In an effort to have a better life Ivy’s parents move from China to America without her, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother until she was 5 years old. Then her parents send for her. White Ivy is her story, as she assimilates into American life but holds on to her grandmother’s teachings. In middle school she falls in love with a wealthy, golden, American boy, is pulled ... Read More...
Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
A healer, living alone in the woods, discovers a baby girl left in a basket in a snowy meadow near her home. The infant is guarded by a large black raven, letting the woman know this is no average baby. She is the beginning of the Owens women clan and this is Magic Lessons, Alice Hoffman’s prequel to Practical Magic. Hannah, the healer, takes the girl home, names her Maria and ... Read More...
February Reading Wrap-Up
The roller coaster that was my January reading ground to a halt in February. I can’t even blame the weather because Michigan has had one of its most mild winters (so far!) in years. Instead, it seems as if it’s something larger in the air because most of the readers and bloggers I know reported the same thing. Sadly, this means I’m going to sound crankier than ever in this ... Read More...
A Different Viewpoint: Amnesty
Last week I reviewed a light, bright novel set in 1950s Sydney, Australia. Today I’m back with another novel set in Sydney, but in recent times and with a much darker tone. Amnesty by Aravind Adiga is about Danny, an illegal immigrant from Sri Lanka. His visa expired three years ago when he dropped out from a for-profit college. He’s been living in the shadows as a cash-only ... Read More...
The Women in Black
Somehow February has become a dreary month, both for my reading…and well, everything. Bad news and toxicity all around. We’ve been fortunate not to get much snow here in Ann Arbor, but where we live there’s nothing but brown and gray for miles, with a sullen sky overhead. I’m grateful we’ve had very little snow and only a few days with temperatures in the teens, but these ... Read More...
Ten Best Books of 2019
Well, what do you know. Rather than being my usual contrarian self, I actually have ten books I consider to be the best of 2019. Of course, that doesn’t include the eight debut novels I wrote about on Wednesday, but let’s not split hairs. The point is: ALL of these books are marvelous. Even better, you still have time to get any one of them before Christmas for your ... Read More...
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