In this latest novel by Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, she explores the idea of dream count, a backwards look at the past in the hope of arriving at a better future. If the past is filled with so much unrealized potential, how can the failed affairs of old be transformed?
This beautifully crafted novel was written for a young adult audience but I would recommend it for teens and adults alike.Long listed for the National Book Award it is the tale of four generations of Filipino Americans grappling with identity, past trauma and the long reach it has into the future.
This book is not an easy read. If I had read it a couple of years ago, I would have been reminded of how far we've come from the days of back alley abortions, substandard reproductive health care and forced adoptions. Although abortion laws in Canada are still in place, we have taken a giant leap backward with the Dobbs decision overturning Roe. It changes what should have been a historical perspective into a frightening look at where we are heading. I would say this book may now be categorized as historical fiction but if we stay on the current trajectory, it will read as a contemporary novel.
n Liane Moriarty’s tenth novel, she once again throws her characters into spontaneous crisis. The book opens with a scene we are all familiar with. A flight delay. The cause doesn’t really matter. It sets the reader up to relate to what starts out as a very common day we’ve all experienced and then abruptly becomes a life changer.
This is the 20th book in the series featuring Cork O’Connor. Set in northern Minnesota, these mysteries highlight issues facing the interplay of the white population and the Ojibwe. Cork O'Connor, half Irish and half Ojibwe, always finds himself negotiating the two worlds. I have read about ten of these books and although I missed many … Continue reading Cork O’Connor’s Latest Mystery: Ojibwe Culture Explored
As the novel begins, a mysterious box is delivered to everyone in the world over age 22. From a bustling city in Europe to suburban enclaves in America to African villages, everyone gets one. Inside the box is a string. Its length determines how long you will live. I was immediately hooked.What would I do? Would I open the book? Would I be able to resist knowing? Would I not want to know? And if I held a short string in my hand, how would I cope? Would I completely change or remain fully entrenched in the life I was living? The same thoughts rippled through the characters in this book.
If ever there was a timely novel, this is the one. Since banning books has become a strategic weapon in our national culture wars, here comes an entertaining satire set in a quintessential southern town. Framed as a battle over books and a free-standing little library, it is about the influence books have in its residents’ lives and the town’s cultural norms.
This book was a surprise. Given the title—Happiness Falls—I expected much less. Or maybe, just different. A more typical mystery perhaps layered with family dynamics. Instead, this was a surprising meditation on what constitutes happiness, the possibilities of non-verbal speech, and acknowledging qualities that make us different be it because of race, language, or basic … Continue reading Happiness Falls: More than a Mystery
This is the fourth Sally Hepworth novel I’ve read. They are all very different but what they have in common are surprising twists as the story unwinds along with firmly grounded, well developed characters. I’m not usually drawn to this particular kind of book but unlike many others in this genre, Hepworth so fully entrenches … Continue reading The Past is Always With Us: Darling Girls
This novel is the second in the Hearts of Glass series that I assume will continue. I did not read the first one, The Artist’s Apprentice, but The Artist's Wife easily stood on its own. World War I is beginning, Britain is wholly unprepared for war and what its threat means, and the fabric of Edwardian society is unraveling. The title reflects women's standing. True, the protagonist Alice was married to an artist with whom she apprenticed, but she was the creative force of the duo.
Reader’s Cafe 