The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve

13 Saturday Jan 2018

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Along with storytelling mojo and stylistic verve, this novel has an excellent, suspenseful premise: Grace’s life is upended and ultimately transformed by a real-life historical catastrophe, the wildfires that spread through coastal Maine in October of 1947, following months of severe drought. With all the terror of fire on our West coast these days, it is scary to realize it happened not far from us not that long ago.  As good as her first book, The Weight of Water.

“This is sure to be a best seller. Shreve’s prose mirrors the action of the fire, with popping embers of action, licks of blazing rage, and the slow burn of lyrical character development. Absolutely stunning.”—Library Journal  (starred review, Editors’ Spring Picks)

“It is a book of small moments, a collection of seemingly simple themes that build to surprising and moving crescendoes. Shreve’s spare, economic prose suits her character’s practicality and initial hesitance to determine the course of her own life… Shreve’s crisp writing becomes more expansive in the moments when her protagonist consciously stretches beyond the boundaries of her previously narrow life.—BookPage

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Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liz Mundy

05 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by in 20th century, History, Non-fiction, United States

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1942 – all the men were off to war.  An suddenly the Navy and Army needed brain power to break volumes of enemy codes. Senior women graduates started receiving mysterious letters asking them to come to Washington DC to help the war effort. 10,000 women responded from across the US and swore an oath of secrecy for life.  With these girls, I experienced WWII… battle to battle, ship by ship. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. Fascinating!

“Mundy is a fine storyteller…. A sleek, compelling narrative…. The book is a winner. Her descriptions of codes and ciphers, how they worked and how they were broken, are remarkably clear and accessible. A well-researched, compellingly written, crucial addition to the literature of American involvement in World War II.”―Kirkus (starred review)

“Code Girls reveals a hidden army of female cryptographers, whose work played a crucial role in ending World War II. With clarity and insight, Mundy exposes the intertwined narratives of the women who broke codes and the burgeoning field of military intelligence in the 1940s. I cannot overstate the importance of this book; Mundy has rescued a piece of forgotten history, and given these American heroes the recognition they deserve.”―Nathalia Holt, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls

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Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

29 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in Fiction, Humor

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This book really made me laugh. Graham and Audra are a married couple living in New York with their son. There’s not too much more to the plot than that, as they navigate their son’s needs and interact with Graham’s first wife, Audra’s friends, and the origami club their son joins. What I loved about this book is the humor, much of it related to Audra, who is one of the most unique characters I have encountered in a while.

“Audra Daltry is a singular creation—a character so funny, so appealing, so sure that she can change the world for her family that she will jump right off the page and take up permanent residence in your heart. Standard Deviation is a marvel.” —Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life 

“Warmhearted… Dishes up amusing riffs on marriage, misfits, and finicky eaters, plus some wonderfully on-target descriptions… Explores the complexities and ambivalences that color even our most central relationships… This book is about a marriage under stress—though Heiny keeps it bubbly, evoking the smart, stylish wit of Laurie Colwin, Nora Ephron, and Maria Semple… [She] clearly has what it takes to join the elite coterie of witty social satirists who turn out smart, lively charmers.” —Heller McAlpin, NPR

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Murder in the Marais (An Aimée Leduc Investigation) by Cara Black

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in Fiction, murder, mystery

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This title is the first in a series featuring female sleuth Aimee Leduc. The story is set in 1990’s Paris with flashbacks to the early 1940’s.  The author’s writing style makes for a quick, absorbing read and her inclusion of details about life in France during the German Occupation are revealing. The story hinges on the murder of Lili Stein, the proprietor of a small grocery store in a Jewish neighborhood. When she is discovered strangled in her bedroom, forehead marked by a Swastika, Aimee sets about unraveling long held secrets that lead ultimately to a present day election.\

“Literate prose, intricate plotting, and multifaceted and unusual characters mark this excellent first mystery.” –Library Journal

“The charm of this series comes from the character and a vividly rendered setting. Aimée rides her pink scooter through the streets of Paris, roller skates through the Louvre after closing time, and tears through dark tunnels under the Palais Royal wearing peep-toe shoes or vintage Valentino boots, her eyes ringed with kohl, trying to figure out who is out to get her . . . Zut alors! It’s quite a ride.”
—The Boston Globe

“Forever young, forever stylish, forever in love with Paris—forever Aimée.”
—New York Times Book Review 

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On Beauty by Zadie Smith

13 Wednesday Dec 2017

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An English professor moves his family to a Boston suburb to teach at a university, where they are each drawn into relationships, friendships, and conflicts, particularly with another academic family. This book is funny, insightful, and poignant, loosely based on E.M. Forster’s novel Howards End.

