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
Conquering the Classics: Ethan Frome
Last week I joined, at the urging of Love at First Book, the Classics Club. What this means is that I vow to read at least 50 classics in 5 years (see my list here). Because classics come with the stigma of being heavy and daunting, I started out with Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton because it's short and I've never read her. Don't get me wrong, I love some of the classics (Pride & Prejudice and Tess of the D'Urbervilles are in my top ten … Keep Reading
Exploring Grief and ‘The Why of Things’
Before I jump into this review of The Why of Things by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop, I want to point out that while it's a great story, it's not a good galley to request. I say this because the NetGalley copy is a PDF file that such tiny print that it was really hard to read and I almost put it down in the first few chapters because I was tired of squinting. I may have to start paying more attention to the file types that I am requesting in the … Keep Reading
A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison
What happens when a person is unable to leave behind the youthful indiscretions of the past? Does it simmer underneath the veneer of a happy life forever, or does it bubble up and disrupt your harmony? This is the premise of A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison. It's a book about marriage and the pull that unfinished past loves can have on a person. In a way, it's a also lesson is closure, but not all closure is beneficial.The story … Keep Reading