The Woman in the Photograph by Dana Gynther is historical fiction about Lee Miller, the woman who was Man Ray’s muse in Paris in the 20’s. This was a very creative time and place full of artists, musicians, new ideas etc. I usually love historical fiction, but found this book left me feeling empty, like I hadn’t really connected to or learned much about the characters or the period. An interesting subject matter, yet not very well realized. Disappointing.
Two Sisters by Mary Hogan is a sad story of a family that has been split apart and only at the end come together when one sister is dying of cancer. The mother never finds out until it is too late. Younger sister Muriel was mistreated her whole life by her mother and older sister and wants nothing much to do with her family, her brother already escaped years earlier to New Mexico. There is some redemption when the sisters…
Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen is book one in a trilogy. I had no idea when this was supposed to be set until I looked it up online. It is a sad picture of a post apocalyptic future in which slavery is back, along with most other horrors of our past, yet books and medicine and knowledge seem to have disappeared. Nineteen year old Kelsea who has just become queen is a formidable and educated young woman meant…
You and Your Teenager, Understanding the Journey by Jeanne Meijis is a book that will help anyone raising a teen. Meijis is a family therapist whose work is informed by Rudolf Steiner. I found this to be one of most useful parenting books I’ve ever read. Meijis invites the reader to reflect on their own teenage years, helps the reader understand teenage excess, difficult behavior, boredom, passivity, life in the digital age and more. A worthwhile read.
The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle is a novel about a woman whose husband has just left her and she finds healing and solace through her animals. She lives on a farm and is a vet; she takes in many animals that she fosters, from horses and donkeys to goats, dogs and three legged cats. I think it’s a terrible title, but a lovely book. If you have animals in your life then you will be able to…
The Circle by Dave Eggers is a chilling novel about life in the digital age that was recently made into a movie. When Mae gets a job at the world’s most powerful internet company in Silicone Valley she couldn’t be happier. It quickly becomes apparent that the company is growing into one large monopoly and every person is expected to participate with total transparency. The book reads less like science fiction and more a terrifying portrait of life in the…
The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna Van Praag is a book set in Cambridge, England full of magical realism. After Alba has the worst experience of her life and is forced to leave Cambridge University she finds herself being called to a mysterious house run by a beautiful older woman who takes her in and tells her she can stay there for 99 days while she turns her life around. There are two other women staying…
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is a book more about computers than books. I was very excited to read this book about a small bookstore in San Francisco, only to find it was really about secret societies and breaking codes using mega computers and finding eternal life and very little about books. That all sounds pretty cool, and some would probably love this, but personally I was disappointed; maybe because I’m jaded at this point and few books…
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a fantastic new novel by one of my favorite writers, Lisa See. It is about the Akha hill tribe people in the Yunnan region of China, who for generations have farmed tea, and held on to their customs and traditions despite the modern world encroaching upon them. See has written many books of historical fiction based in China and her books are always meticulously researched, this one is no exception. I loved every…
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson is a hilarious and mildly disturbing book taken mostly from her blog, The Bloggess. Lawson starts with her early life, growing up poor in rural Texas with a taxidermist Dad and the stories are laugh out loud funny at the same time as they are truly unsettling. Lawson goes in for shock value each chapter and I was getting a bit tired of it by the end of…