Everyone has authors they consider an autobuy -- authors who could write a guide to federal tax code and you'd still be eager to read it. Barbara Kingsolver (Small Wonder, The Poisonwood Bible) is one of mine, so I will admit that I came to her latest, Unsheltered, with a definite bias. The verdict, surprising…
It is almost impossible to write a proper review of Kate Atkinson’s Transcription without spoiling it. (Yes, it’s one of THOSE books.) (I’m sorry.) But it’s also impossible NOT to talk about it, because Transcription is, deservedly, one of the Big Books of Fall. Also, I want people to read it and then visit me…
Sometimes, I need to let a book marinate before passing judgment on it. A clever twisty thriller might, after a few days' consideration, sprout countless plotholes. Far more rare -- and more enjoyable -- are the times that a "it was pretty good, I guess," book transforms into “I can't stop thinking about this story!" Happily,…
I picked up Libby Page’s The Lido expecting a fast, cheerful read. The breezily illustrated cover suggested that I’d probably like it just fine, but forget about it after a few days. Delightfully, I was wrong. Yes, it’s a fast read. Yes, it’s cheerful (mostly). Yes, I had to look up how to pronounce lido.…
Few things give me greater joy than hearing my kids discussing a book they’ve enjoyed, particularly if I catch them discussing said book with each other. Not only do these conversations give me hope that they might someday treat their siblings like actual civilized human beings on a regular basis, but I firmly believe that…
Friends, a dilemma. I need a good book. Everything I've read lately has ranged from, “Fine, I guess,” to “Meh.” I’m leery of starting anything on my TBR pile, because in my current mood, I might miss something I’d normally consider a great book. In short, I am in a reading slump, and it is…
It's officially summer: the farmer's market is open, the humidity is threatening to melt my brain...and my kids are out of school, which means I am lucky to get fifteen minutes of uninterrupted reading before someone shouts out "I REQUIRE SUSTENANCE!" or asks me to admire their latest Lego creation. Even so, I'm not yet…
Typically, when I think of a spinster detective, it's Miss Marple who comes to mind. I'm quite enamored of that fluffy little old lady, the tidy-yet-murderous village of St. Mary Mead, and her ever-present knitting needles. But sometimes I yearn for something a little darker. Not gory, but ominous and unexpected and unputdownable. If you,…
Whenever I get invested in a series, I start to worry. What if the author does a terrible job with the final book? What if they can’t wrap it up in a way that feels true and satisfying – leaving me wanting more, while making sure that the characters find resolution? What if they can’t…
I’m not saying that Matt Haig’s HOW TO STOP TIME is guilty of false advertising, exactly. But if you were hoping for an instruction manual for pressing a giant cosmic pause button, this is probably not the book for you. (To be fair, we’re shelving it in the fiction section. It’s not like you weren’t…
