Category Archives: Fiction

A Necessary Evil (book 2) by Abir Mukherjee

30 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by in detective, Fiction, mystery

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I just discovered this detective murder mystery series.  Once I finished the first book, A Rising Man, I had to rush to read this second one immediately and am anxiously waiting my turn on the wait list for the third, Smoke and Ashes.  That’s because Captain Sam Wyndam, former Scotland Yard detective, and Indian born, Sergeant Banerjee are quite the pair and it all takes place in post WW I India where there are still elephants, palaces, jewels, opium, temples, maharajas, harems, etc. It is a delectable read!

“Brilliant. Wyndam is an intriguing protagonist, offering crisp narration that’s sometimes slightly arrogant, sometimes amusingly self-effacing. Add in clever dialogue that’s laden with double entendre, and what more can a hardcore whodunit fan ask for?”- Bookpage (Top 10 Mystery of the Year)

“Mukherjee is adept at multifaceted, slow-burn plot manipulations. Packed with incident and intrigue, yet never in a way that sacrifices historical verisimilitude or character development for the sake of a thrill. At its heart, the novel and its prequel, A Rising Man, take the buddy-cop formula and turn it on its head in endless rotations. From the cars to the flowers to the moth-eaten flags, Wyndham sees empire for the lie that it is. This makes him an intriguing embodiment of the intricacies and hypocrisies of the period―especially in Mukherjee’s hands.”

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The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames

13 Friday Sep 2019

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“’The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna’ achieves what no sweeping history lesson about American immigrants could: It brings to life a woman that time and history would have ignored.” (Washington Post)

“If you’re going through Elena Ferrante withdrawals, this is the book for you. A rich, sweeping tale of an Italian-American family and their long-buried secrets.” (Harper’s Bazaar)

“Epic in scale and richly detailed…. Grames holds the reader under a spell from start to finish as she constructs a puzzle of identity formed against convention…. Grames’s clear and compassionate voice lets the figures of her heritage move freely.” (O, the Oprah Magazine)

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The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer

06 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by in Biographical fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Her previous novel, The Invisible Bridge, is one of my all-time favorites. This one is based on the diaries of Varian Fry and again Orringer brings to light another WWII inspiring episode of history where Fry attempts to save the works and lives of Jewish artists.  Part history, part love story drenched in the glorious backdrop of 1940’s Marseille – superb.

“No book this year could possibly compare with The Flight Portfolio: ambitious, meticulous, big-hearted, gorgeous, historical, suspenseful, everything you want a novel to be.”
—Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less

“Sympathetic and prodigiously ambitious…scrupulous… Her landscapes regularly rise to a Keatsian sensuousness.  Her Marseille breathes as a city breathes…a thriller.”
—New York Times Book Review, cover review

“Varian Fry lit a small, bright lamp in a world of darkness, and in the deft hands of Julie Orringer—under the spell of her masterful prose, her feeling portraiture, her classic spy-thriller plotting and her vivid recreation of that beautiful and terrible world—I found the radiance of Fry’s courage, flawed humanity, and steadfast resistance shedding an inexhaustible light on our own ever-darkening time.”—Michael Chabon

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The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abby Waxman

16 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by in Fiction, Humor

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This novel keeps up a fun, friendly patter while still dealing realistically and respectfully with mental health issues in the form of anxiety.  A good “cozy read,” a good “beach read,” a good choice for a wide range of readers.

“Waxman has created a thoroughly engaging character in this bookish, contemplative, set-in-her ways woman. Be prepared to chuckle.”—Kirkus Review (starred review)

“Book nerds will feel strong kinship with the engaging, introverted Nina Hill, who works in a bookstore, plays pub trivia, and loves office supplies… Readers will be captivated by Nina’s droll sense of humor.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Move over on the settee, Jane Austen. You’ve met your modern-day match in Abbi Waxman. Bitingly funny, relatable and intelligent, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is a must for anyone who loves to read.”—Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author of Good Luck With That

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The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

12 Monday Aug 2019

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In 1945 Barcelona, Daniel’s father brings him to a special library to pick out a book, which he will then be responsible for guarding. The book he chooses attracts attention from several other interested parties, some good, some evil. This page-turner has mystery, adventure, romance, a colorful cast of characters, and celebrates books. A fun summer read!

