It’s very likely that at some point in our lives we’ve all experienced feelings of loneliness and alienation, but it is unlikely that we’ve been made to feel unnatural or that we have no right to even exist where we are. This is a different viewpoint for me, one I’ll be exploring in my review today and, in a different way, on Wednesday. An American teacher at a school in ... Read More...
gods with a little g
On Monday, I reviewed a novel centered around the lives of two ministers, but it was not a book focused on organized religion. Today’s novel, gods with a little g, is the opposite, with religion at the center of everything in Rosary, California. An oil refinery town that has proudly merged church and state, to the point of cutting itself off from the nearest neighboring city, ... Read More...
Death is Hard Work
Bolbol’s father has just died in Damascus. Before he did, he made one final request of his son—he wants to be buried in the family’s plot in his hometown. It’s two hours away and without thinking Bolbol agrees. It’s only as he’s contacting his sister, Fatima, and his brother, Hussein, that the enormity of his promise hits him. This is Syria, a country being destroyed by its ... Read More...
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Everyone knows the old saying that the best things come in small packages. I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to refer to jewelry, but I’m happy to report that it can also be true of books. For any number of reasons recently, a perfect storm on too many fronts had left me unable to process anything more than re-watching Parks & Recreation obsessively. My mind was mush and I ... Read More...
The Mere Wife by Maria Headley
Maybe every monster is a miracle meant to change the world... Author Maria Headley dives into a modern-day retelling of Beowolf beginning with its title, The Mere Wife. This is no novel about a slight wife, a minor presence, a smudge of a life. No, the women in this tale are, for better or worse, ferocious in the pursuit of their goals. They are giants of ... Read More...
The Transition by Luke Kennard
What if you had broken the law and rather than being sent to prison you could opt into a program that would make you a better person? The upside is it’s not prison, you get to keep your job, you have no living expenses, and when you’re finished after six months you’ll be provided with a down payment on a new home and will be on your way to personal and profession success. The ... Read More...
