American life Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/tag/american-life/ Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time Thu, 31 Oct 2024 21:48:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/cropped-books-on-table-2-150x150.jpg American life Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/tag/american-life/ 32 32 38398750 October Reading Wrap-Up https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2024/11/october-reading-wrap-up-6/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2024/11/october-reading-wrap-up-6/#comments Fri, 01 Nov 2024 07:43:21 +0000 https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=18731 Such a month was October. I resolved some health issues and have regained a modicum of my energy. Unfortunately, being awake and aware this month came with its own trials. I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember ever being so scared about an election. An election that’s less about issues and more about […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2024/11/october-reading-wrap-up-6/feed/ 2 18731 The Dutch House by Ann Patchett https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2019/10/the-dutch-house-by-ann-patchett/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2019/10/the-dutch-house-by-ann-patchett/#comments Mon, 07 Oct 2019 07:40:52 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=13297 Maeve and Danny live of a life of contrasts. Their house is by far the grandest in their neighborhood and money is not something they ever have to think about, but their mother left when Danny was only three and Maeve ten. Their father is a taciturn man who excels at real estate, but shows […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2019/10/the-dutch-house-by-ann-patchett/feed/ 14 13297 The Book of Unknown Americans https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2017/03/the-book-of-unknown-americans/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2017/03/the-book-of-unknown-americans/#comments Mon, 06 Mar 2017 08:25:32 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=8466   We’re the unknown Americans, the ones no one even wants to know, because they’ve been told they’re supposed to be scared of us and because maybe if they did take the time to get to know us, they might realize we’re not that bad, maybe even we’re a lot like them. And who would […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2017/03/the-book-of-unknown-americans/feed/ 10 8466 Adnan’s Story: The Search for Truth and Justice after Serial https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/09/adnans-story-the-search-for-truth-and-justice-after-serial/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/09/adnans-story-the-search-for-truth-and-justice-after-serial/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2016 07:29:04 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=7088   If you were one of the millions of people like me who were addicted to the podcast Serial then you may remember Rabia Chaudry. A family friend of the Syeds she is also a lawyer and has been a tireless advocate for Adnan since he was convicted in 2000 of murdering his former girlfriend Hae Min Lee. […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/09/adnans-story-the-search-for-truth-and-justice-after-serial/feed/ 11 7088 Commonwealth: A Novel https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/09/commonwealth-a-novel/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/09/commonwealth-a-novel/#comments Mon, 12 Sep 2016 07:16:30 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=7061 The Keatings and the Cousins turn into one extended broken family when Mr. Cousins decides to kiss Mrs. Keating at her daughter Franny’s christening. Two divorces and relocation follow and what were two distinct sets of children merge into one unruly tribe in Virginia every summer. This is Ann Patchett’s latest novel, Commonwealth, and it […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2016/09/commonwealth-a-novel/feed/ 4 7061 In the Language of Miracles https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/in-the-language-of-miracles/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/in-the-language-of-miracles/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2015 07:44:05 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=4362 The American Dream is portrayed in any number of novels, often from the perspective of the struggle to reach it, but In the Language of Miracles Samir and Nagla Al-Menshawy are Egyptians who have already achieved the dream. He is a doctor and they live in a nice New Jersey suburb with their three children. […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/in-the-language-of-miracles/feed/ 3 4362 The Girl Who Slept with God https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/the-girl-who-slept-with-god/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/the-girl-who-slept-with-god/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2015 07:09:04 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=4305 Even within their evangelical Christian community the Quanbeck family is known as unusual, but in The Girl Who Slept with God, fourteen-year-old Jory is used to it. Until, that is, her devout sister, Grace, is allowed, at seventeen, to go off on a mission to Mexico, and returns pregnant. The potential embarrassment to their father […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/the-girl-who-slept-with-god/feed/ 2 4305 We Never Asked for Wings https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/we-never-asked-for-wings/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/we-never-asked-for-wings/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2015 07:32:51 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=4330   For those of us who loved Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s debut novel, The Language of Flowers, her new novel has been a long time coming. Not actually, it just felt that way. Flowers was one of the first novels I read where the protagonist did bad things and yet, I was drawn to her and to […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/08/we-never-asked-for-wings/feed/ 2 4330 Our Souls at Night https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/07/our-souls-at-night/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/07/our-souls-at-night/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2015 07:33:34 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=4236 I’m talking about getting through the night. And lying warm in bed, companionably. Lying down in bed together and you staying the night. The nights are the worst. Don’t you think? This is the crux of the proposition Addie Moore puts to her neighbor, Louis Waters, in Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. Both […]

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]]> https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2015/07/our-souls-at-night/feed/ 5 4236 Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2014/12/billy-lynns-long-halftime-walk/ https://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2014/12/billy-lynns-long-halftime-walk/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2014 08:31:48 +0000 http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/?p=3480 Imagine you are a nineteen-year-old soldier and while stationed in Iraq your squad came under insurgent attack in an isolated area. You commit a heroic act of bravery and leave your vehicle to try and save a friend who is being dragged away by the enemy. A Fox news crew captures the entire attack and […]

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