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Just River — Sara B. Fraser (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 21, 2021 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Just River by Sara B. Fraser is a novel about hopeless people in Wattsville, a small upstate New York town. Once a place with a booming factory, it’s now slower and sadder. It’s the kind of town people leave as soon as they can. And yet, Carol raised her daughter...

Wish You Were Here — Jodi Picoult (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 10, 2021 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Wish You Were Here, to be released in late November by Jodi Picoult, is a pandemic novel. But it’s also so much more. It’s about the necessity of malleable hopes and dreams, whether we want to adjust or not. It focuses on one relatively young, upwardly mobile couple...

Andrea Lee — Red Island House (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 4, 2021 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

In Red Island House, Andrea Lee introduces us to Shay and Senna, as well as the island nation of Madagascar. Shay is a California-born African American, working as a university professor in Milan. Her husband Senna is a successful Italian businessman. As Europeans do,...

Etaf Rum — A Woman is No Man (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Aug 13, 2021 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Etaf Rum writes an affecting debut novel in A Woman is No Man. This broke my heart like someone was sitting on my chest in every chapter. The oppressive cultural aspects of this Palestinian-American family make even the most conservative households seem progressive....

Mohsin Hamid — Exit West (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 31, 2021 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Mohsin Hamid creates a unique refugee story in Exit West. It’s partly delicate but cannot entirely be classified that way since it’s rooted in aggressive, war-torn circumstances. Still, the main characters, Nadia and Saeed navigate life despite the obstacles. And...

Laurie Frankel Offers Teen Activists in One Two Three (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 1, 2021 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

On paper the new book from Laurie Frankel, called One Two Three, is a perfect fit for me. Triplet teenage Erin Brockoviches investigate and maybe even save their town from villainous chemical company. I love a good feminist, strong (young) women book! Trouble is that...

Mateo Askaripour: New Author Offers Insightful Novel, Black Buck (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 14, 2021 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour is many things—racial justice commentary, social satire about the sales industry, debut novel, and maybe even a morality play. But at its heart, it’s a good story with a compelling main character who indeed sold his ideas effectively to...

Jacqueline Woodson: Red at the Bone—A Novel of Family and Struggle (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 31, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Jacqueline Woodson does it again with Red at the Bone. In my opinion, there’s no other living author that imbues so much emotion and grace into so few pages. This story is all about family and self-realization at any age. It’s a story of Melody, a teen whose parents...

Boys in Two Unique Coming-of-Age Books

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 21, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Reading two books about two boys in very different eras and situations warmed my heart at the start of this cold, dark winter. I began Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis with my 10-year-old granddaughter. And then I started The Absolutely True Diary of a...

Rachel Mans McKenny: The Butterfly Effect is a Stellar Debut (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 16, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

In the debut novel from Rachel Mans McKenny, The Butterfly Effect, Greta Oto is more a spiny caterpillar than beautiful butterfly. Even though she’s an entomology graduate student, specializing in the winged creatures. She’s not socially comfortable in most...

Taffy Brodesser-Akner Explores NYC Life in Fleishman Is in Trouble (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 29, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Taffy Brodesser-Akner shines a light into the darkness of dysfunctional marriage and divorce in Fleishman Is in Trouble. Set in the world of Manhattan’s social climbing thirtysomethings, we meet Toby Fleishman first. He’s experiencing the unstable world of newly...

Lindy West—Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Oct 13, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Lindy West reviews classic movies from the last several decades in Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema. These are her favorites, meaning she likes to pick them apart and point out all the plot holes, weird characters, and clunky...

Amitav Ghosh: Gun Island is Socially Conscious Storytelling (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Oct 6, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Gun Island is my first Amitav Ghosh, but certainly not my last. I love his style and this book. I’m particularly drawn to Ghosh’s ability to weave various current news topics into a compelling story. It grounds the narrative solidly in our own time period, and...

Coming Soon from Jodi Picoult: The Book of Two Ways (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Aug 11, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Jodi Picoult combines Egyptology and the work of a death doula in her new book, The Book of Two Ways. She even throws in a side helping of quantum physics and multiverses. The story is emotional, wise, and engaging but also sometimes a bit dry and hard to follow. Main...

From R.L. Maizes: A Feel-Good Novel called Other People’s Pets (Book Review)

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 2, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

Only R.L. Maizes would have thought to combine burglary with animal empaths. And she does just that in her sparkling, feel-good novel, Other People’s Pets. (Publishing on 14 July 2020.) I loved her 2019 short story collection, so I’m not surprised I feel the same way...

Anne Tyler, Book Group and a Palate Cleanser

by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 25, 2020 | RELAX: Other Relaxation

The new book from Anne Tyler, Redhead by the Side of the Road, is a certified palate cleanser. At least that’s how it worked for me. In the midst of a history book about pandemics, and historical fiction about slavery, this was a small story about a few days in one...
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