Category: New! (Page 12 of 12)

These are the newest books I’ve recommended.

Reflections on The Underground Railroad

September 25, 2016 /

As a student of slave narratives in my master’s program, I was especially intrigued about the methods author Colson Whitehead uses to make the railroad more than a metaphor and instead a functioning railroad in his new novel, The Underground Railroad. Also of note, the very last book I read in my master’s studies (before concentrating on my thesis) was his Zone One.

I wondered: 1) What would I think of this book compared to the “real” slave narratives I have studied and does this do them injustice? 2) Will the fantastical elements take away from the heavy topic here? And 3) Will the book disappoint me by just telling me more of what I already know?

Something completely different: Multiple Choice

September 15, 2016 /

The Multiple Choice cover characterizes the book as well as possible: It reads as fiction, non-fiction, possibly poetry, and all of these genres together yet unlike any of them.

It’s not very often I can write that a book is completely different than anything I’ve ever read, but today I can.

Reading Multiple Choice is an experience I recommend to anyone who enjoys the study of literature, whether your study is formal or not. I expect this book will pop up on many modern literature syllabi.

As the title implies, the book reads in the format of a standardized test.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven: A welcome addition to the WWII genre

September 10, 2016 /

Chris Cleve notes in his fascinating Author’s Note for Everyone Brave is Forgiven,

“I belong to the last generation of writers who can still talk to people who lived through the Second World War.”

We readers have been kept busy the past couple of years with several bestselling and critically acclaimed novels set during World War II. As Cleve’s note implies, too soon any additional novels on this topic may not be as historically accurate or inspired, so I am happy for this influx of reading material.

Cleve, for example, loosely based this novel on his grandparents.

He says of the quick loves and engagements from this era,

“Theirs was a generation whose choices were made quickly, through bravery and instinct, and whose hopes always hung by a thread.”

For Fun: Eligible and the modern Bennet family

August 26, 2016 /

Eligible: A Novel is “A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice.”

This does not – as I initially assumed – mean it will remind you of Pride and Prejudice like the way The Tea Planters Wife reminded me of Rebecca (at first anyway); the characters and plot of this new book are literally modeled after Pride and Prejudice.

This book is part of the Austen Project, which pairs six bestselling contemporary authors with Jane Austen’s six complete works.

In this modern retelling, set in Cincinnati, Mrs. Bennet remains overbearing and super annoying about wanting all of her daughters, especially the older two, married yesterday. Bingley is a doctor who recently appeared on a reality dating show called Eligible, which is obviously modeled after the Bachelor (a super fun plot for me because I admit I am a fan!).

And instead of obsessing over handwritten letters as everybody figures everything out, this modern version, of course, uses text messages.

So does it work?

My Oprah’s Book Club giveaway – Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad

August 21, 2016 /

Oprah’s new book club pick, Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad: A Novel, has me intrigued.

This book apparently moves into the fantastical. I’m so interested to read how Whitehead executes this with such a heavy and historical subject.

I have a few books in queue before this one, but I plan to start reading it within the next couple of weeks.

Will you join me?

I purchased two copies of this book – one for me and one to give away!

You can sign up to win my extra book here:

The Tea Planter’s Wife and her predicament

August 12, 2016 /

The beginning of The Tea Planter’s Wife: A Novel reminded me of Rebecca: A new bride arrives at an elaborate and somewhat mysterious estate with lots of vegetation.

This newer novel, already an international bestseller after its initial U.K. publishing, is set during the 1920s-30s in Ceylon, an island off of India that was colonized by Britain until 1972 and is now known as Sri Lanka.

Like in Rebecca, the husband is a widower, and the story of the dead wife is shrouded in mystery. The likeable new wife is trying to figure out how to run her new household (this one obviously on a tea plantation) while also wondering what exactly happened to the first wife.

But then…the plot took a very interesting turn and definitely stopped reminding me of Rebecca.

A crazy, delightful read about life and happiness: “The Invoice”

July 10, 2016 /

I was chuckling early on in Jonas Karlsson’s The Invoice: A Novel thanks to its crazy story line:

A seemingly Joe Average character in Sweden gets an astronomical invoice from a government agency. He has no idea what he is being charged for or how he could possibly pay it, so he incessantly calls the hotline and later visits the agency to get the answers he craves.

As he works through the shock and acceptance of this “debt” he has been assessed for a simple yet mostly happy life, he contemplates the value of life experiences. Consequently, a reader contemplates such things along with him.

All the Missing Girls: Clear your schedule and read this book now

July 1, 2016 /

I can count on one hand the number of books that gripped me the way All the Missing Girls just did. I read this mystery/thriller over three evenings/late nights, wishing I could clear my schedule to finish it sooner. So, consider this a warning to plan accordingly.

First I should address the structure. After an introduction to set the scene, the story line is presented backwards. Each day for two weeks is presented as a chapter labeled as “the day before.” As the days unfold, or fold?, the details are filled in. This structure may seem gimmicky or confusing, but I can assure you it works well and provides a reading experience rarely equaled.

Category: New! (Page 12 of 12)

Reflections on The Underground Railroad

Something completely different: Multiple Choice

Everyone Brave is Forgiven: A welcome addition to the WWII genre

For Fun: Eligible and the modern Bennet family

My Oprah’s Book Club giveaway – Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad

The Tea Planter’s Wife and her predicament

A crazy, delightful read about life and happiness: “The Invoice”

All the Missing Girls: Clear your schedule and read this book now

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