Khong's debut novel, Goodbye, Vitamin begins with a young woman named Ruth making the trip home for the holidays and her mother asking her if she could stay for a while longer because of her father. Because her father, a well-regarded history professor has begun forgetting things, to the point of being asked to take a leave from his job. And it turns out that by ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, family, Henry Holt and Company, humor, literary

Edgar & Lucy: A Novel

March 27, 2017

edgar

  Having a life meant having a story. This is one of the first thoughts we hear from eight-year-old Edgar in Victor Lodato’s novel, Edgar & Lucy. It’s soon followed by the knowledge that the only way to know the story of when you were a baby is for someone else to tell it to you. And that’s Edgar’s biggest problem—neither his mother Lucy or his grandmother ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: childhood, contemporary life, literary, St. Martin's Press

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