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The Martian: A Novel

May 29, 2015

martian

If you’re an astronaut there is only one goal in life: make it onto a space mission. There is also one greatest fear: get left behind on a space mission. For Mark Watney, this fear has just come true on the planet Mars in Andy Weir’s debut novel, The Martian. When a dust storm arises while the crew is on the surface it means the mission has to be aborted. While trying to get ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, Random House, science fiction, suspense

Hausfrau

March 23, 2015

hausfrau

Anna is an American, married, mother of three who lives in a suburb of Zurich with her Swiss husband. Despite her efforts she cannot acclimate to Switzerland and exists in a state of low-level depression that expresses itself through having multiple affairs. She is the wife in Jill Anderson Essbaum’s Hausfrau, a new novel that is evoking a plethora of vigorous response, largely ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary fiction, Europe, marriage, Random House

A Spool of Blue Thread

February 27, 2015

spool

A Spool of Blue Thread is Anne Tyler’s newest novel. It is broken into four parts, three of which are about the present day lives of the Whitshanks and two are about previous generations. Initially, Tyler’s exploration is what we expect from a writer who has always been attuned to the rhythms of family life. There is Red and Abby, and their four children, Amanda, Jeannie, ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: family saga, historical fiction, literary, Random House

The Bone Clocks

September 2, 2014

bone clocks

David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks begins in 1984 with sixteen-year-old Holly Sykes running away from home in a fit of rage over her mother’s refusal to let her move in with a man she loves and then finding that man in bed with her best friend. While on the road Holly meets a very old woman who asks her if she will give her refuge if she needs it. She says yes and unknowingly ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, dystopia, fantasy, paranormal, Random House

Kinder Than Solitude

March 7, 2014

kinder than solitude

  A trio of friends haunted by a mysterious accident are the key characters in Yiyun Li’s new novel, Kinder Than Solitude. They all live within the same housing compound in Beijing, where life moves along without much disturbance, until an older girl living in one of their houses is overcome by a mysterious illness that later turns out to be chemical poisoning. She is not ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: China, contemporary fiction, cultural, debut, Random House

Cartwheel

October 7, 2013

cartwheel

Maybe that was the problem with this family—they were all in direct competition with one another to see who could bend over backward the farthest, who could suffer the most. Jennifer Dubois’ new novel, Cartwheel, is as knotted and tangled as the judicial system itself. Add the fact that it takes place in a foreign country and you have the makings of a novel that will grip ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, Random House, South America, suspense

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