“One gorgeous read.” –Stephen King

“ Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should.”
—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

“Gabriel Garcia Marquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Wonderous… masterful… The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.” —Entertainment Weekly (Editor’s Choice)

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Ask Again, Yes: A Novel by Mary Beth Keane

29 Monday Jul 2019

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“Mary Beth Keane takes on one of the most difficult problems in fiction—how to write about human decency. In Ask Again, Yes, Keane creates a layered emotional truth that makes a compelling case for compassion over blame, understanding over grudge, and the resilience of hearts that can accept the contradictions of love.”— Louise Erdrich, author of The Round House

“Keane’s story embraces family lives in all their muted, ordinary, yet seismic shades… offers empathy and the long view… Tender and patient, the novel avoids excessive sweetness while planting itself deep in the soil of commitment and attachment. Graceful and mature. A solidly satisfying, immersive read.”—Kirkus (starred review) 

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Daisy Jones & the Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid

22 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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An episode of the (sadly, defunct) VH1’s Behind the Music in book form.  Reid’s descriptions will make you wish this fictional band’s songs were real.  The gossipy, often conflicting input from multiple narrators makes it a perfect, juicy summer read.  I enjoyed it even more than Reid’s previous hit – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

““I devoured Daisy Jones & The Six in a day, falling head over heels for it. Taylor Jenkins Reid transported me into the magic of the ’70s music scene in a way I’ll never forget. The characters are beautifully layered and complex. Daisy and the band captured my heart, and they’re sure to capture yours, too.”—Reese Witherspoon

Reid’s novel so resembles a memoir of a real band and conjures such true-to-life images of the seventies music scene that readers will think they’re listening to Fleetwood Mac or Led Zeppelin. Reid is unsurpassed in her ability to create complex characters working through emotions that will make your toes curl.”—Booklist (starred review)

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The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

15 Monday Jul 2019

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Yale is working at an art museum in 1980s Chicago when he is called to meet an elderly woman who claims to have a priceless collection of art to donate. At the same time, Yale, his boyfriend, and their group of male friends are feeling the devastating effects of the developing AIDS crisis. Years later, one of their friends reflects on this time period as she tries to track down her missing daughter in Paris. This is a beautiful, sad, engaging novel.

FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE IN FICTION
WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL
WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR FICTION
WINNER OF THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Soon to Be a Major Television Event, optioned by Amy Poehler

 As her intimately portrayed characters wrestle with painful pasts and fight to love one another and find joy in the present in spite of what is to come, Makkai carefully reconstructs 1980s Chicago, WWI-era and present day Paris, and scenes of the early days of the AIDS epidemic. A tribute to the enduring forces of love and art, over everything.”—Booklist (starred review)

 “To believe in something is to have faith, and Makkai dispenses it fiercely, in defiance of understandable nihilism and despair—faith in what’s right, in the good in others, in better outcomes, in time’s ability not to heal but to make something new.”—National Book Review

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The East End by Jason Allen

08 Monday Jul 2019

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A Hamptons poolside accident that ends the life of a billionaire CEO’s illicit lover is complicated by a lavish weekend vacation and a thrill-seeking hired boy who breaks in and witnesses everything in secret.

“What a delicious pot of trouble Jason Allen has cooked up in this debut novel! He’s a hell of a writer, negotiating deftly the psychological landscape of his of characters as they struggle to make the right decisions under pressure. Every page is filled with wise insights about social class and the human heart.” -Bonnie Jo Campbell, National Book Award finalist and author of Mothers Tell Your Daughters

“An intense, heart-pounding experience from the first page, with brilliant, complex characters more real than people I actually know. I challenge you to put this novel down once you start reading.”- Simon Van Booy, award winning author of The Sadness of Beautiful Things

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The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

21 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by in Fiction, murder and investigation, mystery

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This is a standalone title. Griffiths writes a couple of mystery series, including the popular Dr. Ruth Galloway series.

Her books are set in East Anglia and the landscape (urban settings in this title) are always a component of her work. Something that I particularly appreciated about this suspenseful book was its homage to The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins — I want to re-read that now. Griffiths uses three narrators to tell the story, which works well, as the reader can see the blind spots and the different perspectives that each character/narrator has.

“Utterly bewitching. This atmospheric, intricate thriller, a pitch-perfect modern Gothic, chilled my blood and warmed my heart. As unforgettable as it is original.”—A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

“My heart is still pounding after finishing Elly Griffiths’ The Stranger Diaries. As with her other books, this is fiercely intelligent, warm, human and at times, funny. But unlike her others, this is a stand-alone. Her first and I hope not her last. The Stranger Diaries picks up where the great Gothic thrillers of the past leave off.  At once a homage to that great literary form, and a re-imagining.  It is goose-bump spooky, smart, and haunting, in every sense.  I loved this book!  And you will too.”—Louise Penny, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series

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