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Mrs. Osmond by John Banville

December 15, 2017

osmond

  “You seem to me, Miss Archer, a person possessed of a large potential; do be careful not to underspend your resource.” I read Henry James’s Portrait of Lady a long time ago, but still remember how bad I felt for its heroine, Isabel Archer. She’s a young American who goes to England and comes into a small fortune, is taken in by a worldly older woman who educates ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: classics, historical fiction, Knopf, literary, marriage, women

November Reading Wrap-Up

December 1, 2017

november

  Who knew November could be a blockbuster month for reading? I can’t go so far as to say the books were blockbusters, but I read a lot of them. The best part? I redeemed myself during Nonfiction November 2017 by reading 5 nonfiction books! That’s more than I’ve read in the last two years combined. Granted most of them were under 300 pages, but maybe that’s the secret to ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: chick lit, health, historical fiction, Knopf, lists, Little Brown and Company, mini-reviews, mystery

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

September 5, 2017

stay

Stay With Me begins in the middle, which is when, after four years of marriage but no children Akin is being pushed by his mother to take another wife. He loves Yejide, but to not have children is incomprehensible in their society and a source of anguish to his wife. When he does give in it is as little as possible, with a woman who he does not allow to live with them and whom ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Africa, contemporary life, cultural, debut, Knopf, literary

It’s Monday, August 21st: What Are You Reading?

August 21, 2017

reading

  I can’t start this post by saying it’s just another Monday. Here in Seattle the sun is going to be 95% obscured by the moon. Kind of crazy if you think about it. I’ve read all sorts of things about what happens. Not the mystical end-of-world things, but that in the natural world it causes birds and other nocturnal animals to begin their preparations for sleep and that ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Feature, Reading Tagged: children, family saga, Flatiron Books, Knopf, literary, marriage, women

Great Summer Reading: Standard Deviation

June 28, 2017

standard

I don’t know any other way to begin this review than to say I’m pretty sure Katherine Heiny and I would be besties if we met. Not just because of the first name thing, but because cocktails and snarky conversation on the foibles of the human condition would abound if we ever got together. Which is such a lie because I am always tongue-tied in front of authors I admire, but ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Knopf, literary, marriage, midlife

Lost Women: Mini-Reviews

May 31, 2017

lost

First of all, despite the mood of the graphic, there’s no need for concern (it's not me!). I chose the photo because it’s evocative of today’s books. I read A Line Made by Walking and Chemistry over a month apart, but for as different as they are they both revolve around women who have lost their way. Which, unless you are very unusual or highly fortunate, is the case at some ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Knopf, mini-reviews, women

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