The Heart and Other Monsters by Rose Anderson In this non-fiction piece, Rose Anderson writes of the death of her younger sister due to a drug overdose. Her sister’s death serves as the focus of this memoir, and around it, Anderson shares her own personal history. The memoir seems to serve as a means of … Continue reading The Heart and Other Monsters
Author: Lisa Helm
The Transaction
"The Transaction" By Guglielmo D’Izzia This novel makes me want to visit Italy. This novel also makes me NOT want to visit Italy. There are numerous dichotomous images and events in this novel that leave the reader unsettled. Our protagonist is a man by the name of De Angelis. De Angelis is tasked with visiting … Continue reading The Transaction
Flyaway
Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings publication date July 28 2020 Thank you Netgalley for the free ARC of Flyaway. This is such a beautifully written book. The opening chapter vividly and poetically introduces us to the setting creating the atmosphere of a fairytale. For example “ Trees bled resin like rubies, sprouted goitrous nests, suspended cats-cradles … Continue reading Flyaway
The Night Swim
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me a free advanced copy of The Night Swim. This book turned out to be a good distraction during this time of quarantine. It was an easy read and didn't require a lot of concentration...which is just the only type … Continue reading The Night Swim
Ella Minnow Pea
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn This is a charming little story about an imaginary town called Nollop. Nollop is named after Nevin Nollop the gentleman responsible for the phrase “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog”. In fact, there is an impressive statue of Nevin in the middle of the town square … Continue reading Ella Minnow Pea
Things in Jars
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd I read this novel in a day. And it wasn’t because it was practising social distancing and had nowhere to go and nothing to do (ok, maybe that was a smidge of the reason). But mostly it was the kind of novel where I had to put life on … Continue reading Things in Jars
Washington Black
Washington Black by Esi Edugan (warning...just a wee bit of spoilers but there is SO MUCH MORE then what I’m about to tell you!) The action of this novel takes us to drastically different locations all over the world: Barbados, Virginia, the Arctic, Nova Scotia, London, Amsterdam, Morocco. Our main character’s name is Washington Black. … Continue reading Washington Black
The Fact of A Body
Audiobook the Fact of a Body Written and Narrated by Alexandria Marzano Lisnevich I run. My choice of listening when I run consists of a dog’s breakfast of musical choices (everything from monks singing Gregorian Chants to Heavy Metal) and audiobooks. A year ago I had a wonderful season of winter running where I listened … Continue reading The Fact of A Body
What to Read During Social Distancing
What interesting times we live in! For those of you who are looking for book titles for kiddos in junior and senior high, I've compiled a list of books I've read and recommend and a few titles I haven't read but were recommended by various publishing houses and educational websites. Weblinks for more information concerning … Continue reading What to Read During Social Distancing
The Paragon Hotel
The Paragon Hotel was the selection for my February book club. I love Lyndsay Faye. It is always wonderful to find an author who not only writes a good suspenseful yarn but also a writer who has a delightful way with words. Although the Paragon Hotel is a story filled with murder, robbery, and disguise, … Continue reading The Paragon Hotel
I Am Afraid of Men
I’m Afraid of Men Vivek Shraya “The experience of repeatedly being stared at slowly mutated me into an alien” (pg 2) I cannot express how profoundly important it is to read this book. It is a short, honest, heartwrenching read. The strength of spirit Vivek has built because of the lifetime of intimidation is noteworthy … Continue reading I Am Afraid of Men
The Unexpected Spy
I was lucky enough to be sent an advanced copy of The Unexpected Spy through Macmillan and Netgalley. This is the true story of a young woman’s experience being recruited by the CIA right out of university and getting immersed into the world of searching for terrorist activity. She then makes a move to the … Continue reading The Unexpected Spy
The Bridge of Clay
The Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak “Us Dunbar boys. From oldest to youngest: Me, Rory, Henry, Clayton, Thomas. We would never be the same...I should tell you what we were like: Many considered us tearaways. Barbarians. Mostly they were right: Our mother was dead Our father had fled” (14-15). I was afraid to read … Continue reading The Bridge of Clay
