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A Place for Us: A Novel

July 2, 2018

place

A Place for Us opens just before the beginning of an Indian family wedding in California. The bride, Hadia, is hoping that her brother, Amar, will show up. No one in the family has seen him for three years, but Hadia hopes their bond is strong enough to bring him back, despite the problems with their father that made him run away. Amar does attend—marking the wedding as both an ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, debut, family, religion

The Book of Essie: A Novel

June 20, 2018

essie

For most young girls, being seventeen and pregnant is not a good place to be. For Esther Hicks it’s even worse because she is the youngest daughter of a fundamentalist pastor and part of a reality TV show about their family. With a life played out in front of the camera and the nation, how can this be anything but catastrophic for Essie, and more importantly, for the show's ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, family, Knopf, religion

Fat Girl on a Plane

June 13, 2018

fat

When you’re fat, you’re very conscious of the area you occupy. Of all the people in the universe, the overweight are the most conscious of personal space. We never want you to have to rub up against us. Fat Girl on a Plane is both the title of Kelly DeVos’s debut novel and the defining moment in its heroine’s life. Cookie Vonn is a 17-year-old blogger on her way to NYC to ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, contemporary life, debut, fashion, social issues, young adult

The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

May 25, 2018

perfect

Summertime is thriller time. There’s something about the pacing, when it’s done right, that matches the weather to my brain—overheated and a bit frenetic. The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy is my most recent venture into twisted turn thriller territory. Molloy doesn’t go for subtle in choosing a plot guaranteed to ratchet up the tension: an infant disappears from his mother’s ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, Harper, mystery, New York City, thriller, women

Quirky Women: Mini-Reviews

May 11, 2018

quirky

I am a huge fan of quirky characters, but when they fly by the eccentric train station heading full speed to weird I start applying the reading brakes. Today’s reviews are about two women who are quirky and then some. In one case it worked beautifully and led to a novel I loved. In the other, it was almost enough to overshadow a good book.   As mentioned, I always ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, friendship, humor, mini-reviews, new adult, women

A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out

May 2, 2018

guide

  Let’s not beat around the bush: I’m a sucker for a clever book cover and when I saw A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out I knew I wanted to read the book, even if the title didn’t wow me. I mean, please…her skirt is a book! I want it. Add to that this is a novel about a young woman who got an English degree because she loved books and reading so much, only to discover that ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, Dial Press, friendship, new adult, women

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