Mildred Pierce is an independent woman trying to get ahead in a society that doesn’t give women many chances. Along the way she must deal with tragedy, romance, and one hell of a conceited daughter. … More Mildred Pierce, by James Cain: Book Review
Twenty years after winning the Man Booker Prize for her debut novel, Arundhati Roy returns to fiction with a sprawling tale of India, its people, and its politics in all its complex glory. … More The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, by Arundhati Roy: Book Review
A failed artist struggles to grow up and put the pieces of her life back together as her family faces an emotional ordeal she isn’t mature enough to handle. … More All Grown Up, by Jami Attenberg: #BookReview
On #InternationalWomensDay, I thought it would be important to stop and take a look at literature’s most famous female character. Ask people who their favorite literary character is and you’re bound to get a wide variety of results. But I’d be willing to bet that Elizabeth Bennet would be near the top. Sure, she represents half … More Why Elizabeth Bennet Still Matters
The Association of Small Bombs begins with a sudden explosion in a Delhi marketplace in 1996. Two young brothers, Tushar and Nakul Khurana, are killed. Their friend Mansoor Ahmed survives. The novel then follows what happens over the next twenty years in order to show the ripple effect that this “small bomb” has. Tushar and … More A Culture of Violence: The Association of Small Bombs, by Karan Mahajan: Book Review
“There was so much to destroy.” Every reader knows the sensation of getting really excited by the idea behind a book, then finding the execution is totally meh. When it happens, it’s natural to experience denial. You try to like it in spite of itself. You make excuses for the problematic areas. In your head, … More Coming of Age in a Cult: The Girls, by Emma Cline
“Every immigrant is the person he might have been and the person he is” Charles Wang left China for the American dream and made it big. He’s been living it up ever since and he has the vain, empty, emotionally distant family to prove it. But now he’s lost everything in the financial crisis of … More Rising China and the Dashed American Dream: The Wangs vs. the World
“I wanted to say, My life is full. I chose this life because it’s a constant assault of color and taste and light and it’s raw and ugly and fast and it’s mine. And you’ll never understand. Until you live it, you don’t know.” One of the most appealing things about Sweetbitter is that the … More Sweetbitter, by Stephanie Danler: Book Review
“Nothing was more terrifying than what families could do to each other.” I’ve had a problem with a certain type of novel for a few years now: I’ve found that I have this enormous struggle reading books about white dudes who can’t get their shit together. Why? Because these white guys who can’t grow up … More Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty, by Ramona Ausubel: Book Review
“As Hegel said, tragedy was not the conflict between right and wrong but right and right, a dilemma none of us who wanted participate in history could escape.” The Sympathizer boldly promises to redefine the way you think about the Vietnam War. A lot of that simply comes down to its narrator, a Communist spy … More The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen: Book Review
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