W.W. Norton Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books

Such Kindness: A Novel

Catherine — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 07:05:50 +0000

I’ve been craving pace in my reading lately so am surprised to be here with an introspective novel spanning only a few days and very little action. Set in present-day Massachusetts, Such Kindness by Andre Dubus III is a tender, painful look at one man’s reckoning of an expansive life that once included marriage, a […]

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This Other Eden

Catherine — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 08:26:32 +0000

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 […]

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January Reading Wrap-Up

Catherine — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 08:02:32 +0000

What a month! By and large January had mostly great reading, but there were some real misses. I reviewed the books I enjoyed so this recap is going to be a bit less upbeat with the books I didn’t love. One in particular is a heartbreaker. Either I read far too much or Reef […]

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Ghost Season by Fatin Abbas

Catherine — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 08:54:40 +0000

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 […]

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My 8 Best Books of 2021

Catherine — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 05:19:05 +0000

Best is a big word, especially these days when words that have been a part of the lexicon for lifetimes feel as if they’re losing their meaning. The first that comes to mind is “normal”. There is nothing normal about our weather, our politics, America. There’s a COVID vaccine and a booster, but the […]

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Miss Jane by Brad Watson

Catherine — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 07:14:04 +0000

Summer is generally a time when I enjoy lighter books, those that don’t take up too much brain space. Sometimes, though, it’s also lovely to disengage from all the activity, find a shaded space and give yourself up to gorgeous prose and stories with meaning. Miss Jane, one of my favorite novels from 2016 is […]

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Helga’s Diary

Catherine — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:41:34 +0000

Helga Weiss is an eleven-year-old girl living in Prague in 1939. The words above are hers as are all the words in the book, Helga’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Account of Life in a Concentration Camp. Czechoslovakia has been invaded by the Nazis and in a few short months Helga has seen her […]

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