literary Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books

Ruins by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Catherine — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:14:37 +0000

What if there was another advanced civilization on Earth, older than ours, that has remained undiscovered? Ember is an archeologist who believes this to be true and has spent her life trying to find proof of this pre-historic society. In Ruins, after years languishing in academia, she finally receives an artifact from a colleague supporting […]

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Son of Nobody

Catherine — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:58:48 +0000

Yann Martel, author of The Life of Pi has a new novel, Son of Nobody and it’s safe to say his unique narrative style has not changed. Instead of a lone lifeboat adrift for 227 days, Son of Nobody takes place in two distinctly different settings, the Trojan War, and the Bodleian Library at Oxford. […]

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Vigil by George Saunders

Catherine — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 07:48:58 +0000

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 […]

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Saoirse by Charleen Hurtobise

Catherine — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 07:35:16 +0000

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 […]

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Battle of the Titans: Mini-Reviews

Catherine — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 08:35:51 +0000

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 […]

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Lucky Girl

Catherine — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 08:40:50 +0000

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, […]

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The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

Catherine — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:16:24 +0000

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 […]

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Crux by Gabriel Tallent

Catherine — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:33:32 +0000

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 […]

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The Names by Florence Knapp

Catherine — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 08:05:39 +0000

It feels odd to say that a book that left me so saddened and troubled was a favorite, but it’s the case with author Florence Knapp’s debut, The Names. This is an alternate realities story about an infant boy whose mother, Cora, in three scenarios, chooses a different name for him. The story follows the […]

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Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Catherine — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 07:39:19 +0000

I’ve read and enjoyed both of R.F. Kuang’s adult novels (Babel, Yellowface) so was looking forward to her latest, Katabasis. A Greek word meaning “going down or descending” this chunky novel is about Alice Law, an American student getting her graduate degree in Magick from Cambridge. The title refers to Alice’s descent into Hell to […]

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