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How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

October 11, 2022

drown

Cara Romero is one of the many unfortunate workers whose job is lost in the 2008 recession. Now, in order to receive an unemployment check she must undergo 12 sessions with a work coach to help her find other job opportunities. What unfolds in the novel How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is the transcription of these sessions that ultimately focus less on work and more on ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, literary

The Complicities: A Novel

September 26, 2022

complicities

Con man Bernie Madoff’s life inspired a plethora of novels about the aftermath of a wife left to clean up her husband’s mess. Or at least try to escape it. By and large, they come from a perspective of innocence. But in Stacey d’Erasmo’s new novel, The Complicities, she opts to forgo the black-and-white ease of innocent or guilty to go with something much more compelling—the ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, literary

American Fever: A Novel

September 21, 2022

fever

  Stereotypes happen when you don’t understand the thing itself, and so you interpret it. This is not an account of how America was. It’s an account of who I was. Like many normal teenagers 16-year-old Hira can’t wait to leave her boring life behind. She’s tired of her all-girls school, her annoying parents and little brother, all of it. So tired in fact that she signs ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, debut, literary

Calling for a Blanket Dance

September 5, 2022

calling

In a desperate attempt to save her marriage, Turtle packs up her 6-month-old son, Ever, finds her drunk husband, Everardo, loads him into the car and leaves Oklahoma for Mexico. Her plan is to reunite Everardo with the mother he hasn’t seen in a decade in the hope she’ll pressure him into living up to his responsibilities. The visit is a welcome one and ignites Everardo’s sense ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, cultural, debut, literary, Native Americans

Upgrade: A Novel by Blake Crouch

August 24, 2022

upgrade

As summer winds down, it’s time for one last hurrah of propulsive, can’t-put-down, vacation reading. For me, it was Upgrade by Blake Crouch. In the novel, Agent Logan Ramsey shares his troublesome past and the present that’s shattered his life as he knew it. It’s an unspecified time in the future and he’s on the run trying to find and stop the person who believes their idea of ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, science fiction, thriller, vacation reading

Nightcrawling: A Novel

August 22, 2022

nightcrawling

At a time when most teenage girls are busy with dating, hanging out with friends, and choosing colleges, 17-year-old Kiara is facing a rent increase that is likely to render her homeless. She lives in a rundown East Oakland apartment with her older brother Marcus. Their father is dead and their mother is in prison. This is the world explored in Leila Mottley’s gritty debut ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, social issues, teen years

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