How Could She by Lauren Mechling is the perfect palate cleanser after reading two tomes in a row about the Tudors. Defiantly contemporary, it’s the story of three friends. Or maybe, frenemies? It’s a blurred line. Rachel, Sunny, and Geraldine all met in Toronto when they worked for the same magazine. Later both Sunny and Rachel moved on to Manhattan in pursuit of their media ... Read More...
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Emily Doe was the name given to the young woman sexually assaulted by Brock Turner, a Stanford student-athlete in 2015. If that doesn’t ring a bell, this should: he was given a sentence that was offensive in its leniency, inciting an outcry around the country. Know My Name is a memoir written by Chanel Miller. She is Emily Doe and she decided it was time to own not only her ... Read More...
Annelies by David Gillham
As much as I love historical fiction, there are some people who should be left to history rather than brought back in fiction. After reading David Gillham’s Annelies I believe Anne Frank is one of these. She is too deeply imbued by her own writing, the writing she left behind to be reconsidered by another writer. Gillham uses the premise of Anne surviving Bergen-Belsen and ... Read More...
January Reading Wrap-Up
It may be a new year, but my 2018 reading is starting off much like 2017—disappointing new releases and powerhouse backlist books. I bought Sarah’s Reading Tracker so am hoping to be able to quantify my reading missteps and make better choices. Until then, here’s what worked and didn’t work in January. I’m able and willing to read novels with multiple ... Read More...
A Star Called Henry
There may be a lot about the reality of historical Ireland that I don’t like (being a woman and all), but fictionally, male Irish authors are some of the most lyrically gifted I’ve ever read. My longtime favorite was William Trevor (The Story of Lucy Gault, Death in Summer) and then this fall I added John Boyne (The Heart’s Invisible Furies, The Boy in the Striped ... Read More...
We Were the Lucky Ones
According to Polish law, a person of Jewish heritage belongs not to Poland but to a Jewish nation. Just when I think I have read as much fiction about the Holocaust as I need to, when I’m sure there can’t be another permutation of the horror and struggle for survival, I’m proven wrong. This time it was the gentle nudging of my blogging friend, Sarah at Sarah’s Book Shelves, ... Read More...
