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The Never List

July 17, 2013

The Never List

The Never List is the debut novel from Koethi Zan. It is also the name of the list best friends Jennifer and Sarah keep after they are in an accident where Jennifer’s mother is killed. Their obsession with what can go wrong in the world, and how to prevent it, fills notebooks and follows them to college. No walking home from bars or parties, no riding with strangers, no getting ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, mystery, suspense

How Should a Person Be?

July 15, 2013

How Should a Person Be

  How Should a Person Be? is the new novel by author Sheila Heti, asking the same question. The novel’s Sheila is an aspiring playwright trying to find her place in the world. It’s her belief that everyone around her already knows how to be and so does not struggle the way she does. Initially, she believes fame is what she wants but on her own terms. By a simple life, I ... Read More...

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

The Light in the Ruins

July 8, 2013

The Light in the Ruins

  The Light in the Ruins, Chris Bohjalian’s latest novel, is set at the Villa Chimera in Tuscany in 1943, a pastoral estate where the war is largely unseen. The Rosatis are a titled Italian family and while they have one son preparing for the Allied invasion in Sicily and another who works at a museum trying to control the flow of Italian art out of the country, their lives ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, Doubleday, historical fiction, Italy, murder, mystery, Nazis, WWII

Note to Self

June 28, 2013

Note to Self

While it seems to be a contradiction in terms to describe a novel as both sharp and sluggish, it applies (in the best way) to Alina Simone’s debut, Note to Self. She melds the jagged edge anxiety of an unemployed woman in NYC with the ennui that means getting out of bed is a Herculean task. She woke up in the mornings already exhausted by the possibilities.   The woman is ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, Faber and Faber, unemployment, women

Beautiful Day

June 26, 2013

Beautiful Day

  Beautiful Day is Elin Hilderbrand’s newest novel and for her fans it’s another job well done. Jenna Carmichael is getting married but her happiest day is marred by her mother’s absence. Beth Carmichael died seven years ago and was known as a wise and gracious woman, widely loved by her family and friends. She was also, it seems, preternaturally prepared—she left behind a ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, chick lit, contemporary fiction, family, Reagan Arthur Books, weddings

Sisterland: A Novel

June 24, 2013

Sisterland

  Violet and Kate are identical twins but they share an even more unusual connection, both are psychic (or as they prefer to call it “having the senses”). They realize their gift at a young age but when it gets out, becoming taunting and being called witches in school, Kate hides her abilities. Violet revels in them and grows up to use them as a source of income after her ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, family, Random House

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