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At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.

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I read the interview in which Patchett said that she became intrigued with the idea of writing a story around "the evil stepmother. I think thatI read the interview in which Patchett said that she became intrigued with the idea of writing a story around "the evil stepmother. I think that Patchett started with that question: what if you lost your mother and in her place came the evil stepmother? She jumped off from there, and I kind of like that we weren't given Andrea's background. In this case, the reader gets to know Andrea just as Maeve and Danny do. We hold their points of view, feel what they feel. I think that we feel more closely connected. That's an important reason why this novel is so powerful. Margie Adler...more (less)

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I read the interview in which Patchett said that she became intrigued with the idea of writing a story around "the evil stepmother. I think thatI read the interview in which Patchett said that she became intrigued with the idea of writing a story around "the evil stepmother.

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Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds,  Ibram X. Kendi *Project Lit Pick!*

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Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds,  Ibram X. Kendi *Project Lit Pick!*

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This is NOT a history book.
This is a book about the here and now.
A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.
A book about race.

The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.

Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas--and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives.

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There was no science to prove any of this. But who needs science when you have racism?

This should be required reading in all American schools. Kids need to know and understand this history (even if the author is quick to tell you it's "not a history book"). It really is absolutely essential. And Reynolds's adaptation is a very accessible, very necessary overview of 500+ years of racism and antiracism in the United States. Now I'm thinking I need to get my hands on Kendi's Stamped from the...more

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There was no science to prove any of this. But who needs science when you have racism? This should be required reading in all American schools. Kids need to know and understand this history (even if the author is quick to tell you it's "not a history book").

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A little more than a century from now, our world has been utterly transformed. After years of slowly overtaking the continent, rising floodwaters have obliterated America’s great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water.

Stubbornly independent Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, fish from their small boat, the Bird, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies and information in the few remaining outposts of civilization. For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her oldest daughter, Row, who was stolen by her father after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska. Then, in a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that Row was last seen in a far-off encampment near the Arctic Circle. Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra and Pearl embark on a perilous voyage into the icy northern seas, hoping against hope that Row will still be there.

On their journey, Myra and Pearl join forces with a larger ship and Myra finds herself bonding with her fellow seekers who hope to build a safe haven together in this dangerous new world. But secrets, lust, and betrayals threaten their dream, and after their fortunes take a shocking—and bloody—turn, Myra can no longer ignore the question of whether saving Row is worth endangering Pearl and her fellow travelers.

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She doesn't really discuss it at all. In fact, I had a hard time "believing" the flood happened as quickly and dramatically as the books says - a damShe doesn't really discuss it at all. In fact, I had a hard time "believing" the flood happened as quickly and dramatically as the books says - a dam broke? A dam that spanned the entire width of the state, because Nebraska is nothing but flat. I didn't want her to harp on it either, but I found her little explanation unconvincing and unscientific. ...more (less)

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Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance

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She doesn't really discuss it at all. In fact, I had a hard time "believing" the flood happened as quickly and dramatically as the books says - a damShe doesn't really discuss it at all. In fact, I had a hard time "believing" the flood happened as quickly and dramatically as the books says - a dam broke?

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Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah *Project Lit Pick!*

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Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah *Project Lit Pick!*

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The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime New York Times bestseller about one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

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Im joining the club of other Rioters who have read and loved this one. Something you should know about me: memoirs are NOT my jam. I can count on one hand the memoirs Ive read and enjoyed, so I was honestly shocked by how much I loved reading Born a Crime. Noah can tell a story like nobodys business, and very often his tales weave tragedy and comedy together in the best way imaginable. I also have to admire Noahs bare-bones honesty; he really doesnt front at all. If youre the type of person who ...more

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Nenia ☠️ Khaleesi of Bodice Rippers, Protector of Out of Print Gems, Mother of Smut, and Actual Garbage Can ☠️ Campbell

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Im joining the club of other Rioters who have read and loved this one. Something you should know about me: memoirs are NOT my jam. I can count on one hand the memoirs Ive read and enjoyed, so I was honestly shocked by how much I loved reading Born a Crime.

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In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.

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Hi Julia!Hi Julia! Kristin Hannah

Thanks so much for asking about the synopsis of The Great Alone. The truth is that we don't have it written yet and I want it to be just right when I send it out into the world. Somehow, it's easier to write 150,000 words than a handful of description. For now, I can say it's about a family living on the edge of civilization in Alaska in the 1970's, but keep watching. As soon as I have more scoop, I'll post it! I hope you've entered to win an early reading copy...good luck! xok(less)
Thanks so much for asking about the synopsis of The Great Alone. The truth is that we don't have it written yet and I want it to be just ...more

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Norma * Traveling Sister and proud Grandma!!!

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Hi Julia!Hi Julia! Kristin Hannah Thanks so much for asking about the synopsis of The Great Alone. The truth is that we don't have it written yet and I want it to be just right when I send it out into the world. Somehow, it's easier to write 150,000 words than a handful of description.

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The Whip is inspired by the true story of a woman, Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst (1812-1879) who lived most of her extraordinary life as a man in the old west.

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Although this novel is based on a true story, certain aspects of it come off as unbelievable and the main character, while sympathetic, is not easy to get into. If swearing is something that turns you off, avoid this one.

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Although this novel is based on a true story, certain aspects of it come off as unbelievable and the main character, while sympathetic, is not easy to get into. If swearing is something that turns you off, avoid this one.

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Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid 

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Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid 

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Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

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Read 136k reviews from the world's largest community for readers. For a while, Daisy Jones & The Six were everywhere. Their albums were on every turntable,...

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The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years—except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams"

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Seemingly irrelevant concepts and interjections are seamlessly followed up on throughout the rest of the story. I guess it depends on your taste, butSeemingly irrelevant concepts and interjections are seamlessly followed up on throughout the rest of the story. I guess it depends on your taste, but I love the type of humor and brush with philosophy as well as historical accuracy, as far as I can tell. Don't forget that the first part of the book follows the lives of two little boys who live in a culture of religious oppression and wrought with curiosity about life, sex, etc. I thought it was brilliant. One of the few works of fiction I not only had patience for, but enjoyed. ...more (less)

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Seemingly irrelevant concepts and interjections are seamlessly followed up on throughout the rest of the story. I guess it depends on your taste, butSeemingly irrelevant concepts and interjections are seamlessly followed up on throughout the rest of the story.

