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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Recent Reviews
‘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
‘A Good Neighborhood’ Tackles Race and Class in America
Several years ago, I read a book titled Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler. I described the reading experience as floating down a lazy river, for the story ebbed and flowed in a way that was, for lack of a better term, peaceful. When I learned that Fowler had a new book coming out, I was eager to pick it up and was expecting a similar writing style. I was wrong, but that’s for the best because A Good Neighborhood is a story … Keep Reading
Book Review: Reverb by J. Cafesin
Source: Author J. CafesinJames Whren seems to have it all. He's rich, talented, classically handsome, and is one of the most sought after musicians in the industry. Despite his popularity, the nature of the music industry resulted in his one-year disappearance being largely overlooked and it is upon his return that Reverb kicks off.Psychologically damaged and lacking a sense of self after a hellish ordeal, James sets off to figure things … Keep Reading
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (Book Review)
I've been reading a fair amount of food books lately now that I'm doing the vegetarian thing, but Eating Animals is at the top of almost every "Top Books for Vegetarians" list. Now that I've finished it, I can understand why. The book is a poignant memoir by a man who faced the reality of where his food comes from upon learning that he is going to be a father. This was my first Foer book and I loved his writing style, but my guess is that this is … Keep Reading