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Old Lovegood Girls by Gail Godwin

May 14, 2020

lovegood

No one could be more surprised than me to be back again this week with another slower paced, character driven novel, but here I am. Gail Godwin’s Old Lovegood Girls is the story of Feron and Meredith (who goes by Merry), two young women who meet when they are fortuitously matched as roommates at Lovegood College, an all-girls Southern school. They are an unlikely pair who ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Bloomsbury, book clubs, friendship, historical fiction, literary, women

How Could She: A Novel

April 22, 2020

how could

How Could She by Lauren Mechling is the perfect palate cleanser after reading two tomes in a row about the Tudors. Defiantly contemporary, it’s the story of three friends. Or maybe, frenemies? It’s a blurred line. Rachel, Sunny, and Geraldine all met in Toronto when they worked for the same magazine. Later both Sunny and Rachel moved on to Manhattan in pursuit of their media ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, friendship, Viking, women

Necessary People: A Novel

November 14, 2019

ten

It always seems as if being the friend of a really wealthy person would be fun—going expensive places, but never having to pay, exotic vacations, great gifts. But it never plays out that way in fiction. The last novel I read about a rich girl/poor girl friendship was Social Creature, which I disliked when its plot veered into the wildly implausible. So, I was hesitant to read ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: friendship, Little Brown and Company, new adult, New York City, wealth

August Reading Wrap-Up

September 2, 2019

august

What a month! I hope you all had a more vacation-y time in August than I did. The month wasn’t bad, it was just a time of adjustment—Jed moved to Ann Arbor for his job, I stayed here and began the process of wrapping up our Seattle life, prepping to move, and preparing our house to become a rental property for the next five years. I took the last two weeks off to try and find a ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: coming-of-age, friendship, literary, mini-reviews, television

The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora

June 12, 2019

paper wasp

The Paper Wasp is the story of two young women living in small Michigan town who were best friends. Up until high school that is, when Elise was discovered and left town for L.A. to become an actress. In losing her popular best friend, Abby floundered and even though she ended up as valedictorian she never fit in again. Now, a decade has passed and Elise’s star is on the rise ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, friendship, Grove Press, Hollywood, literary

The River by Peter Heller

May 27, 2019

river

Books written by men and about men? No thanks. All about canoeing and camping? Hard pass. Set entirely in the wilderness? Nope. Peter Heller’s new novel, The River? 5 stars. Yes, you read that right. Nothing about this novel’s description appealed to me, but when my friend Susie recommended it I knew I had to let go of my prejudices and give it a go. 24 hours later I finished ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: friendship, Knopf, literary

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