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On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

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The very best books are often the hardest to talk about. 96 of my GR friends reviewed The Library Book. There are 8000+ ratings and over 2000 reviews, with only 3% under 3 stars. Susan Orlean's latest, an ode to the love of libraries, has been favorably reviewed by the best, including Ron Charles for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Chris Woodyard for USA Today. Perhaps not as gushy were the industry reviews. Still, all in all, positive commentary. So what can I add to the love to en...more

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The very best books are often the hardest to talk about. 96 of my GR friends reviewed The Library Book. There are 8000+ ratings and over 2000 reviews, with only 3% under 3 stars.

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Fool--the bawdy and outrageous New York Times bestseller from the unstoppable Christopher Moore--is a hilarious new take on William Shakespeare's King Lear...as seen through the eyes of the foolish liege's clownish jester, Pocket. A rousing tale of "gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity," Fooljoins Moore's own Lamb, Fluke, The Stupidest Angel, and You Suck!as modern masterworks of satiric wit and sublimely twisted genius, prompting Carl Hiassen to declare Christopher Moore "a very sick man, in the very best sense of the word."

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Ah, Christopher Moore rewrites King Lear (and steals from host of other Shakespeare's works in the process) and presents a delightful, bawdy comedic romp through soggy Britain.

Fool tells the tale of Pocket, King Lear's favorite Fool, and the events that unfold as King Lear is driven into madness and destruction, and the kingdom is divided amidst treachery, scheming, princesses, fuckery, washerwomen names Bubble and Squeak, and a bloody ghost (there is always a bloody ghost, of course). And...more

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Ah, Christopher Moore rewrites King Lear (and steals from host of other Shakespeare's works in the process) and presents a delightful, bawdy comedic romp through soggy Britain.

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A fatal accident, a gruesome murder, a drowning, a questionable suicide, and missing chapters from a manuscript are all connected in Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. This murder story within a murder story includes the text of Magpie Murders, the final novel written by fictional author Alan Conway. When Cloverleaf Books Editor Susan Ryeland discovered that the final chapter to this novel was missing she began looking for it only to realize later that she had begun a journey that would change her entire life.

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I didn't know much about the Magpie Murders when Dan 2-Headphones suggested it as a buddy read. I read the description, and though it seemed suspiciously lit-fic--I was loathe to experience another Cloud Atlas--I gave it a try. The set-up is indeed a bit lit-fic: an editor sits down to read the first copy of her author's book, and then the story launches into a book-with-a-book format.

For a life-long fan of Christie-type mysteries, the first half is a beautiful, solid reproduction of an English...more

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Norma * Traveling Sister and proud Grandma!!!

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I didn't know much about the Magpie Murders when Dan 2-Headphones suggested it as a buddy read. I read the description, and though it seemed suspiciously lit-fic--I was loathe to experience another Cloud Atlas--I gave it a try.

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Peek beneath the surface of an extraordinary small-town opera company, and get to know a fabulous cast of characters: determined fl irts, a lusty singing gaucho, ingenious manipulators, a bipolar ketchup heiress, devious lovers, and some very determined ghosts. Delve into high society in Hankey, PA-a world of simmering seductions, convoluted mysteries and entertaining intrigues. You may laugh out loud. You may cheer for the gang of misfi ts trying to save their opera house from foreclosure by improbably staging a world-class production of Mozart's masterpiece. You may feel a tug at your heartstrings as lonely lovers look for new romance. Gale Martin's new novel, Don Juan in Hankey, PA, will delight readers everywhere.

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Gale Martin's debut novel, Don Juan in Hankey, PA, is a witty, and at times a laugh out loud comedy. I never read anything like it before. Readers are treated to a rare peek behind the scenes of the nearly dysfunctional Hankey Opera Guild. Martin incorporated a stage/screenplay technique by starting each chapter with a short italicized paragraphsetting the scene. The Opera Guild characters include determined flirts, a lonely widower, ingenious manipulators, devious lovers, a lusty gaucho opera...more

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Gale Martin's debut novel, Don Juan in Hankey, PA, is a witty, and at times a laugh out loud comedy. I never read anything like it before. Readers are treated to a rare peek behind the scenes of the nearly dysfunctional Hankey Opera Guild.

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With Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo *Project Lit Pick!*

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With Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo *Project Lit Pick!*

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With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain — and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life — and all the rules everyone expects her to play by — once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.

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I didn't like this. Didn't like the writing, didn't like the characters and didn't like the nothingness that was this plot.
Emoni was super quick to judge everyone even though she knows exactly how it is to be judged for nothing.
Also, every problem she ever had was resolved way too easily and quickly, there never was any real conflict. This was 400 pages long and I really feel like I haven't read about anything at all.
Oh and I had to read the sentence "I let go of the breath I didn't know I'd...more

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I didn't like this. Didn't like the writing, didn't like the characters and didn't like the nothingness that was this plot. Emoni was super quick to judge everyone even though she knows exactly how it is to be judged for nothing.

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También de este lado hay sueños. On this side, too, there are dreams.

Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.

Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

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I am currently reading this. All the fake outrage helped to move the book higher on my TBR list. As you said, if you don't like the writing, critiqueI am currently reading this. All the fake outrage helped to move the book higher on my TBR list. As you said, if you don't like the writing, critique the writing. But to say that a Caucasian shouldn't be writing about Hispanic woman is ludicrous at best... or censorship at worst. ...more

Would they say the same thing to Shakespeare, the greatest English-language writer of all time? After all, he was not a Danish prince, Italian teenagers, or Cleopatra. How dare he write about them?(less)

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Nenia ❤️️ I hate everything you love ❤️️ Campbell

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I am currently reading this. All the fake outrage helped to move the book higher on my TBR list. As you said, if you don't like the writing, critiqueI am currently reading this. All the fake outrage helped to move the book higher on my TBR list.

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A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.

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every time i see this title, i think to myself what age is "such fun"... like, there is no age that is fun. "

toddlers - sucks because you can't do anything. you're a helpless blob of fat

teenagers - sucks because you're a hormonal mess

young adults - sucks because you're a hormonal mess who has to deal with college and living on your own

new adults - sucks because you are trying to survive being an adult (and 9 times out of 10, you're lonely)

middle aged - sucks because you're constantly wondering...more

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every time i see this title, i think to myself what age is "such fun"... like, there is no age that is fun. " toddlers - sucks because you can't do anything.

