“Who would have thought at this time in our lives that we’d still have something like this. That it turns out we’re not finished with changes and excitements. And not all dried up in body and spirit.” Addie and Louis are quiet, decent people in the beginning of their ‘twilight years.’ Both widowed, they’ve been … More Our Souls at Night, by Kent Haruf: Book Review
“I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head.” To talk too much about The Girl on the Train is to give away its secrets, so I will be as brief as possible. Suffice to say that Rachel, a woman who has recently gone through a painful divorce and whose reliance on alcohol … More The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins: Book Review
“Why not make it for always?” You may remember that I nearly broke up with the James Bond series after the misogynist shit show that was The Spy Who Loved Me. I mean, truth be told, you probably don’t care, but let’s pretend for a moment that you do. To summarize, I had been willing to … More On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, by Ian Fleming: Book Review
“Getting blown up happened in an instant; getting put together took the rest of your life.” Louise Erdrich has made a career out of writing novels about Native American people, usually hinging on a crime of some sort, and with just a sprinkle of magical realism (although Erdrich herself objects to that term). It’s a … More LaRose, by Louise Erdrich: Book Review
“Humans haunt more houses than ghosts do.” On the surface it would be easy to read and digest (perhaps even to dismiss) The Turner House as a simple family saga. To do so would be to miss the point entirely, and to miss an incredibly layered portrait of America, Detroit, racial politics, and more. The Turners … More The Turner House, by Angela Flournoy: Book Review
You may remember Dave Holmes as the guy who came in second place in MTV’s first Wannabe a VJ contest to Jesse Camp, but managed to walk away with a job at the network anyway. I certainly remember him from those days, when his affable demeanor made him a lot more accessible than anyone else … More Party of One: a Memoir in 21 Songs, by Dave Holmes: Book Review
If you’re looking for a book that will make you incredibly mad at the healthcare system, this is the novel for you. If you’re already mad or have been burned by America’s healthcare system, there’s a chance this novel could be a fist-pumping endorsement of your experience–except how could a novel about a young mother … More Alice & Oliver, by Charles Bock: Book Review
“History is the error we are forever correcting.” The Tsar of Love and Techno is a series of interlocked stories spanning generations in Russia, Siberia, and Chechnya. It starts with a bang, telling stories of a Soviet censor who paints his brother, who was executed and whose existence was wiped out by the government, into … More The Tsar of Love and Techno, by Anthony Marra: Book Review
“The human eye senses movement before all else.” There’s a downside to writing a novel that hinges on some mysterious past event. On the one hand, if you don’t provide any answers your audience will be frustrated and rake you over the coals for lacking closure. On the other hand, oftentimes the answers never live … More All the Birds, Singing, by Evie Wyld: Book Review
“Love of life is born of the awareness of death, of the dread of it.” This book is lucky I didn’t throw it across the room in frustration. In fact, the only reason this didn’t become the third book in history to hold that dubious distinction is that my husband was asleep in bed next … More The Spy Who Loved Me, by Ian Fleming: Book Review
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