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Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta

November 9, 2022

carlotta

Carlotta has had a time of it. She was sent to prison for 23 years because she was holding a gun nearby when someone was murdered. Worse, when she got there, she was a young man who knew he was meant to be a woman. Something the state had no interest in hearing and something that brought her a world of misery because they would not transfer her to a women’s prison. Now, she’s ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary fiction, contemporary life, literary, social issues

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

September Reading Wrap-Up

September 30, 2022

september

Goodbye September, the first month that felt like a month in a long time. I don’t remember much about July and August, but September proceeded with a normal feel. I’m still not back to writing reviews as often as I used to, but I’m acknowledging that may be a permanent change—2 reviews a week instead of 3. We’ll see. The good news is that once again it was a strong reading ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: contemporary life, historical fiction, mini-reviews, mystery

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

NSFW: A Novel

September 9, 2022

nsfw

I recently read NSFW a debut from Isabel Kaplan and I’m fairly certain my visceral reaction to the novel is a response becoming more and more common to me and to many of the women I know given recent events in America. Which is to say, I found the novel to be triggering in a way that I would not have felt so strongly in the past. NSFW’s narrator is unnamed—an interesting and ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, new adult, social issues, women

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

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