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Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay *Project Lit Pick!*

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Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay *Project Lit Pick!*

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A coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder.

Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.

Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth -- and the part he played in it.

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TOTAL READING TIME: 4 hours, 33 minutes. As I said in my original review, this isn't the first YA book published by a major company I've read that was written by a Filipino author with Filipino lead(s).

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Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last - inexorably - into evil.

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It is no coincidence that Julian chose kids without any parental guidance and was very keen on not having any outside supervision (ie. other facultyIt is no coincidence that Julian chose kids without any parental guidance and was very keen on not having any outside supervision (ie. other faculty involved). That is never a sign of good intentions. He wanted a group of vulnerable kids to influence without any questioning. ...more
Julian was calculating, self-absorbed and cruel. When he described the mysteries of the bacchanal so alluringly, I understood it as an invitation to explore this idea. That part when he and Henry are talking about "necessary" things is quite suspect. I am sure Julian encouraged Henry to pursue a bacchanal by any means necessary, while at the same time maintaining his saintly persona. If you tell a group of impressionable people to have a bacchanal in the way the followers of Bacchus did, there is not only sex but also extreme violence involved. This Julian clearly understood. In my mind, there is no question he manipulated Henry into it.

Julian likes to play naïve and his students, truly naïve themselves, really believe things such as that Julian doesn't know that they use drugs or that someone like Bunny, who clearly was no scholar, wrote his own papers without assistance. Aside from Henry, Richard explains they didn't even know where Julian lived, that it wasn't uncommon for Julian to pretend that he didn't know them in public and that they really didn't know much about Julian. And yet, they all mistakenly believed Julian loved them. A very convenient belief cultivated by Julian so that his students would shield him from any consequences of their wrongdoing.

Then during Bunny's funeral, Julian has that moment when his façade drops for a minute and joyfully tells Henry that it is all like a Dostoyevsky novel. For someone who rejects all modernity and only finds beauty and value in the classics (of antiquity), what an odd thing to say. Of all novelists, to invoke the one who wrote "Crime and Punishment," which is also quoted in that part of the story, is not a coincidence. In that novel, a gruesome murder is carefully planned and executed. Worst of all, when Julian says the funeral reminds him of Dostoyevsky, he is clearly happy about it. At that point, in my mind, there is no doubt he knows exactly what is going on.

The moment Henry and Richard inadvertently force him to acknowledge the situation in the letter, he can no longer pretend to be oblivious and his game is over. He clearly will not be implicated and his students, spiraling out of control, are not longer useful for discreetly enacting his dark ideals, so he leaves.

The big question for me is whether he has done this before. What happened to the group of students before Richard's? Since Henry was determined to protect him (ie. the contradictory statements that Julian knew "all/not all" about the bacchanal), we will never know the full extent of his involvement. However, to me there is no doubt Julian is the mastermind behind Henry's unhinged ideas/plans. Julian chose him precisely because Henry had the charisma to make the group carry out his (Julian's) ideas.(less)

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It is no coincidence that Julian chose kids without any parental guidance and was very keen on not having any outside supervision (ie. other facultyIt is no coincidence that Julian chose kids without any parental guidance and was very keen on not having any outside supervision (ie. other faculty involved).

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Smart and juicy, a compulsively readable novel about a previously happy group of friends and parents that is nearly destroyed by their own competitiveness when an exclusive school for gifted children opens in the community  This deliciously sharp novel captures the relentless ambitions and fears that animate parents and their children in modern America, exploring the conflicts between achievement and potential, talent and privilege.

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Insidious, these false versions of superiority and ease we project onto other families: how often they blind us to the surer comforts of our own.
Bruce Holsinger, The Gifted School

This book makes the Varsity Blues scandal look almost G rated.

This was one wild read!

Review to follow.

So I finished this yesterday. What a wild ride! I enjoyed The Gifted School. It s much deeper then I expected it to be frankly and though it is long, the pages sort of fly. It was a great read.

So I do not have...more

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Insidious, these false versions of superiority and ease we project onto other families: how often they blind us to the surer comforts of our own. Bruce Holsinger, The Gifted School This book makes the Varsity Blues scandal look almost G rated. This was one wild read! Review to follow.

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A profoundly moving novel about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the bond between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness.

Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne—sets the stage for the explosive events to come.

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Ask Again, Yes
by

Release date: May 05, 2020

Enter for a chance to win one of 100 digital copies of ASK AGAIN, YES! This is one beautiful book. I was wowed by Keanes writing and narrative skill ...more

Format:

Giveaway ends in: a

Availability: 100 copies available, 24 people requesting

Giveaway dates: May 08 - Jun 07, 2020

Countries available: U.S.

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Ask Again, Yes by Release date: May 05, 2020 Enter for a chance to win one of 100 digital copies of ASK AGAIN, YES! This is one beautiful book. I was wowed by Keanes writing and narrative skill ...more Format: Giveaway ends in: a Availability: 100 copies available, 24 people requesting Giveaway dates: May 08 - Jun 07, 2020 Countries available: U.S.

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From The Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey Stein

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From The Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey Stein

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The compulsively readable, behind-the-scenes memoir that takes readers inside the Obama White House, through the eyes of a young staffer learning the ropes, falling in love, and finding her place in the world.

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My guess was Dan Pfeiffer, who, like "Jason," worked in the Obama White House at the highest levels in both terms and was separated/divorced duringMy guess was Dan Pfeiffer, who, like "Jason," worked in the Obama White House at the highest levels in both terms and was separated/divorced during much of that time. ...more

Most convincingly, Dan got remarried in November 2016 (same as Jason) to another White House staffer (Jason seemed to be involved with a few WH employees). He doesn't appear in the book, while Marvin Nicholson appears a few times and is described as "goofy." Also, Jason is described as resembling a movie star. Pfieffer has a more than passing resemblance to Sean Astin. (less)

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My guess was Dan Pfeiffer, who, like "Jason," worked in the Obama White House at the highest levels in both terms and was separated/divorced duringMy guess was Dan Pfeiffer, who, like "Jason," worked in the Obama White House at the highest levels in both terms and was separated/divorced during much of that time.

