ecco Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books

Nothing to See Here

Catherine — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 05:09:52 +0000

Friday’s book review was a little dark so I’m starting the week with something much lighter. Not only did I never think I’d read a novel where children spontaneously combust, I definitely didn’t think I would chew through it one night and fall in love with it on page four. Which is to say, don’t […]

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The Sacrament: A Novel

Catherine — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 05:05:02 +0000

Set in Iceland, The Sacrament is a spare and chilling novel about the Catholic Church. An elderly nun, Sister Johanna Marie, is called from her convent in France to look into an accusation at a Catholic school in Iceland, where she taught decades ago. During her tenure, a young boy witnessed a priest fall to […]

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The Affairs of the Falcóns: A Novel

Catherine — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 07:57:32 +0000

Life for Ana Falcón is walking a high-wire above a field of razors. She works long days at garment factory hunched over a sewing machine, while her husband, Lucho drives a cab at night. They live with their two small children in the bedroom of a cousin’s apartment in Brooklyn. A cousin who has made […]

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Last Bit of Summer: Mini-Reviews

Catherine — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 07:14:28 +0000

This week is it—the last bit of summer. At least, the traditional vacation aspects of it, because who knows how much longer summer-like weather will last? Either way, I’m ready for it. The past two weeks have been unpleasant, with an air quality rating in Seattle worse than Beijing’s thanks to wildfires in Canada and […]

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Tangerine by Christine Mangan

Catherine — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 07:25:34 +0000

If you run into trouble at home, do not be surprised to run into trouble here. You are still the same person. Tangier can be magic, but even she is not a miracle worker. Heiress Alice Shipley has found herself, at age 20, married and living in Tangier. It’s 1956 and not a place […]

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The House of Impossible Beauties

Catherine — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:50:28 +0000

“Passing is an art form, darling. It’s a craft. And just like any craft, the artistic ideal is always impossible to achieve. We can try and try and try as hard as possible to pass as a woman, but if I’m a biological man, I can only go up to a certain point. The rest […]

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It’s Not You, It’s Me: Mini-Reviews

Catherine — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 08:03:19 +0000

I haven’t had a great year of reading (until recently), but generally it felt pretty clear that it was the books not working, not me. Except for these two recent reads, which is why they’re It’s Not You, It’s Me books. In both cases, the writing and story were good, but they were missing whatever […]

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September Reading Wrap-Up

Catherine — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 07:06:14 +0000

Goodbye summer! What an odd one it was—mostly chilly, but dry with only three days got that anywhere near hot. The worst of it was in with the fires in the Columbia Gorge when, even though we live up in Seattle, we had ash settling on our deck, trapping the heat and smoke for almost […]

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Perfect Little World: A Novel

Catherine — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 08:54:16 +0000

On Monday I wrote about Swimming Lessons, a novel with prose that evinced an emotional response from me, even when the story did not work so well. Today’s review is about a book that is almost the complete opposite. It’s unusual for me to like fiction that didn’t impact me emotionally, but I did […]

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Wealthy Women: Mini-Reviews

Catherine — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 07:16:17 +0000

You might have thought this was a one-time post, but if so, you don’t know me well. I love two things in the reading-for-pure-entertainment genre: wealth and dysfunction so I will always give novels that allude to either a chance. If they can also be about female friendship, even better! This month’s choices mash things up […]

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