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How To Be Famous: A Novel

July 16, 2018

famous

When we left Johanna Morrigan (aka Dolly Wilde) at the end of How to Build a Girl (which I loved) she had come into her own at a music magazine, dropping snarky, rude reviews to focus on music and artists she loved. Now she’s broken free of her hilarious but toxic family and is, at eighteen, living on her own in London. Which is where author Caitlin Moran begins in her sequel, ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, England, Harper, social issues, women

It’s Monday, July 9th: What Are You Reading?

July 9, 2018

monday

Hello, reading lovelies! As I started prepping for this post the date kept jumping out at me. Guess what? Today marks my 6th year as a book blogger. I’ve written reviews of over 1,200 books. It’s a lot to contemplate, but, for once, I don’t have the words. Last week was a busy week of family and travel that left me behind in my writing so I’m going to keep it simple today. I'll ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Feature, Reading Tagged: coming-of-age, contemporary life, cultural, friendship, lists, social issues, women

Everybody’s Son by Thrity Umrigar

June 22, 2018

son

This month Thrity Umrigar's novel, Everybody's Son, was released in paperback so I'm revisiting my review of this entertaining and  thought provoking book. Even more good news: Umrigar has a new novel, The Secrets Between Us, coming out later this month. It's a sequel to her novel, The Space Between Us, which is my favorite of her novels.   When a novel opens ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, contemporary life, family, Harper, racism, social issues

The Map of Salt and Stars

May 14, 2018

map

Making maps is the fulcrum for Jennifer Joukhadar’s debut novel, The Map of Salt and Stars. Rawiya and Nour are young women who tell their stories side by side even though they are separated by almost a thousand years. Rawiya is a sixteen-year-old in ancient Ceuta who longs to see the world beyond her village so she leaves home in the guise of a young man and becomes an ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, contemporary life, cultural, Middle East, mythology, Touchstone, war

The Female Persuasion

April 23, 2018

female

There has been a lot written about Meg Wolitzer’s new novel, The Female Persuasion. The novel will resonate with an entire generation of women who, after joining the workforce, longed for a mentor to guide them. For Greer Kadetsky, an intensely shy college student, that woman is Faith Frank, a feminist icon. Except, Greer didn’t even know who Faith was or that she wanted to ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, friendship, Manhattan, Riverhead Books, women

Educated: A Memoir

April 18, 2018

educated

  I’d always known my father believed in a different God. As a child, I’d been aware that although my family attended the same church as everyone in our town, our religion was not the same. They believed in modesty; we practiced it. They believed in God’s power to heal; we left our injuries in God’s hands. They believed in preparing for the Second Coming; we were ... Read More...

7 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, childhood, coming-of-age, family, memoir, Random House

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