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Set in the days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

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Whats going on?
I dont know, Jeevan. Thats the short answer. I dont know whats going on. Its a flu, that much is obvious, but Ive never seen anything like it. It is so fast. It just seems to spread so quickly

This is one of the rare times Im actually searching for the right words and if you know me, you know that this doesnt happen all too often. *lol* To describe this book is kind of hard though so bear with me when I dont always manage to convey my thoughts and feelings. Its not easy with a...more

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Whats going on?I dont know, Jeevan. Thats the short answer. I dont know whats going on. Its a flu, that much is obvious, but Ive never seen anything like it. It is so fast.

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A beautiful scarf, passed down through the generations, connects two women who learn that the weight of the world is made bearable by the love we give away....

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I liked the story and it had a happy ending but the style of writing was more like a novel written for a young teenager. It lacked the depth of someI liked the story and it had a happy ending but the style of writing was more like a novel written for a young teenager. It lacked the depth of some other novels written concerning the subjects of the book. Connie Schuchard...more (less)

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Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice*

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I liked the story and it had a happy ending but the style of writing was more like a novel written for a young teenager. It lacked the depth of someI liked the story and it had a happy ending but the style of writing was more like a novel written for a young teenager.

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In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. When within this striving “Brotherhood of the Arts,” two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall headlong into love, their passion does not go unnoticed—or untoyed with—by anyone, especially not by their charismatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley.

The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school’s walls—until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. What the reader believes to have happened to David and Sarah and their friends is not entirely true—though it’s not false, either. It takes until the book’s stunning coda for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place—revealing truths that will resonate long after the final sentence.

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[Spoiler-ish discussion ahead - proceed at your own risk!]

2.5, rounded up.

This is one of those books that is probably more fun to discuss and argue about with friends than it is to actually read. Much has been made about the internecine structure and how clever it is, but I didn't find it all that original or revelatory ... and the lack of any final resolution, or even narrative coherency, bothered me, even though that was obviously intentional.

Having been a 'theatre kid' myself, I DID relate...more

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Spoiler-ish discussion ahead - proceed at your own risk!] 2.5, rounded up. This is one of those books that is probably more fun to discuss and argue about with friends than it is to actually read. Much has been made about the internecine structure and how clever it is, but I didn't find it all that original or revelatory ...

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Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now . . .

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The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)

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In all honesty I read this book when I was 13 and didn't find it difficult to grasp. People belittle the intelligence of middlegraders. If a middleIn all honesty I read this book when I was 13 and didn't find it difficult to grasp. People belittle the intelligence of middlegraders.

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Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are ruthlessly ambitious high-flyers working in the lucrative world of Wall Street finance where deception and intimidation thrive. Getting rich is all that matters, and they'll do anything to reach the top.

When they are ordered to participate in a corporate team-building exercise that requires them to escape from a locked elevator, dark secrets of their team begin to be laid bare.

The biggest mystery to solve in this lethal game: What happened to Sara Hall? Once a young shining star—”now gone but not forgotten”.

This is no longer a game.
They’re fighting for their lives.

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Hello friends, let me introduce you to my latest compulsive read. It was utter bananas, and for those who need a grounded, realistic thriller, this is not for you. However, if you fall into the category of "I need a fast paced, balls-to-the-wall, compulsive page turner", do yourself a favor and move The Escape Room to the top of your summer TBR list. I was perusing my shelves this weekend and realized I had a craving to be entertained. I didn't need anything complicated nor grounded; I simply...more

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Norma * Traveling Sister and proud Grandma!!!

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Hello friends, let me introduce you to my latest compulsive read. It was utter bananas, and for those who need a grounded, realistic thriller, this is not for you. However, if you fall into the category of "I need a fast paced, balls-to-the-wall, compulsive page turner", do yourself a favor and move The Escape Room to the top of your summer TBR list.

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Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

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Sometimes a story must be told.
Sometimes when the average rating for a book by 65, 652 people is 4.39...we are foolish to not read it.
Sometime books rated high - are Goodreads Choice Winners - really are heartbreaking- beautiful- emotional - important - historical - powerful - eye opening - educational - ( based on real life scandals) - wonderful and compelling.

Sad with a happy ending!

Like many have said - I am glad I read it. The horrors were gut-wrenching - no other way to say it The few...more

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Norma * Traveling Sister and proud Grandma!!!

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Sometimes a story must be told. Sometimes when the average rating for a book by 65, 652 people is 4.39...we are foolish to not read it. Sometime books rated high - are Goodreads Choice Winners - really are heartbreaking- beautiful- emotional - important - historical - powerful - eye opening - educational - ( based on real life scandals) - wonderful and compelling.

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From the author of the runaway bestseller The Orphan’s Talecomes a remarkable story of friendship and courage centered around three women and a ring of female spies during World War II.

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I wonder if you were reading an uncorrected advance copy. The one I am reading says 48 states.I wonder if you were reading an uncorrected advance copy. The one I am reading says 48 states.
I did notice the more glaring error, when Grace is in a
I did notice the more glaring error, when Grace is in a café in 1946 and watching the news on a tv set. TV was still so new, it would be very unlikely that there was one in a café, and it would definitely not have been broadcasting about a traffic fatality in New York city.(less) ...more

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I wonder if you were reading an uncorrected advance copy. The one I am reading says 48 states.I wonder if you were reading an uncorrected advance copy. The one I am reading says 48 states.I did notice the more glaring error, when Grace is in aI did notice the more glaring error, when Grace is in a café in 1946 and watching the news on a tv set.

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Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .
After. Nothing is ever the same.

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Obviously there are two different types of people who've read this book. Those who have read it and think that it is just okay, and then the peopleObviously there are two different types of people who've read this book. Those who have read it and think that it is just okay, and then the people that absolutely love this book. This is one of my favorite books, and I strongly recommend it if you are into John Green books:) ...more (less)

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Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker Queen of the Undead

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Obviously there are two different types of people who've read this book. Those who have read it and think that it is just okay, and then the peopleObviously there are two different types of people who've read this book. Those who have read it and think that it is just okay, and then the people that absolutely love this book.

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FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

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Kristin Hannah is a pro in the chick-lit genre, and I applaud her efforts to break into historical fiction with The Nightingale. Unfortunately, I cannot say that I loved the result.

When I read historical fiction in a war setting, I expect a certain rawness that just wasn't delivered here. Yes, she included historically accurate descriptions of carnage, but the tone was destroyed with a barrage of trite elements.

