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The Wine of Solitude

October 12, 2012

wine of solitude

At eight, Hélène Karol lives in a small Russian town with her parents, Boris and Bella, and her grandparents. She is an odd, lonely girl largely because her mother is willful, spoiled and selfish, interested in only her own desires and unwilling to do anything more than blame her daughter for spoiling her fun. When her father loses his job and leaves for Siberia to manage a ... Read More...

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical fiction, Russia, World War I

Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?

October 10, 2012

church

I missed Rhoda Janzen’s first book, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home so jumping into her newest book, Does This Church Make Look Fat?, was a bit like going to a new high school your sophomore year. Yes, they speak the language but you don’t know any of the backstory or the cliques. Also, I’ll admit it. I wanted to read the book because the title made me ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, Grand Central Publishing, medical, memoir, religion

Goldberg Variations: A Novel

October 6, 2012

goldberg

Gloria Garrison née Goldberg is a successful businesswoman with an eleven million dollar fashion/beauty empire. She is also self-absorbed, superficial and of an emotional temperature cold enough to make the Arctic look welcoming. She refuses to visit a dying friend in the hospital and little to no reason is given; she simply doesn’t want to go. Is it any surprise then, that as ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, family, Scribner

In Sunlight and In Shadow

October 1, 2012

in sunlight

And if you were a spirit, and time did not bind you, and patience and love were all you knew, then there you would wait for someone to return, and the story to unfold. Mark Helprin’s Winter's Tale was a magical enthralling ode to New York City and the first and only book I wanted to read after 9/11, despite having originally read it when I lived in NYC . It’s a timeless tale ... Read More...

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 20th century, book clubs, family saga, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, literary, New York City

The Forgiven

September 24, 2012

forgiven

The suburbs of Tangiers were ruined, but the gardens were still there. And so were the crippled lemon trees and olives, the dogged disillusion and empty factories, the smell of seething young men. A sybaritic weekend in the Saharan desert of Morocco, at a fantastically renovated fortress compound. Richard and Dally have invited friends from around the globe and for Londoners, ... Read More...

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Africa, book clubs, cultural, Hogarth, literary

The Headmaster’s Wager

September 21, 2012

headmaster's wager

  In 1930 Percival Chen’s father left him and his mother in mainland China to go to Vietnam and seek his fortune. He never returned and so, after his mother’s death, Percival left their province to go to school in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the Japanese invasion in 1941 meant that Hong Kong was no longer safe, but it precipitated Percival’s marriage to a young beauty much above ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, China, Doubleday, historical fiction, Vietnam, Vietnam War

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