In Vigil by George Saunders Jill is an angel who helps the dying transition into death. Her latest assignment is K.J. Boone, a Texan oilman. Jill’s purpose is to comfort but also to give the person an opportunity to repent, but Boone wants none of that. He has nothing to be sorry for and is proud of all of his life achievements. On his final night, Jill arrives to help him, but ... Read More...
Saoirse by Charleen Hurtobise
A teenage girl in fear for her life steals both money and a passport to get out of the U.S. and into Ireland in the 1990s. This is the beginning of the novel Saoirse, but it’s nowhere near the beginning of the life of Sarah, the main character. That unspools slowly throughout the book as the years pass and Sarah morphs into Saoirse. She goes from a toxic childhood to a woman ... Read More...
Battle of the Titans: Mini-Reviews
No battle and no giants here. Instead, I’ve got quick reviews of two chunkster books I read this fall. Chunkster being the technical term for big-ass, over 500 pages each, tomes. Both are set in prehistoric times and are the kind of books you’ll either settle into or set aside. I’ve read a lot of Ken Follett’s historical fiction and he’s yet to disappoint me. His ... Read More...
Lucky Girl
What is life like when you have an extraordinary gift? When you’re a child with an ability that goes far beyond your years and you have the determination to see it grow? For Lucy, the ability was dance and her ambition so fierce it takes her to the heights of commercial success in Lucky Girl, an insightful novel about coming-of-age and what happens after dreams come ... Read More...
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
I love Indian writers and fiction so was very excited for Kiran Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, but this story of two strangers from India who have been trying to make life in America work went all kinds of wrong for me. Sunny’s and Sonia' families still live in India and are known to each other as neighbors in New Delhi, but the two young people have never met. ... Read More...
Crux by Gabriel Tallent
Life in a nowhere town in the Mojave Desert should be torture for teens, but Daniel and Tamma are rock-climbing freaks and the area is filled with challenging boulders. Best friends since childhood they spend every waking moment not in school out on the rocks, but as Crux opens it is senior year. Daniel is a gifted student likely to be accepted at the best schools while Tamma ... Read More...
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 74
- Next Page »