The two main characters happen to be beautiful, irresistible, young sisters with...more

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Kristin Hannah is a pro in the chick-lit genre, and I applaud her efforts to break into historical fiction with The Nightingale. Unfortunately, I cannot say that I loved the result. When I read historical fiction in a war setting, I expect a certain rawness that just wasn't delivered here.

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Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

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Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

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Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Skyis the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

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"You know, my young friend, I will be ninety years old next year, and life is still a constant surprise to me. We never know what will happen next, what we will see, and what important person will come into our life, or what important person we will lose. Life is change, constant change, and unless we are lucky enough to find comedy in it, change is nearly always a drama, if not a tragedy. But after everything, and even when the skies turn scarlet and threatening, I still believe that if we are lucky enough to be alive, we must give thanks for the miracle of every moment of every day, no matter how flawed."

"How do you find happiness?" Anna paused, then said, "You start by looking right around you for the blessings you have."

More quotes...

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"You know, my young friend, I will be ninety years old next year, and life is still a constant surprise to me. We never know what will happen next, what we will see, and what important person will come into our life, or what important person we will lose.

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Fifteen-year-old Ana Cancion never dreamed of moving to America, the way the girls she grew up with in the Dominican countryside did. But when Juan Ruiz proposes and promises to take her to New York City, she has to say yes. It doesn’t matter that he is twice her age, that there is no love between them. Their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate. So on New Year’s Day, 1965, Ana leaves behind everything she knows and becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a cold six-floor walk-up in Washington Heights. Lonely and miserable, Ana hatches a reckless plan to escape. But at the bus terminal, she is stopped by Cesar, Juan’s free-spirited younger brother, who convinces her to stay...

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Why I love it
by Idra Novey

The best novels, I find, are books I begin for one reason and end up loving for another. That unpredictability is what makes a novel come alive for me. For many years, I have admired the vitality of Angie Cruzs writing, and I anticipated that Dominicana would be full of dynamic scenes and fearless candor. What I didnt expect was how intensely and often I would go on considering the resilience of its mesmerizing protagonist, Ana, after finishing this book.

Dominicana...more

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Why I love itby Idra Novey The best novels, I find, are books I begin for one reason and end up loving for another. That unpredictability is what makes a novel come alive for me. For many years, I have admired the vitality of Angie Cruzs writing, and I anticipated that Dominicana would be full of dynamic scenes and fearless candor.

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As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone." Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called The Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides "physical, intellectual and moral training" so the delinquent boys in their charge can become "honorable and honest men."

In reality, The Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors, where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." Stunned to find himself in such a vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr. King's ringing assertion "Throw us in jail and we will still love you." His friend Turner thinks Elwood is worse than naive, that the world is crooked and the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble.

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He was a black boy in the Jim Crow South. No further explanation needed. There would not have been any opportunity for anyone to stand up for him, norHe was a black boy in the Jim Crow South. No further explanation needed. There would not have been any opportunity for anyone to stand up for him, nor would they even try to get involved. If you have to ask this question, you probably aren't going to "get" the story at all. Lisa Williams...more (less)

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He was a black boy in the Jim Crow South. No further explanation needed. There would not have been any opportunity for anyone to stand up for him, norHe was a black boy in the Jim Crow South. No further explanation needed.

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A Place for Us unfolds the lives of an Indian-American Muslim family, gathered together in their Californian hometown to celebrate the eldest daughter, Hadia's, wedding - a match of love rather than tradition. It is here, on this momentous day, that Amar, the youngest of the siblings, reunites with his family for the first time in three years. Rafiq and Layla must now contend with the choices and betrayals that lead to their son's estrangement - the reckoning of parents who strove to pass on their cultures and traditions to their children; and of children who in turn struggle to balance authenticity in themselves with loyalty to the home they came from.

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I did initially, but after a bit it became more like how we remember things in our lives anyway...something will happen that takes us back, etc. I did initially, but after a bit it became more like how we remember things in our lives anyway...something will happen that takes us back, etc.

The fourth part, written from the perspective of the father, is the strongest in the book IMHO, and really ties the whole book together.(less)
The ...more

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Norma * Traveling Sister and proud Grandma!!!

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I did initially, but after a bit it became more like how we remember things in our lives anyway...something will happen that takes us back, etc. I did initially, but after a bit it became more like how we remember things in our lives anyway...something will happen that takes us back, etc.

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Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage--after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures--Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time--until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant, which, finally, she does--but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Measks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.

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NO SPOILERS

He removed his jacket, folded it and laid it on the bed.

Then the fires of hell overflowed their banks and spilled into our bedroom. 181

Hold up, wait a minute. What the FUCK was this book. It was one of the most fucked-up books. It started out fucked-up and then just progressively got more and more and more fucked-up as it went along. When you thought things couldn't POSSIBLY get any more fucked-up, then Adébáyọ just slams you with more.

So dark. So twisted.

So FUCKING GOOD. OMG. This...more

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NO SPOILERS He removed his jacket, folded it and laid it on the bed. Then the fires of hell overflowed their banks and spilled into our bedroom. 181 Hold up, wait a minute. What the FUCK was this book. It was one of the most fucked-up books.

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In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying, but before she ends it all, Nao plans to document the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace—and will touch lives in a ways she can scarcely imagine.

Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.

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Hi, if I may chime in. From what I gathered, what the novel is attempting to do at this point is to question who is the writer and reader of theHi, if I may chime in. From what I gathered, what the novel is attempting to do at this point is to question who is the writer and reader of the journal and the novel itself. It is quite clear that Ruth (the character) is supposed to be the same person as the author, and the entire novel can be seen (and is usually understood) as her commentary on Nao's journal. The catch here is, Ruth Ozeki (the author) wrote both Ruth (the character's) parts and Nao's journal. If we look at the novel through this lens, then the missing pages of the journal, which then reappear, are basically Ruth's thoughts as she is writing the journal, and Nao is just a fictional character. This is of course just one of the interpretations and the novel suggests (through the analogy with Schrodinger's cat), that two things can happen at the same time and coexist at the same time (just as the cat is both dead and alive in the box). All this is quite mind-boggling but I hope I'm making any sense. The idea is therefore this 'metafiction' and converging of realities, in which we question who Ruth as the author, Ruth as the character, and Nao really are. In fact, they all might be the same person, or, as the quantum theory would have it, just three (possible) realities existing at the same time. For as much as we know, Nao might be Ruth if she grew up in Japan. - It's just a thought and a possible interpretation, but this is precisely what is so amazing about this novel. :) ...more (less)

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Hi, if I may chime in. From what I gathered, what the novel is attempting to do at this point is to question who is the writer and reader of theHi, if I may chime in.

