Category: Contemporary Novels
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What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Just in time for Valentine’s Day – these books both deal with women in their forties and fifties seemingly falling in love with horribly unsuitable (younger) men. The Music Lesson by Katharine Weber When forty-something librarian Patricia Dolan meets a distant Irish cousin, Mickey, she immediately falls in love with his youth, confidence and beauty.…
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Stevenson and Sharma
I’ve decided to only post my thoughts on two books at a time instead of three. I think writing about three books at a time makes a post too long. Also I am feeling pretty loopy due to allergies so I hope these following thoughts make sense. Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson…
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Tartt, Thirkell and Sigurdardottir
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown and Company, 2013) – There’s not much to say about The Goldfinch that hasn’t already been said, but I can tell you that it is a book full of ups and downs, highs (literally) and lows that completely entraps the reader with its mesmerizing, epic story. At nearly 800…
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Last Mini Thoughts of the Year
These are the last three books I’ve read, but hopefully not the last of the year – I’m determined to finish The Goldfinch by Wednesday. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer – The premise of this book could have been brilliant – three different women in different years, 1985, 1942, and…
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Mini Thoughts on Recent Suspense Reads
During my recent flirtation with suspense novels I finished these three very different books. Here are my mini thoughts: The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon – This dual narrative novel has one part set in modern day and the other storyline set in the early 20th century. A young women returns home to find her…
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Mini Thoughts on Recent Reads #4
I’ve been reading so much lately that I have a small backlog of books to tell you about so I am going to break them up into several Mini Thoughts for the next few posts until I am caught up. Here are the first two titles: Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford – I…
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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Me Before You is not the type of book that I’m usually drawn to. I had seen the multiple glowing reviews and testaments from bloggers and other readers, but it just didn’t appeal to me when it was released last year. So I’m not really sure what drew me to pick it up when I…
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Fin & Lady by Cathleen Schine
“Fin’s funeral suit was a year old, worn three times, already too small”. I knew I wanted to read this book when I saw that it takes place in the mid-sixties, one of my favorite time periods. I love the music, the fashion, the films and the changing social and cultural norms. Fin & Lady…
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Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
“The first annoying thing is when I ask Dad what he thinks happened to Mom, he always says, “What’s most important is for you to understand it’s not your fault.” This very charming novel was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. It didn’t win (the prize was awarded to A.M. Homes last week) and…
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Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
“It was the last night of 1937.” Rules of Civility was the third book that we read for my new book group. It had a bit of a mixed review from the book group members with the majority of us liking it, and other members being a bit put off by some of the plot…
A Certain Fondness 