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A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding

December 7, 2015

a dictionary of mutual

  Imagine, if you can, your entire life changing in a flash. Literally, and by ‘flash’ I mean a blinding light the force and magnitude of an atomic bomb. This is what happens to Amaterasu Takahashi in Jackie Copleton’s new novel A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding. She and her family live in Nagasaki and on August 9, 1945 instead of meeting her daughter at a nearby ... Read More...

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, historical fiction, Japan, WWII

Dryland: A Novel

November 13, 2015

dryland

  Julie Winter is a sophomore in high school and if navigating those waters is not enough, there are the perceptions of her by people at her school. Her brother Jordan was a swimmer of Olympic caliber and so everyone who meets her thinks she must be a potential swimming superstar. When she is asked to join the swim team, she does, but Julie is not Jordan. That Jordan now ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, literary, Tin House, young adult

The Royal We

November 11, 2015

royal

If you have even the remotest interest in British royalty (and really, how could you not?!), specifically Will and Kate, then The Royal We is going to be mandatory reading—in the way that their wedding was mandatory viewing (who cares that I went without sleep that night- this was Will and Kate). Authors Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan take the royal romance on a fictional ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, debut, England, royalty

The Improbability of Love

November 2, 2015

improbability

  When Annie buys a painting at a junk shop in London she has no idea what she’s getting herself into. It’s supposed to be a gift for a new boyfriend but when he’s a no-show she keeps it. The now ex-boyfriend is only one more disappointment in a life that seems to be stalled, in Hannah Rothschild’s new novel, The Improbability of Love. At 31 Annie has a temporary job ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: art, debut, Knopf, literary

The Library at Mount Char

October 30, 2015

library at mount char

When Carolyn was eight, she and a number of her neighborhood friends lost their homes and families and were subsequently adopted by a man they called Father. And that’s as normal as Scott Hawkins’ debut novel The Library at Mount Char gets. The rest is a story that is wildly, imaginatively over-the-top good. You see it turns out that Father has been around for possibly 60,000 ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, fantasy, magical realism, mystery

City on Fire

October 21, 2015

city on fire

  If you follow the publishing world then you know that Garth Hallberg was paid 2 million dollars for his debut novel, City on Fire, a story of NYC, wrapped around a wealthy family, an attempted murder, and the blackout of 1977. The Hamilton-Sweeneys are the family, and are as dysfunctional as one would expect in a work of literary fiction. There are secrets, bad ... Read More...

11 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, historical fiction, Knopf, literary, Manhattan

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