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In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.

For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.

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Not really. Holmes did not answer requests for an interview. She remains mysterious as a person. The conjecture is she was simply high on herself.Not really. Holmes did not answer requests for an interview. She remains mysterious as a person. The conjecture is she was simply high on herself. Some think her lover and business partner Sunny Balwani manipulated her as a young ingenue, but this book firmly rejects that, pointing out that she was manipulating people all the way back in college. (I thought that was before she'd met him but apparently they'd met while she was still in high school. Still, there's not much evidence she was ever under his influence; clearly at best they were equals, and at worst he was under hers, based on her observed behavior.) ...more

EDIT: I should also point out that this book says she was mentored by Silicon Valley's "best," including Larry Ellison, who is a textbook example of the amoral, at-all-cost "entrepreneur" the area is so famous for. Maybe she started out genuine but perhaps the culture of the Valley corrupted her, making her believe that the ends justified the means and that the most important thing wasn't to deliver value, but to secure yet more funding, and hire the best lawyers to destroy anyone who came in her way. Her story really isn't that different from a lot of Silicon Valley; hers is just worse because of the size and scope, and because she was in a highly regulated space for once, whereas most operate in free-wheeling tech that has almost no rules.

It's all conjecture and speculation, tho. Even when/if she writes her own book, I doubt it will give any valuable insight, just more spin. Nothing short of an independent psychiatric eval will give us a glimmer of what might really have happened.(less)

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Not really. Holmes did not answer requests for an interview. She remains mysterious as a person. The conjecture is she was simply high on herself.Not really. Holmes did not answer requests for an interview. She remains mysterious as a person. The conjecture is she was simply high on herself.

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The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs

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The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs

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An exquisite memoir about how to live--and love--every day with "death in the room," from poet Nina Riggs, mother of two young sons and the direct descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in the tradition of When Breath Becomes Air.

"We are breathless, but we love the days. They are promises. They are the only way to walk from one night to the other."

Nina Riggs was just thirty-seven years old when initially diagnosed with breast cancer--one small spot. Within a year, the mother of two sons, ages seven and nine, and married sixteen years to her best friend, received the devastating news that her cancer was terminal.

How does one live each day, "unattached to outcome"? How does one approach the moments, big and small, with both love and honesty?

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A natural successor, or partner, to When Breath Becomes Air, with which it shares beautiful prose and a literary/philosophical approach to terminal cancer. Its a wonderful book, so wry and honest, with a voice that reminds me of Anne Lamott and Elizabeth McCracken. (For a while there was a sweet epilogue to these real-life losses: Riggs widower and Paul Kalanithis widow were temporarily an item! See this article.)

It started with a tiny spot of cancer in the breast. No one dies from one small...more

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Kaytee Bole (glitteringeyes418 on Instagram)

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☘Misericordia☘ ~ The Serendipity Aegis ~ ✺❂❤❣

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A natural successor, or partner, to When Breath Becomes Air, with which it shares beautiful prose and a literary/philosophical approach to terminal cancer. Its a wonderful book, so wry and honest, with a voice that reminds me of Anne Lamott and Elizabeth McCracken.

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An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting - he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth.

From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd - whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself - Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

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Who am I? The monster repeated. I am the spine the mountains hang upon! I am the tears the rivers cry! I am the lungs that breathe the wind!...I am everything untamed and untameable! I am this wild earth, come for you Conor OMalley.

I enjoyed this tale, though I have to admit I wasnt as blown away as the masses of other reviewers seemed to be.
Ive read a lot of books on tough topics, including illness and while I believe this one was done very well it didnt stand out from among many others.

...more

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Who am I? The monster repeated. I am the spine the mountains hang upon! I am the tears the rivers cry! I am the lungs that breathe the wind!...I am everything untamed and untameable! I am this wild earth, come for you Conor OMalley.

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Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country

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Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country

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“How do we become who we are in the world? We ask the world to teach us.” In her travels from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska, Pam Houston explores what ties her to the earth—her 120-acre homestead in the Colorado Rockies most of all. Here, elk calves and bluebirds mark the changing seasons, winter temperatures drop to 35 below, and lightning sparks a 110,000-acre wildfire in a dry summer, threatening her century-old barn and its inhabitants. Alongside her devoted Irish wolfhounds, Houston learns what it means to take responsibility for a piece of land and the creatures on it.

A survivor of parental abuse and neglect, Houston also discovers how the natural world has mothered and healed her. Deep Creekdelivers her most profound meditations yet on how “to live simultaneously inside the wonder and the grief . . . to love the damaged world and do what I can to help it thrive.”

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9,000 feet above sea level is a Place, a ranch, surrounded by mountains on most sides. It has allowed a Jersey Girl nursing a myriad of wounds to heal, grow, and love. This poignant ode to Place, to nature, to natural beauty, and ultimately optimism - is a pushback against cynicism and meanness. It provides the same inevitable hope that comes with the first shoots of grass in the pasture. It champions the idea that there is safety in saving - in reaching out, in trusting to everyday grace.

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9,000 feet above sea level is a Place, a ranch, surrounded by mountains on most sides. It has allowed a Jersey Girl nursing a myriad of wounds to heal, grow, and love. This poignant ode to Place, to nature, to natural beauty, and ultimately optimism - is a pushback against cynicism and meanness.

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The Gay Talese Reader: Portraits and Encounters

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The Gay Talese Reader: Portraits and Encounters

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As a young reporter for The New York Times, in 1961 Gay Talese published his first book, New York: A Serendipiter's Journey, a series of vignettes and essays that began, "New York is a city of things unnoticed". It is a city with cats sleeping under parked cars, two stone armadillos crawling up St. Patrick's Cathedral, and thousands of ants creeping on top of the Empire State Building.

Attention to detail and observation of the unnoticed is the hallmark of Gay Talese's writing, and The Gay Talese Reader brings together the best of his essays and classic profiles. This collection opens with "New York Is a City of Things Unnoticed" and includes "Silent Season of a Hero" (about Joe DiMaggio), "Ali in Havana" and "Looking for Hemingway" as well as several other favorite pieces. It also features a previously unpublished article on the infamous case of Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt, and concludes with the autobiographical pieces that are among Talese's finest writings. These works give insight into the progression of a writer at the pinnacle of his craft.

