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The Better Sister by Alafair Burke

April 18, 2019

better sister

Chloe Taylor is on top of her game. She is the editor of a small but prestigious women’s magazine, has just been honored in the field of journalism, and lives the glamorous life in NYC with her handsome lawyer husband, Adam, and her stepson Ethan. It’s all oh-so lovely except for one small fact she never talks about: Adam was her older sister Nicky’s husband and Ethan is her ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: family, Harper, mystery, New York City, thriller

When You Read This

March 4, 2019

eight

Here’s a spoiler: Iris Massey is dead. She died of cancer at 33, leaving behind an obstreperous older sister, Jade; a narcissistic abusive mother; a weight lifter boyfriend, Richie, and Simon, her boss at his PR agency. Oh, and pages from a blog she wrote up while she was dying. It’s discovered eight months after her death, in her desk drawer, and it sets When You Read This off ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, Harper, humor

Come With Me

December 14, 2018

come

I’d prefer not to end a strong reading week on a negative note, but have you ever read a book that feels like a case of false advertising? As in, if you had paid for it you would have demanded a full refund? That’s how I feel about Come With Me. Here’s the Goodreads synopsis:  Amy Reed works part-time as a PR person for a tech start-up, run by her college roommate’s ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Harper, marriage

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

October 22, 2018

unsheltered

  Willa and her husband Iano are stuck in a situation that strikes fear in the heart of anyone in midlife—she’s newly unemployed and the college where he had tenure closed and he’s been forced to take an entry-level at a small school in Philadelphia. His father is a morbidly obese, deaf, virulent racist who lives with them because his wife died. Their 26-year-old ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, family, Harper, historical fiction, literary, social issues

How To Be Famous: A Novel

July 16, 2018

famous

When we left Johanna Morrigan (aka Dolly Wilde) at the end of How to Build a Girl (which I loved) she had come into her own at a music magazine, dropping snarky, rude reviews to focus on music and artists she loved. Now she’s broken free of her hilarious but toxic family and is, at eighteen, living on her own in London. Which is where author Caitlin Moran begins in her sequel, ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, England, Harper, social issues, women

The Secrets Between Us

July 12, 2018

secrets

By the end of Thrity Umrigar’s novel, The Space Between Us, Bhima had been fired from her job as Sera’s household servant, after being accused of stealing money from the family. For Bhima, living alone while trying to raise her granddaughter, Maya, in one of Mumbai’s many slums, this was a catastrophic event. She had worked for Sera for over two decades, relying on Sera’s ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, Harper, India, social issues

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