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The Most Fun We Ever Had: A Novel

July 8, 2019

eight

Where to begin about The Most Fun We Ever Had? To be concise: It’s a sweeping story of a Chicago couple who meet and marry in 1970s and go on to have four daughters. But that’s like telling someone the Grand Canyon is a big hole in the ground and not the way I work. Marilyn and David are the perfect couple to everyone around them, including their daughters Wendy, Violet, Liza ... Read More...

7 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 21st century, book clubs, debut, Doubleday, family saga, marriage, relationships

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

June 17, 2019

everything

It’s the 1950s and tradition reigns in America. For the most part the Kaufmans fit in. Except for Jo, who’s more interested in sports and playing with the daughter of their maid, both of which cause her mother no end of aggravation. Her younger sister Bethie was their mother’s favorite—pretty, popular, and destined either to marry well or be a star. For Jo, it’s her father who ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 20th century, Atria Books, book clubs, family saga, social issues

May Midmonth Mini-Reviews

May 13, 2019

may

I know it’s not the exactly the middle of May, but I’m hoping you all can cut me some slack. I’m on a hamster wheel of hurry-up-and-wait regarding our move to Michigan and so have to write when I can find time to disengage my analytical brain and tap into my creative mind. I used to be able to activate both at once, but those days are long gone. Anyway, here are some bit and ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: contemporary life, family saga, historical fiction, science fiction, social issues

Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich

April 29, 2019

bull mountain

The first words that come to mind when I think about Brian Panowich’s debut novel Bull Mountain, are: blown away. Every day for a week after finishing it whenever I thought of it, I shook my head. It’s that good. It’s the story of three generations of the Burroughs family living in north Georgia. For decades they’ve lived outside the law by running moonshine, then marijuana, ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: crime, family saga, Putnam, Southern life, thriller

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken

March 8, 2019

bowlaway

It’s the end of the 19th century when Bertha Truitt appears in Salford, Massachussetts. Literally, just appears. If she has a past she doesn’t want to talk about it. What she does want to do is open her own candlepin bowling alley and with the money she has she does. This is just the first of Bertha’s actions that make her the most intriguing character in Elizabeth McCracken’s ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: family saga, historical fiction, New England

So Much Life Left Over

August 6, 2018

much

Daniel, a young man in his early thirties, manages a tea plantation in Ceylon in the early 1920s. He moved there from England with his wife, Rosie, and daughter Esther, after his friend, another RAF pilot in the Great War, got him the job. It is a new start for them, not just because of the war, but because their marriage is deeply troubled. Daniel hopes that a complete change ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 20th century, England, family saga, historical fiction, Pantheon

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