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"In New York the Fifth Avenue Lingerie Shop is on Madison Avenue, the Madison Pet Shop is on Lexington Avenue, the Park Avenue Florist is on Madison Avenue, and the Lexington Hand Laundry is on Third Avenue. New York is the home of 120 pawnbrokers, and it is where Bishop Sheen's brother, Dr. Sheen, shares an office with one Dr. Bishop."

"Sinatra was ill. He was the victim of an ailment so common that most people would consider it trivial. But when it gets to Sinatra, it can plunge him into a state of anguish, deep depression, panic, even rage. Frank Sinatra had a cold. Sinatra with a cold is Picasso without paint, Ferrari without fuel- only worse. For the common cold robs Sinatra of that uninsurable jewel, his voice, cutting into the core of his confidence, and it not only affects his own psyche but also seems to cause a kind of psychosomatic nasal drip within dozens of people who work for him, drink with him, love him, depend on him for their own welfare and stability. A Sinatra with a cold can, in a small way, send vibrations through the entertainment industry and beyond as surely as a president of the United States, suddenly sick, can shake the national economy. For Frank Sinatra was now involved with many things involving many people-his own film company, his record company, his private airline, his missile-parts firm, his real-estate holdings across the nation, his personal staff of seventy-five-which are only a portion of the power he is and has come to represent. He seemed now to be also the embodiment of the fully emancipated male, perhaps the only one in America, the man who can do anything he wants, anything, can do it because he has the money, the energy, and no apparent guilt."

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いつもボーッとしていて、何を考えているかわからない。 尻尾でエサをつるのが得意。

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"In New York the Fifth Avenue Lingerie Shop is on Madison Avenue, the Madison Pet Shop is on Lexington Avenue, the Park Avenue Florist is on Madison Avenue, and the Lexington Hand Laundry is on Third Avenue. New York is the home of 120 pawnbrokers, and it is where Bishop Sheen's brother, Dr. Sheen, shares an office with one Dr. Bishop."

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'Santaland Diaries' contains six of David Sedaris' most profound Christmas stories, from Dinah, the Christmas Whore to Season's Greetings to our Friends and Family.

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"The woman in charge of costuming assigned us our outfits and gave us a lecture on keeping things clean. She held up a calendar and said, "Ladies, you know what this is. Use it. I have scraped enough blood out from the crotches of elf knickers to last me the rest of my life. And don't tell me, 'I don't wear underpants, I'm a dancer.' You're not a dancer. If you were a real dancer you wouldn't be here. You're an elf and you're going to wear panties like an elf."

"She was at a cash register, screaming at a customer. She was, in fact, calling this customer a bitch. I touched her arm and said, "I have to go now." She laid her hand on my shoulder, squeezed it gently, and continued her conversation, saying, "Don't tell the store president I called you a bitch. Tell him I called you a fucking bitch, because that's exactly what you are. Now get out of my sight before I do something we both regret."

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"The woman in charge of costuming assigned us our outfits and gave us a lecture on keeping things clean. She held up a calendar and said, "Ladies, you know what this is. Use it. I have scraped enough blood out from the crotches of elf knickers to last me the rest of my life.

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The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates

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The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates

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For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission. Her goal, as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, invest in women.

In this candid and inspiring book, Gates traces her awakening to the link between women's empowerment and the health of societies. She shows some of the tremendous opportunities that exist right now to “turbo-charge" change. And she provides simple and effective ways each one of us can make a difference.

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Yes, it is a brilliant and inspirational call to action for equality in our homes, the U.S., and around the world. Through stories of her own life andYes, it is a brilliant and inspirational call to action for equality in our homes, the U.S., and around the world. Through stories of her own life and women around the world, Melinda Gates brings into focus issues, that if we solve, can help improve the lives of everyone around the world. It is required reading in my house, and I highly encourage everyone to read it. ...more (less)

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Yes, it is a brilliant and inspirational call to action for equality in our homes, the U.S., and around the world. Through stories of her own life andYes, it is a brilliant and inspirational call to action for equality in our homes, the U.S., and around the world.

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Last Dance at the Frosty Queen by Richard Uhlig

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Last Dance at the Frosty Queen by Richard Uhlig

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On the dock of a lake in a tiny town at the corner of Nowhere & Nowhere, he sits counting the seconds until his high school graduation—at which point Arthur M. Flood intends to leave his hick life far behind in the brown Kansas dust. That's the plan. Until . . . up from the lake's muddy depths swims a girl. She's not a mermaid, but she is the one who shakes up Arty's life, makes him mad and mad for her, and helps him find a pathway to his past, his future, and where his heart truly lies.

Teens will recognize their own emotional landscape in this steamy, funny, coming-of-age tale in which the heart tries to hide, only to be utterly exposed by love and lust, lost and found.

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Last Dance at the Frosty Queen book. Read 25 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. On the dock of a lake in a tiny town at the corner o...

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The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

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The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

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In 1925, Josephine is the proud owner of a thriving farm. As a child, she channeled otherworldly power to free herself from slavery. Now, her new neighbor, a white woman named Charlotte, seeks her company, and an uneasy friendship grows between them. But Charlotte has also sought solace in the Ku Klux Klan, a relationship that jeopardizes Josephine's family.

Nearly one hundred years later, Josephine's descendant, Ava, is a single mother who has just lost her job. She moves in with her white grandmother Martha, a wealthy but lonely woman who pays her grandchild to be her companion. But Martha's behavior soon becomes erratic, then even threatening, and Ava must escape before her story and Josephine's converge.

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No, she was not. She was the child that Jupiter helped to escape. As a woman, she was married to Isaiah (as I remember it) who was deceased at time ofNo, she was not. She was the child that Jupiter helped to escape. As a woman, she was married to Isaiah (as I remember it) who was deceased at time of the telling of this story. ...more (less)

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No, she was not. She was the child that Jupiter helped to escape. As a woman, she was married to Isaiah (as I remember it) who was deceased at time ofNo, she was not. She was the child that Jupiter helped to escape.

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“I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus.”

