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Northern Lights by Raymond Strom

February 20, 2019

northern lights

Shane’s father has died, his uncle has kicked him out of the house, and he’s decided it’s time to find the mother who left him when he was ten. In the fall he’ll be going to college in Minneapolis, but armed with a postcard, one hundred dollars, and all his belongings in a backpack he heads to the Holm, Minnesota, the only address he has for his mother. In this rugged, rural ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, debut, literary, Simon & Schuster

The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish

February 18, 2019

deeper the water

After their mother tries to hang herself, 14-year-old Mae and 16-year-old Edie are sent to live with their father, a man they have not seen since they were very small children. For Mae it is a dream come true. Her mother’s depression and obsessive behavior falls on her, meaning long nights driving around Louisiana swamps or following strangers home. Edie, though, wants to be ... Read More...

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

Sugar Run by Mesha Maren

February 11, 2019

sugar

Jodi has dealt with feeling unwanted and out of place for most of her life. As a little girl her parents decided she was best off being raised by her grandmother on a remote farm in the Appalachians of West Virginia. Later, as a teen she fell deeply in love with a woman who had a knack for playing poker and dangerous behavior. There’s passion, but the feeling is never quite ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Algonquin Books, debut, literary, social issues, Southern life, women

Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

February 6, 2019

unmarriageable

Unmarriageable is one of the winter books I was most looking forward to reading in January. Author Soniah Kamal takes Jane Austen’s beloved Pride & Prejudice and updates it to fit into Pakistan in the year 2000. Every detail is the same, but with an Eastern flair. The Bennetts are the Binats, Darcy is Darsee, and Wickham is Wickaam. Other than name changes Kamal shapes her ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Ballantine, chick lit, cultural, debut, Pakistan, retellings

The Falconer by Dana Czapnik

February 4, 2019

falconer

On page two of The Falconer, when Lucy Adler says I met that basketball for the first time only thirty minutes ago but I already know I love it unconditionally, and that it loves me back in a way that no carbon-based life-form ever will. you need to understand you’ve just seen into her very soul. On the court, she is a beast, a player so good she routinely plays pick-up ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Atria Books, coming-of-age, debut, literary, New York City, teen years

Radiant Shimmering Light

January 30, 2019

radiant

Lilian is trying to live her best life, but utilizing her ability to see animals’ auras while painting pet portraits is not working out. She can’t even earn enough to pay the rent on her Toronto apartment. She feels stymied and trapped so when her cousin Eleven (formerly Florence) Novak invites her to New York City to attend one of her famous female empowerment seminars she ... Read More...

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Bloomsbury, contemporary life, debut, satire

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