Book Review: Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Elizabeth Strout invites us to visit small-town Illinois in Anything is Possible. It’s like being the new guest at your sister-in-law’s summer picnic. You meet one person, and spend a little time together. When they’re done telling you a story, you’re spun among the...Book Review: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
With her novel, A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara makes a beautiful piece of pottery. Then she drops it on the floor, where it shatters into pieces. Yet before the book finishes, Yanagihara has created what the Japanese call kintsugi. Kintsugi is the art of taking...Book Review: To Converge and Disconnect by Eric Ballein
To Converge and Disconnect is a very short debut novella from Eric Ballein. Set in a small town outside Las Vegas, it primarily occurs on a single day. The main character is a young Sherriff’s deputy named Royal Fields. He’s feckless, immature, and not especially...Book Review: Leave Me by Gayle Forman
Gayle Forman captures the overwhelm of managing life and acute illness in her novel Leave Me. The protagonist Maribeth Klein is a 40-something mom of twins when she has a heart attack. Like many women, Maribeth has no idea her heart is in acute distress. She keeps...Book Review: Americanah by Chimimanda Ngoszi Adichie
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie portrays two Nigerian young people through the pivotal years of teens and twenties. But it’s much more than a coming of age story. It’s more of a “coming into your full self” kind of story, especially because it includes so many...Book Review: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
I sped through Less by Andrew Sean Greer, like a six year old ripping open a birthday present. It made me smile, laugh, groan, and get a bit misty with tears. Greer deserves the Pulitzer for effortlessly mixing humor, pathos, and adventure. Arthur Less is guileless,...Book Review: ‘Round Midnight by Laura McBride
Laura McBride weaves the stories of four women together in her novel, ‘Round Midnight. It’s cathartic and intensely character-driven. And just what my book group needs to make a scintillating discussion. The story starts with June, who’s a rebellious young woman in...Book Review: Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser
Laura Ingalls Wilder deserves a tome like the one Caroline Fraser has written about her. But Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder is about much more than one women. And I found both pros and cons in the book for just that reason. While it never...Book Review: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
Freshwater is a unique debut novel from Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi. It’s gives us magical realism without colonialism, using Nigerian and Igbo perspectives. Primary among these is the idea of obanje, which is an Igbo spirit that floats through mother’s wombs before...Book Review and Interview: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
Be sure to read to the end of this review for an interview with one of the author’s research sources—my friend Carla, who’s a real-life flight attendant. I’ve been a fan of Chris Bohjalian since Midwives was published in 1998. While I may‘ve missed some of...Book Review: The Senator’s Children by Nicholas Montemarano
I almost stopped reading The Senator’s Children before author Nick Montemarano hit his stride. I’m glad that I didn’t stop. In fairness, I would have stopped because of my emotions, not his skill at writing. In short, the Christie family begins the novel looking like...Book Review: Forever … by Judy Blume
The plot of Forever … from Judy Blume is simple … it’s 18-year olds in love and lust circa 1978. Blume also uses way too many ellipses in her writing, so forgive the nod to my reading group’s frustration with this quirk. When my Litsy friends suggested a...Book Review: The Power by Naomi Alderman
I wanted to love Naomi Alderman’s The Power so much. Heck, it was one of President Obama’s 2017 favorites. I suggested it to my new (and offline!) book group, which I should have known was the kiss of death. In truth, The Power could have been so much more. Instead,...Book Review: Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
Julie Murphy and her character Willowdean, or Dumplin’, are my new heroes. This is saying a lot considering I’m in my 50s and Willowdean is a fictional teenager. Her creator, author Murphy, is somewhere in between. Murphy has given Willowdean the thoughts and emotions...Book Review: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Daniel James Brown brings a novel-like quality to his intense book The Boys in the Boat. The subtitle, Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, informs the historical nature of the story. But Brown makes it deeply personal as well,...Currently reading
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