The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant, author of The Red Tent, follows the life of Addie Baum, born in 1900 in Boston to Jewish immigrant parents. She is now 85 years old and telling the story of her life to her granddaughter. Although a decent read, I found it somewhat forgettable, unlike The Red Tent which has never left me even though I read it many years ago.
The First Rule of Swimming by Courtney Angela Brkic is a novel about two sisters from a small island in Croatia. One never leaves the island, the other immigrates to America, then disappears in NYC. The story traces three generations of the family, through war and hardship as they each search for peace and a place to call home. This is a beautiful, well written novel full of memorable characters. At times it seems to veer off track a bit,…
Today Will Be Different is Maria Semple’s new novel. Where’d You Go Bernadette was so brilliant, clever and funny I was anxiously awaiting her next book and it doesn’t disappoint. She is one of my favorite authors of the moment; with such original ideas, her writing is full of intelligence, wit, humor and heart. The story follows one day in the life of middle aged Seattle animator Eleanor Flood. I wasn’t thrilled with the ending, but the mini graphic novel…
Weighing in at 731 pages, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow kept me busy for quite some time. This is the biography that the musical Hamilton is based on and it’s fascinating. Unless you’re already a history buff, this biography will teach you more about our founding fathers than you ever learned in school, along with the American Revolution, the Constitution, our financial systems, our military and much more. Alexander Hamilton was a genius and as his story unfolds in this…
The Past by Tessa Hadley is a novel set in Somerset where three sisters, a brother and their families gather for one last Summer together in their grandparents house before they may have to sell it. Hadley is a undoubtedly a great writer, she moves back and forth through time to bring her characters stories to life. Full of secrets, and family tensions, yet in the end mildly depressing and mostly forgettable.
Truly, Madly, Guilty is the new novel by Liane Moriarty. Moriarty is one of my favorite writers; her books draw you in and you just can’t put them down, This one is no exception. There is a mystery at the heart of the novel that takes place on a sunny day during a backyard barbecue in Sydney, and when you think you’ve figured out what happened, keep reading, you’re probably wrong. Although I appreciate Moriarty’s writing skill and her gift…
The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli is a novel set on a large citrus ranch in Southern California that has existed for many generations. When tragedy strikes, it seems there is no moving forward, yet somehow the family does. Years later, illness strikes Claire, the mother, and a Caribbean born caretaker is found as a live-in aid, bringing two radically different cultures together. At this point the book takes some very strange turns and I felt like I was reading…
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is a novel that spans 300 years of one family’s history in Ghana and America. The novel goes back and forth between two branches of the family tree, each chapter skipping to the next generation. Written in this style, the book felt more like a series of connected short stories than a novel; each time I grew interested in a character, the story moved on to another completely new character. What Gyasi set out to accomplish…
The Girl With the Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson is a novel set in San Francisco’s Chinatown at the end of the 19th century. A daughter of a famous exorcist is cursed with being able to see spirits. She is drawn into a plot to take control of Chinatown by gangsters, spirits, curses and evil spells. She must call on all her magical and martial arts training to fight them, with the help of a little spirit in the shape…
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad is a collection of 13 short stories that read together as a book. Lizzie is the girl in the title who is fat most of her life, until she gets thin. Even after she gets thin, she still sees herself as a fat girl. Awad’s writing is clever and witty, sad and tender. She brings into the spotlight our culture’s obsession with body size. Her observations are spot on,…