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
The Wife by Meg Wolitzer (Book Review)
After finishing The Bully Pulpit, I was in severe need of a good, quick read that would help transition me out of politics. Naturally, I asked the Twitterverse to help me decide and, upon learning that Meg Wolitzer's The Wife was an option, Andi at Estella's Revenge responded with a resounding yes (read her review here). Because I trust her recommendations, I decided to go for it and and pleased to report that she was correct once again.I … Keep Reading
How American Schools Are Failing Your Kids
Not only is it going to be controversial, but it's going to change the way you think about our education system. Here's the short and skinny: American students are behind academically and there are hundreds of theories about why this is. Is it child poverty? Standardized testing? Teachers? Technology? Sports? Amanda Ripley (who had spent most of her career thinking education was 'soft') wanted to find out, so she began to research what was … Keep Reading
Conquering the Classics: The Bird’s Nest by Shirley Jackson
Shy and introverted, 23-year old Elizabeth spends her days toiling away at a museum while living with her aunt, who cares for her with her own inheritance. Sickly and a chronic sufferer of headaches and back pains, Elizabeth's aunt finally takes her to a doctor, who refers her to a psychiatrist for her "nervous" condition. What at first appears to be a simple and fixable condition turns into a story so complex that only Shirley Jackson could have … Keep Reading