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
Silence Speaks Louder Than Words in Heart-Thumping ‘The Silent Patient’
Have you ever finished a book and wished you could start over to see what it is that you missed? That's how The Silent Patient, a debut psychological thriller by Alex Michaelides, was for me. Gripping and fast-paced, I flew through the chapters and when I got to the end, I realized I was completely and utterly unprepared. I feel like I need to reread it straightaway so that I can try to pick up on everything I surely missed.That, of course, would … Keep Reading
‘Goodhouse’: A Book About Genetics and Violence
Imagine a future where you could pinpoint the genetic markers that determine a criminal. Now, imagine a time when the children of criminals who have this marker are placed into schools until their 18th birthdays in order to override their genetic predispositions. This, my friends, is the premise of Goodhouse by Peyton Marshall.The novel follows James, one of these kids who is transferred to Goodhouse after his previous school was burned down … Keep Reading
‘The Inseparables’: A Fresh Take on Dysfunctional Family Dramas
Picking up The Inseparables by Stuart Nadler was a bit of a risky choice for me. The Goodreads reviews are mixed but a few of them compared it to The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, which I did not love. Ultimately, I was pulled in by the idea of three generations of women and family dysfunction. Both of these topics endear themselves to me and taking a chance on The Inseparables won out. In short, this is a book about three … Keep Reading