“If there was one thing that defined adolescence it was hysterical laughter. You never laughed like that again. In adolescence the brutal realization that the world and life were completely absurd made you laugh until you couldn’t catch your breath, whereas later in life it would only result in a weary sigh.” – p. 60…
In her latest novel, Sweet Lamb of Heaven, (one of our May picks) Lydia Millet provides a first-person account of a mother (Anna) and daughter (Lena) on the run from an unfaithful, uninterested husband. However, this is no ordinary “run-away-with-child-from-bad-husband” kind of story. No, Millet added another layer. Shortly after Lena was born, Anna began…
“Youthfulness persists, alas, long after one has ceased to be young.” – p. 23 I found a copy of The Pilgrim Hawk by Glenway Wescott (one of our May picks) on the thrift shelf at the library. The book was thin and in excellent condition. I was intrigued by the title and read the description…
My “Currently Reading” shelf on my Goodreads account indicates that I am currently reading seven books. Despite my over-ambitious reading load, I am looking forward to reading the following three books this month: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (available 06/14/16) The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (2014) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston…
May tends to be one of the busiest months of the year – graduations, weddings, confirmations, birthdays, etc. Find time this month to sneak away to your favorite outdoor reading spot to read one of our May picks! Sweet Lamb of Heaven by Lydia Millet (available 05/03/16) ‘Tis Herself by Maureen O’Hara (published in 2004)…
When I started reading Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key (one of our April Picks) I did not know what the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup was. It may have been mentioned in a history class at one time or another, but I do not remember studying it. For those of you who (like me) do not remember…
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson (one of our March Picks) proved to be a delightful piece of historical fiction set during a time of transition in a coastal town in England. Goodreads offers the following summary: East Sussex, 1914. It is the end of England’s brief Edwardian summer, and everyone agrees that…
Paris seems to be one of those cities that appears on everyone’s bucket list. Images of the Eiffel Tower ignite the desire to travel in so many. Paris attracts people for different reasons. For some, it’s the art. For others, it’s the wine. For Kathleen Flinn, author of The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You…
It is April, a time for flowers and light layers. This month we are reading a new book, a book from 2007, and book two of The d’Artagnan Romances. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (available 04/05/16) Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (published in 2007) Twenty Years After by Alexander Dumas (published in 1845) I…
One of the first reviews I read about The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer (one of our February Picks) promised the book would “recall the explosion” of similarly title books such as Gone Girl. I could not wait for the book to be released, as I was eager to dive into another…