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...
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
A Turkish woman lying murdered in a rubbish bin hardly seems like the appropriate subject for a piercingly tender novel about the damage done to innocence in childhood and the bonds of friendship as family, but 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World is a singular work that defies labels. The same is true of the dead woman, Leila, who, at 40 years old, has been a prostitute ... Read More...
January Reading Wrap-Up
What to say about January? A month that went so fast, but didn’t seem to move at all. With subzero temperatures and a broken supply chain that left Costco with no Diet Coke (I can go without my meds, but no Diet Coke is a bridge too far). Those are the lows, but the important news is that January was an outstanding month for reading. Of the 14 books I read 9 were 4 stars or ... Read More...
February Reading
What to say about February? Mostly that it felt like the only real month of winter and that’s here in Michigan. For those of you in the South and Pacific Northwest I’m sure it felt like hell. As for reading, it was an interesting month. My reading felt oddly decisive—loved or hated books. There was no middle ground, I either loved or stopped reading a book. The good ... Read More...
How Could She: A Novel
How Could She by Lauren Mechling is the perfect palate cleanser after reading two tomes in a row about the Tudors. Defiantly contemporary, it’s the story of three friends. Or maybe, frenemies? It’s a blurred line. Rachel, Sunny, and Geraldine all met in Toronto when they worked for the same magazine. Later both Sunny and Rachel moved on to Manhattan in pursuit of their media ... Read More...
Good, Better, Best: Nonfiction
Last year was another outstanding year for my nonfiction reading. I read a little less nonfiction than 2018 but the majority was 4 stars or above, with 5 books getting a perfect rating from me. I wasn’t able to review all of them then so am starting 2020 with 3 options that were good, better, and best. If you’re a true crime fan then American Predator ... Read More...
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