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The Rachel Incident

July 21, 2023

rachel

Rachel is working in London as a journalist when an unfamiliar man throws out a name from her past that catapults her back to her university days. From this modern-day beginning author Caroline O’Donoghue jumps back to 2008 when the Irish economy was in freefall, Rachel was in her third year of university, and she meets a man who changes her life. With all the attendant angst ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, friendship, Ireland, literary

The Light Pirate

January 2, 2023

pirate

Frida’s baby isn’t due for another month, but as Wanda, a Cat 4 hurricane, bears down on the family’s home in a small Florida town she decides to make her entrance to the world. To mark the event Frida names her Wanda, hoping the storm’s power and strength will manifest in her daughter. What she can’t know is the full impact the hurricane will have on all their lives. The Light ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, climate fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary life, dystopia

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

November 14, 2022

demon

Barbara Kingsolver is back with Demon Copperhead, a serpentine tour-de-force set in the southern Appalachian Mountains. A modern-day David Copperfield, the novel follows Damon Fields from his ignominious birth in a trailer to a single, teenage mother doped out of her mind, all the way through his teens. It’s not a journey for the faint of heart, but the world Kingsolver builds ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, coming-of-age, literary, retellings, social issues, Southern life

Shadows of Pecan Hollow

February 17, 2022

shadows

Kit is 13 when she decides to abandon being abandoned. She’s been in foster care since she was a baby, in more homes than she can remember, but none of them has been good. Or even decent. She’s starving in every way and so takes off for a town called Pecan Hollow where an overworked social worker let her know she has family. She has no plan except to run and hide so she doesn’t ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1970s, coming-of-age, debut, historical fiction

2021 Underrated Gems

December 15, 2021

underrated

Every year I read books I loved, but that seemed to go under-the-radar for most people. Yes, reading is a very personal endeavor and what is 5 stars for me may not be 5 stars for you, but I’ve got 7 underrated gems I read this year that I’m almost evangelical about—I loved them that much. So, I’m spreading that love in the hopes that you might discover your next great read ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: book clubs, coming-of-age, favorite books, literary, marriage

The People We Keep: A Novel

November 8, 2021

keep

At 16 April Sawicki’s life looks pretty well-mapped out, if there were such a thing as maps going nowhere. She lives in a broken motorhome, alone because her father has a new girlfriend and doesn’t come home anymore, and her mother is long gone. She’s flunking out of high school, but her boyfriend is the handsomest guy there and wants to marry her. Why not? He’ll get a decent ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, coming-of-age, literary

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