Fiction

Last Week's Links

Literary Links

Logan Steiner on Learning Life Lessons From Anne of Green Gables I was drawn to this article because much of what Logan Steiner writes here reflects my own reactions to reading Anne of Green Gables. The book demonstrates not only what it means to be human, but also how literature can unconsciously teach us how […]

Literary Links Read More »

feature: Life Stories in Literature

Review: ”The Ten Thousand Doors of January”

I loved this fantasy, a coming-of-age tale based on an epic search for lost love, a place to call home, and the power of stories. We first meet the protagonist, January Scaller, at the beginning of the 20th century, when she’s seven years old.  She lives with a guardian: Mr. William Cornelius Locke, self-made not-quite-billionaire,

Review: ”The Ten Thousand Doors of January” Read More »

book review

“Where Are the Children Now?”

Related Post: In 1975 Mary Higgins Clark published her first suspense novel, Where Are the Children? Over the ensuing years she published 55 more books, all of which were best sellers, according to her publisher Simon & Schuster, that earned her the title Queen of Suspense. During her career she partnered with her daughter, Carol

“Where Are the Children Now?” Read More »

feature: Life Stories in Literature

Review: “The Time Has Come” by Will Leitch

“ Lindburgh’s Pharmacy is an Athens, Georgia, institution—the type of beloved mom and pop shop that once dotted every American town but has mostly disappeared. But Lindburgh’s has recently become the object of attention of a local third grade teacher Tina Lamm (“Ms. Lamm to my students”). Tina is certain something very, very bad is

Review: “The Time Has Come” by Will Leitch Read More »

Book covers: Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day; On Friendship by Alexander Nehamas; The Friend Who Got Away, edited by Jenny Offill and Elissa Schappel; The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow; Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett; Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg; The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas

6 Degrees: Many Forms of Friendship

This month we start with Elizabeth Day’s exploration of friendship, Friendaholic. Here’s part of the Goodreads description of the book: “ As a society, there is a tendency to elevate romantic love. But what about friendships? Aren’t they just as – if not more – important? So why is it hard to find the right

6 Degrees: Many Forms of Friendship Read More »

Last Week's Links

Literary Links

6 Mid-Life Memoirs of Transformative Years “6 Life-Changing Memoirs” “What would it take for you to transform your life? Could you do it in the span of a year or two? Spurred on by loss, career changes, new hobbies — or even a global pandemic — what if your life could become something new? In

Literary Links Read More »

feature: Life Stories in Literature

2 Novels About Communities

This novel well deserves the recognition it received: ITW Thriller Award Nominee for Hardcover Novel (2021), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Mystery/Thriller (2020), Edgar Award Nominee for Best Novel (2021). Set in Los Angeles, it tells the stories of women who represent the outcasts, the marginalized and the expendable members of society. West

2 Novels About Communities Read More »

feature: Life Stories in Literature

Review: “The Rose Code” by Kate Quinn

“ The year 1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything – beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece

Review: “The Rose Code” by Kate Quinn Read More »

Book covers: Hydra by adriane Howell; The New One by Evie Green; The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz; The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson; Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent; The Rose Code by Kate Quinn; Small Mercies by Dennis Lehand.

6 Degrees of Separation: From Dark to Darker

Before we get started on this month’s exercise, here’s a bonus offering: What Does the Term ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ Mean? Moving on, we start this month with a book on the Stella Prize 2023 shortlist – Hydra by Adriane Howell. From the Amazon description, I think this novel would be squarely in my wheelhouse:

6 Degrees of Separation: From Dark to Darker Read More »

book review

2 Recent Audio Reviews

I’m a fair-weather walker. Here in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. we finally started having what I consider to be fair enough weather to walk in around the first of April. And walking means audiobooks. Here are reviews of two that I completed recently. “ An innocent father serving life for the murder of

2 Recent Audio Reviews Read More »

Scroll to Top