You know those books that have such great characters that they crawl into your heart and settle there? The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline is one of them. Spanning years and distance and set against the backdrop of British colonization, it tells the stories of three women on the receiving end of that brutality.Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna are memorable for their stories, but they tug on your heartstrings even more so because they are based on real people. There’s Evangeline, a governess sentenced to prison after her pregnancy is discovered; Hazel, a young midwife also sentenced for a minor infraction; and Mathinna, an orphan ripped from her home as an experiment in “taming the natives” by the wife of the new … Keep Reading
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‘Midnight Library’ and the Power of Regrets
Do you ever think about where you’d be if you did that ONE thing differently? If you, say, changed your major to match your passions, rather than your expectations? Or if you’d taken that leap of faith and moved to that far off city where you knew no one? The possibilities for how your life could have unfolded are endless, and it's hard not to think about them, sometimes. That's the premise of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and it's a good … Keep Reading
‘The First Day of Spring’ is a Powerful Debut Novel
When Chrissie was 8, she killed a little boy. Twenty years later, she’s a mom trying to do what’s best for her daughter. But how do you forgive yourself for something so awful? Or are some acts so terrible that there’s no coming back? Do the standards for redemption change if you killed someone as a child, rather than adult?Equal parts disturbing and heartbreaking, The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker is told through alternating points … Keep Reading
‘The Last Thing He Told Me’ Infuses Freshness Into the Familiar
Let me start off by saying I really enjoyed The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. My last few books have been duds so I was nervous about continuing my “losing streak”, but this one hit the spot. On its face, the story is tried-and-true: girl meets boy, boy has secrets, girl seeks truth and surprises abound; but Dave infuses freshness into it by going in an unexpected direction. Her approach strikes a balance between the familiar and the … Keep Reading
From the Archives
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal
I love animals. I'd like to think that I understand them because I have rescued more than my fair share of birds (including a wild owl incident), have been chased by a pack of baby raccoons, and love my dogs to pieces. Plus, I've always believe that animals know a lot more than they let on. For many years, science did not support this line of thinking. Animals were considered reactive, not proactive. That's changing, in part because … Keep Reading
‘Black Earth’, The Holocaust, and Why We Need to Heed the Warning Signs
It's taken me a long time to finally review this book. Partly, this is because it's a dense read and is chock full of history and military theory, but mostly because it took an emotional toll on me. Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning by Timothy Snyder is about why we need to look at the Holocaust as warning, not history, because the conditions that led to the most depraved acts humankind has seen are not unrepeatable. In … Keep Reading
Klaussmann Stuns in Villa America
In 2012, Liza Klaussmann (a #30Authors contributor) wowed me with her novel, Tigers In Red Weather, which was my absolutely favorite book that year. So when I found out that she had another coming out, I was overjoyed. Her latest, Villa America, did not disappoint and I'm thrilled that her second novel lived up to my (high) expectations.Villa America is about real-life Sara and Gerald Murphy, two expats who found their way to the French … Keep Reading