Raised in a wealthy family in Sepphoris with ties to the ruler of Galilee, Ana is rebellious and ambitious, a relentless seeker with a brilliant, curious mind and a daring spirit. She yearns for a pursuit worthy of her life, but finds no outlet for her considerable talents. Defying the expectations placed on women, she engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes secret narratives about neglected and silenced women. When she meets the eighteen-year-old Jesus, each is drawn to and enriched by the other’s spiritual and philosophical ideas. He becomes a floodgate for her intellect, but also the awakener of her heart.
Grounded in meticulous historical research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus’s life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place, and culture devised to silence her.

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Why I love it
by Glennon Doyle, Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed

Sue Monk Kidd, the brilliant, beloved storyteller who gifted us with The Secret Life of Bees, has done it again. Her most recent treasure, The Book of Longings, is the first book that has literally taken my breath away. As I read, I had to close it and breathe deeply, again and again.

Both a radical reimagining of the New Testament, and an homage to all untamed, trespassing women, The Book of Longings is right on...more

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Why I love itby Glennon Doyle, Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed Sue Monk Kidd, the brilliant, beloved storyteller who gifted us with The Secret Life of Bees, has done it again. Her most recent treasure, The Book of Longings, is the first book that has literally taken my breath away.

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Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

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Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

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The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins—aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony—and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?
What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Happy anniversary, Doubleday. This is my thirtieth review for you.

Big thanks go to Net Galley and Doubleday for the review copy.

I wanted to read Kolkers book because so little is written about schizophrenia for the general readership. My best friends older brother was schizophrenic, and sometimes she would phone me crying and whispering from the floor of her bedroom closet. The brolets call him Marco--was a large person, over six feet tall with a towering red afro that made him appear even...more

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Happy anniversary, Doubleday. This is my thirtieth review for you. Big thanks go to Net Galley and Doubleday for the review copy. I wanted to read Kolkers book because so little is written about schizophrenia for the general readership.

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Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes

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Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes

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The mega-talented creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away With Murder chronicles how saying YES for one year changed her life―and how it can change yours, too.

With three hit shows on television and three children at home, the uber-talented Shonda Rhimes had lots of good reasons to say NO when an unexpected invitation arrived. Hollywood party? No. Speaking engagement? No. Media appearances? No.

And there was the side benefit of saying No for an introvert like Shonda: nothing new to fear.

Then Shonda’s sister laid down a challenge: just for one year, try to say YES to the unexpected invitations that come your way. Shonda reluctantly agreed―and the result was nothing short of transformative. In Year of Yes, Shonda Rhimes chronicles the powerful impact saying Yes had on every aspect of her life―and how we can all change our lives with one little word. Yes.

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"I am not lucky. You know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard. Don't call me lucky. Call me a badass."

"There is no list of rules. There is one rule. The rule is: there are no rules. Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to. As your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be. Being traditional is not traditional anymore. It's funny that we still think of it that way. Normalize your lives, people. You don't want a baby? Don't have one. I don't want to get married? I won't. You want to live alone? Enjoy it. You want to love someone? Love someone. Don't apologize. Don't explain. Don't ever feel less than. When you feel the need to apologize or explain who you are, it means the voice in your head is telling you the wrong story. Wipe the slate clean. And rewrite it. No fairy tales. Be your own narrator. And go for a happy ending. One foot in front of the other. You will make it."

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"I am not lucky. You know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard. Don't call me lucky. Call me a badass." "There is no list of rules. There is one rule.

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Paris between the wars teems with artists, writers, and musicians, a glittering crucible of genius. But amidst the dazzling creativity of the city’s most famous citizens, four regular people are each searching for something they’ve lost.

Camille was the maid of Marcel Proust, and she has a secret: when she was asked to burn her employer’s notebooks, she saved one for herself. Now she is desperate to find it before her betrayal is revealed. Souren, an Armenian refugee, performs puppet shows for children that are nothing like the fairy tales they expect. Lovesick artist Guillaume is down on his luck and running from a debt he cannot repay—but when Gertrude Stein walks into his studio, he wonders if this is the day everything could change. And Jean-Paul is a journalist who tells other people’s stories, because his own is too painful to tell. When the quartet’s paths finally cross in an unforgettable climax, each discovers if they will find what they are looking for.

Told over the course of a single day in 1927, The Paris Hours takes four ordinary people whose stories, told together, are as extraordinary as the glorious city they inhabit.

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"They call my country the land of the free, but I was born poor and black, and there wasn't much free about that ."

"The women would not be looking at him like this if he were carrying lilies, reflects Jean-Paul. Flowers have there own silent vocabulary. There are blooms for love, for friendship, for sorrow, and for joy. He inspect the roses he is carrying. Long-stemmed and elegant, they have been grown, selected, arranged, and purchased for a single, unambiguous purpose: to seduce."

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"They call my country the land of the free, but I was born poor and black, and there wasn't much free about that ." "The women would not be looking at him like this if he were carrying lilies, reflects Jean-Paul. Flowers have there own silent vocabulary.

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In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

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UPDATE: have just watched the first episode of this tv show on Hulu. as someone who really loved the book a lot before the adaptation was even announced: I am a very big fan. Kerry Washington as Mia is a really good choice. also, for personal reasons, Pearl is my favorite character now.

Most of the time, everyone deserves more than one chance. We all do things we regret now and then. You just have to carry them with you.

Never in my life have I read any book, any narrative, that cared...more

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UPDATE: have just watched the first episode of this tv show on Hulu. as someone who really loved the book a lot before the adaptation was even announced: I am a very big fan. Kerry Washington as Mia is a really good choice. also, for personal reasons, Pearl is my favorite character now.

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The author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be delivers her most ambitious and powerful novel to date: a captivating story of two very different women who build an unexpected friendship: a 91-year-old woman with a hidden past as an orphan-train rider and the teenage girl whose own troubled adolescence leads her to seek answers to questions no one has ever thought to ask.

Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance. Just months from "aging out" of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping her out of juvie and worse.

Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.

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The real truth behind this wonderful story is actually quite awful in magnitude. Between 1854 and 1929, more than 200,00 homeless, orphaned or abandoned children were sent to the Midwest: ostensibly for adoption but often more became indentured servitude, to people who wanted a worker rather than a child. It is a little known fact of America's history and one I knew nothing about. I love it when an author sends me hurrying to Google in order to learn more about certain facts I've learned from...more

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The real truth behind this wonderful story is actually quite awful in magnitude. Between 1854 and 1929, more than 200,00 homeless, orphaned or abandoned children were sent to the Midwest: ostensibly for adoption but often more became indentured servitude, to people who wanted a worker rather than a child.