cultural Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books

Battle of the Titans: Mini-Reviews

Catherine — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 08:35:51 +0000

No battle and no giants here. Instead, I’ve got quick reviews of two chunkster books I read this fall. Chunkster being the technical term for big-ass, over 500 pages each, tomes. Both are set in prehistoric times and are the kind of books you’ll either settle into or set aside. I’ve read a lot […]

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Good People by Pameena Sabit

Catherine — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 08:02:41 +0000

When the Sharaf family emigrated from Afghanistan to the United States in the 1980s they were met by an Afghan community that understood not only the terrors of war they’d escaped, but the hardships they would face in building a new life in a foreign country. They were welcomed and aided in their early years […]

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The Satisfaction Cafe

Catherine — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 07:06:04 +0000

Joan is a Taiwanese woman in America in The Satisfaction Café. Her first marriage, through no fault of her own goes horribly wrong, leaving her destitute and living hand to mouth. She then meets and marries a wealthy, older man. They have their own children before he dies, leaving her very wealthy, but insecure, as […]

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Call Her Freedom

Catherine — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 07:49:23 +0000

A small village in the Himalayan foothills is the setting for Tara Dorabji’s debut novel, Call Her Freedom. Aisha’s mother is a midwife and teaches Aisha all about childbirth and herbal remedies when Aisha is not in school. An outstanding student it’s been her mother’s dream to see her go to university in the city. […]

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This Motherless Land

Catherine — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 08:30:06 +0000

A loving, happy, Nigerian family is torn apart when a daughter survives a horrific car crash that leaves her mother and brother dead and her father’s grief makes him hate her for surviving. This is This Motherless Land and Funke is the daughter, who at eight finds herself on a plane to England to live […]

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The Lion Women of Tehran

Catherine — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 07:18:40 +0000

When Ellie’s father unexpectedly dies, she and her mother find their circumstances dramatically changed for the worse. There is so little money left they have to sell their beautiful home and move to a tiny apartment in downtown Tehran. It is her mother’s worst nightmare, but for 7-year-old Ellie it means meeting Homa, the girl […]

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May Reading Recap

Catherine — Fri, 31 May 2024 07:22:15 +0000

May was a lovely month for books and for spring in Seattle. We had a great mix of rain and sunshine—kind of like my reading. Of the books I read the majority were successful and either reviewed or will be reviewed. Sadly, this means all I have left for this recap are the books that […]

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A Great Country

Catherine — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 07:44:20 +0000

In every way but culture the Shahs consider themselves to be an embodiment of the American Dream. They’ve lived in California for over 20 years, their three children were all born here, and Ashok has gone from freelance work to owning his own company. In the latest example of their achievement, they’ve just purchased a […]

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River East, River West

Catherine — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 07:01:12 +0000

In the search for fiction that takes me out of my own experiences Aube Rey Lescure’s River East, River West was just what I wanted. Alva and her mother Sloan have always been partners, the two of them against the world. A daunting task made even more so by the fact that they live in […]

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All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

Catherine — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 08:46:01 +0000

Salahudin and Noor have been best friends since the first grade when Sal was the only person who could communicate with Noor, newly arrived from Pakistan. This friendship, set in a small California town, is the cornerstone of All My Rage, a powerful novel about coming-of-age in a place where you’re always the outsider. When […]

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