“In this sharp, engaging satire, beauty’s only skin-deep, but funny cuts to the bone.” —Kirkus Reviews

“…[A] thoroughly original tale about families and generational change, about race and multiculturalism in millennial America, about love and identity and the ways they are affected by the passage of time. Ms. Smith possesses a captivating authorial voice—at once authoritative and nonchalant, and capacious enough to accommodate high moral seriousness, laid-back humor and virtually everything in between—and in these pages, she uses that voice to enormous effect, giving us that rare thing: a novel that is as affecting as it is entertaining, as provocative as it is humane.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

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Odd Child Out by Gilly MacMillan

06 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by in England, Fiction, mystery

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This is a new writer for me.  Best friends Noah Sadler and Abdi Mahad have always been inseparable.  But when Noah is found floating unconscious in Bristol’s Feeder Canal, Abdi can’t–or won’t–tell anyone what happened.  Noah is British.  Abdi is a Somali refugee.   And social tensions have been rising rapidly in Bristol, England. The writer keeps the tension at high pitch, a real page turner. Against this background of fear and fury two families fight for their sons and for the truth. The writer’s empathy for her characters is spot-on. (Includes reading discussion questions.)

“Macmillan captivates readers with a story just as addictive as her first… [and] shines when exploring the intricacies of relationships… Fans of Tana French, Ruth Ware, and Gillian Flynn will become completely entrenched in the unfolding details.” (BookPage)

“With lovely prose, depth of character and an intelligent narrative, Macmillan lifts the level of suspense with stiletto-like precision: a tiny graze here, a shallow cut there and, eventually, a thrust into the heart. At once profoundly unsettling and richly rewarding.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

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A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

29 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by in fantasy, Fiction, Science fiction

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This fantasy story is set in a world where there are four versions of London, each ruled by different leaders with varying amounts of magic. I loved the two protagonists – one a magician, the other a thief – and the novel’s humor and adventure.

“A Darker Shade of Magic has all the hallmarks of a classic work of fantasy. Its plot is gripping. Its characters are memorable. Its setting in four parallel, powerful Londons is otherworldly yet believable. Schwab has given us a gem of a tale that is original in its premise and compelling in its execution. This is a book to treasure.” ―Deborah Harkness, New York Times bestselling author of The All Souls Trilogy

“Schwab (Vicious) creates an ingenious set of nesting alternate Londons in this imaginative, well-crafted fantasy. Confident prose and marvelous touches-a chameleon coat, a scarlet river of magic, a piratical antiheroine-bring exuberant life to an exhilarating adventure among the worlds.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review

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Emperor’s Club – dvd

21 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Drama, Fiction

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 “Character is destiny,” wrote Heraclitus and Ethan Canin is a master at exploring people who are struggling to understand themselves and the unexpected turns their lives have taken. The Emperor’s Club movie is based Ethan Canin’s short story, The Palace Thief, where a history teacher at an exclusive boarding school reflects on the vicissitudes of a lifetime connection with a student scoundrel.

But there is a feature to this movie which has the viewer question his/her values towards morality and ethics. The major theme appears to be that at some point in our lives we choose our path towards attaining the highest level of morality life allows us. This film also attempts successfully to portray how we measure whether we are or have attained these goals.  One of my favorite movies.

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Lilli de Jong by Janet Benton

15 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Set in Pennsylvania in the 1880’s, Lilli de Jong  is the story of a sincere and innocent young Quaker woman who does everything she can to keep her out-of-wedlock child.   Janet Benton is a first-time author, writes in a style reminiscent of Geraldine Brooks and seamlessly weaves accurate historical details into her powerful and elegant prose.

“Janet Benton’s remarkable novel Lilli de Jong is historical fiction that transcends the genre and recalls a past world so thoroughly that it breathes upon the page. From the first sentence, Lilli’s sensitive, observant, determined voice casts an irresistible spell. Benton combines rich, carefully researched detail with an imaginative boldness that is a joy to behold—though reader, be warned: Lilli’s story may break your heart.”
—Valerie Martin, author of The Ghost of the Mary Celeste

“A heartrending debut . . . Benton’s exacting research fuels Lilli’s passionate, authentic voice that is ‘as strong as a hand on a drum . . . that pounds its urgent messages across a distance’ . . . Lilli’s inspiring power and touching determination are timeless.”
—Publishers Weekly

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American Heiress: the Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

07 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, History, Non-fiction, United States

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I knew only the most basic facts about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst before reading this book, which provides many interesting details about the kidnapping as well as the people involved, the political and social climate of the time, and the Hearst family. Several moments in this story reminded me that sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction!

“Terrifically engrossing…Toobin uses his knowledge of the justice system and his examination of the evidence to pierce the veil of spectacle…As for Patty Hearst herself, Toobin treats her as a person, not a tabloid phantasm.—New York Times Book Review

“The abduction and subsequent radicalization of Patricia Hearst is one of the most bizarre but illuminating episodes of that tumultuous era of protest…and in American Heiress Jeffrey Toobin retells the story with a full-blown narrative treatment that may astonish readers too young to remember it themselves…Toobin spins this complex chapter of recent history into an absorbing and intelligent page-turner.”—The Washington Post 

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