Monthly Archives: March 2018

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

30 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

This novel is both an absorbing tale of family dynamics and a fascinating look at another culture and time. It’s a big book, but I read it quickly, unable to put it down. This book chronicles an immigrant Korean family living in Japan during most of the 20th century. You might be shocked about the treatment of Korean immigrants in Japan. The characters are well developed and I really cared about them, especially Sunja and her sister-in-law.

“An exquisite, haunting epic…’moments of shimmering beauty and some glory, too,’ illuminate the narrative…Lee’s profound novel…is shaped by impeccable research, meticulous plotting, and empathic perception.”―Booklist (starred review)

“Stunning… Despite the compelling sweep of time and history, it is the characters and their tumultuous lives that propel the narrative… A compassionate, clear gaze at the chaotic landscape of life itself. In this haunting epic tale, no one story seems too minor to be briefly illuminated. Lee suggests that behind the facades of wildly different people lie countless private desires, hopes and miseries, if we have the patience and compassion to look and listen.”―The New York Times Book Review

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Sing, Unburied, Sing: A novel by Jesmyn Ward

23 Friday Mar 2018

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Beautiful and sad, full of ghosts. Ward’s writing reminds me a little of Faulkner, a little of Eudora Welty, while at the same time being completely her own brilliance. Easy to see why she has earned so many awards.

“Sing, Unburied, Sing is many things: a road novel, a slender epic of three generations and the ghosts that haunt them, and a portrait of what ordinary folk in dire circumstances cleave to as well as what they — and perhaps we all — are trying to outrun.”—New York Times Book Review

 “Sing, Unburied Sing is Ward’s third novel and her most ambitious yet. Her lyrical prose takes on, alternately, the tones of a road novel and a ghost story … Sing, which is longlisted for a 2017 National Book Award, establishes Ward as one of the most poetic writers in the conversation about America’s unfinished business in the black South.”—The Atlantic

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Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld

16 Friday Mar 2018

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Curtis Sittenfeld is one of my favorite authors, and this book is one of her lighter and funnier ones. Eligible is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in contemporary Cincinnati. The updates for the Bennets, Darcys, and Bingleys are modern and clever, but still maintain the spirit of Jane Austen’s original classic.

“If there exists a more perfect pairing than Curtis Sittenfeld and Jane Austen, we dare you to find it. . . . Sittenfeld makes an already irresistible story even more beguiling and charming.”—Elle

 “[Sittenfeld] is the ideal modern-day reinterpreter. Her special skill lies not just in her clear, clean writing, but in her general amusement about the world, her arch, pithy, dropped-mike observations about behavior, character and motivation. She can spot hypocrisy, cant, self-contradiction and absurdity ten miles away. She’s the one you want to leave the party with, so she can explain what really happened. . . . Not since Clueless, which transported Emma to Beverly Hills, has Austen been so delightedly interpreted. . . . Sittenfeld writes so well—her sentences are so good and her story so satisfying. . . . As a reader, let me just say: Three cheers for Curtis Sittenfeld and her astute, sharp and ebullient anthropological interest in the human condition.”—Sarah Lyall, The New York Times Book Review

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Some Bright Morning, I’ll Fly Away: a memoir by Alice Anderson

10 Saturday Mar 2018

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This woman’s story of her ordeal to escape her abusive, mentally ill husband knocked me over. She is amazing.

“Like blowtorching through silk, Alice Anderson’s alchemy is to turn the shattering pain of her life into poetry. Heartbreaking, terrifying, and shattering, Anderson’s powerful fight for her kids and her own safety becomes a story of breathtaking redemption and yes, beauty.” -Caroline Leavitt, bestselling author of Cruel Beautiful World

 “Anderson is a gifted writer who vividly describes both settings and emotions. Her powerful story gives voice and hope to women caught in similarly terrible conditions.” –Booklist (starred review)

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The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

02 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in Fiction, murder, mystery

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I loved this dark, creepy novel. The main character is an alcoholic, agoraphobic woman who lives in NYC who hasn’t been able to leave her apartment in almost a year. She spends her days drinking, watching old black and white movies, and spying on her neighbors through their windows. One day she thinks she sees something very disturbing happen, but can we, the reader, trust her point of view? If you like Alfred Hitchcock, you’ll like this one.

“The Woman in the Window is a tour de force. A twisting, twisted odyssey inside one woman’s mind, her illusions, delusions, reality. It left my own mind reeling and my heart pounding. An absolutely gripping thriller.” (#1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny)

“The Woman in the Window is one of those rare books that really is unputdownable. The writing is smooth and often remarkable. The way Finn plays off this totally original story against a background of film noir is both delightful and chilling.” (Stephen King)

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