Sadly, my favorite season is coming to a close, and with it, the 20 Books of Summer Challenge hosted by 746 Books. I started off strong, fell off the list in July, and here’s how I ended up. Total books read this summer: 22 Books read from 20 Books of Summer Challenge List: 15 Books … Continue reading
I found this book about a marriage in Nigeria fascinating and meaningful, although it wasn’t quite what I expected. The story begins with a married couple who now live apart. Yejide is going to see her husband after many years for his father’s funeral. Then the story takes us back to the early years of … Continue reading
This summer I’ve been reading a lot of great science fiction and fantasy. This batch is all science fiction, although I’m finding the distinction is somewhat blurred in a lot of what I read. I suppose that’s because I don’t read too much traditional science fiction (which I think of as relying on technological and … Continue reading
I liked this book a lot more than I expected to, and I find myself referring to it often. It’s well-written and Vance tells his story in an engaging and meaningful way. More importantly, he humanizes the people living in the Appalachian area while not idealizing them. In fact, he argues very clearly that this … Continue reading
Here are three more science fiction and fantasy mini-reviews, brought to you by the 20 Books of Summer Challenge. Since it’s pretty difficult to review books that are part of series, I’m keeping these short. I recommend all three if you’re looking for good, but not too heavy, summer reads. Good Omens: The Nice and … Continue reading
The Sympathizer is a first novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen, which won last year’s Pulitzer Prize for literature. It’s a fascinating look at the Vietnam War and its aftermath from the perspective of the Vietnamese. Right away it makes you realize how much Americans only see the Vietnam War from our own perspective, not those … Continue reading
As we hit the year’s halfway point, I looked at my progress on blog resolutions and challenges. Last year I was really overwhelmed, and this year, with no grad school, I’ve been able to put the blog first. That makes me happy. But have I accomplished what I hoped? As a blogger, I tend to … Continue reading
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The New York Drama Critics’ Circle named it the best play of 1959. I read this powerful work for the Classics Book a Month challenge. It’s the story of the Younger family, an African-American family living in … Continue reading
I read this book for the Read Around the World challenge, where a specific country is selected for each month. May’s selection was Colombia. Vasquez is a noted author in Colombia, having won numerous awards, primarily for this novel and for The Informants. He studied law in Bogotá, Colombia and studied literature in Paris at … Continue reading
746 Books is once again hosting Twenty Books of Summer, which is a good way to think about and organize my summer reading. I hope I’ll be able to cover more than 20 books by September 3, but it’s always hard to stick to a list when you hear about new and exciting books. My … Continue reading
This was a really interesting novel about a real-life serial killer in Scotland in the 1950’s. I say interesting because it wasn’t quite like anything else I’ve read. It’s not a mystery or a thriller, or a true crime novel. It’s a little closer to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, although I hesitate to compare … Continue reading
Both of these books were on this year’s Bailey’s Prize for Women longlist, although neither made it to the shortlist (in addition to Hag-Seed). The winner of the Bailey’s Prize will be announced June 7. Though quite different, these two books had several things in common. Both are historical fiction, both have a main character who … Continue reading
