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The Chosen and the Beautiful

December 17, 2021

chosen

Wouldn’t you know it—as soon as I post my overlooked books of 2021 another slips in under the wire. I finished The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo Wednesday morning after my post went live. This marvelous novel is a retelling of The Great Gatsby but from the perspective of Jordan Baker, seen in the original story mostly as Daisy Buchanan’s sidekick. Now, she is Asian and ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1920s, debut, historical fiction, literary

The Island of Missing Trees

November 30, 2021

island

Cyprus is a country literally divided, right down to its capital. In 1960 when the British finally left they repeated their practice of leaving a political vacuum by not resolving issues between existing groups to ensure a peaceful transition. As a result, the island’s population, mixed between a Greek majority and a Turkish minority, lived with simmering resentments until the ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, historical fiction, literary

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

September 20, 2021

cloud cuckoo

At long last, author Anthony Doerr, whose last novel, All the Light We Cannot See is one of my all-time favorite books, has come out with a new novel. Massive in its scope, Cloud Cuckoo Land covers everything from the life of a young girl in 1450s Constantinople, that of young man conscripted into the sultan’s army as it marches on the city, the small town of Lakeport Idaho ... Read More...

7 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: historical fiction, literary, science fiction

Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague

September 6, 2021

hamnet

What never ceases to amaze me is the way one person can take the smallest notation from history, and turn it into a story of staggering depth and beauty that the rest of us would never have even considered. In this case, I’m referring to Maggie O’Farrell and her newest novel, Hamnet, the story of one real little boy in 16th century England, his mother, the bubonic plague, and ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, England, historical fiction, literary

The Personal Librarian: A Novel

July 16, 2021

personal

It’s no secret that novels about books, book stores, libraries, or librarians are my kryptonite. I love them and can’t resist them, despite the fact that my success with them is mixed at best. So, it was with some trepidation that I decided to read The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Murray. I hoped that Benedict, whom I trust for her historical fiction about ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical fiction, New York City, women

Six Books I’m Ready to Read in July

July 2, 2021

six

Is anyone else expecting a tumultuous July? I’ve got six books I’m ready to read, but honestly, I have no idea what the month is going to be like. In the first week I’m going to see my mother for the first time in almost two years, which is so exciting. She’s where I got my love of books so maybe we will just relax by the pool and read! Later in the month, I have my first ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Feature, Reading Tagged: historical fiction, marriage, suspense, thriller

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