Life hasn’t been easy for Dan Torrance since the events of The Shining. Now that he’s an adult, his shining has faded a little but it’s still too much for him to handle. Following in his father’s footsteps, he’s turned to alcohol to escape from his problems. He eventually hits his bottom and tries to Continue Reading…
Author Meera Lee Sethi travels to Sweden one summer to volunteer at a bird observatory. Her time in the mists and mountains of Sweden led her to write a collection of contemplative essays that are collected here. What beautiful language! I was in deep like from the beginning and in love by the closing sentences Continue Reading…
Homicide Detective Robbie Brownlaw was promoted a few years ago after a crazed arsonist threw him out of a sixth-floor window. He obviously survived to tell the tale, but he was left with a form of synesthesia–he sees people’s words as colored shapes. He’s learned to use this ability as a primitive lie detector. He’s Continue Reading…
A group of friends travel to Pamplona, Spain for the annual running of the bulls and subsequent bullfights and fiesta. I didn’t like it. Not one bit. We read this for my book club because one of our members remembered loving it when she read it in an English class and had been wanting to Continue Reading…
Tom Joad, just released from prison, heads back to his parents’ farm only to find that they have been evicted from their land and are on their way to California in search of a fresh start. Thousands of families are in a similar situation and there are many ruthless people along the way who take Continue Reading…
Set in the early days of the USSR, Doctor Zhivago is the story of the doctor and the sweeping changes he bears witness to. Oh, I had a hard time with this one. It was sheer stubbornness that got me through. I didn’t particularly like Doctor Zhivago, I thought Lara was crazy, and I couldn’t Continue Reading…
Lucy Armstrong is a director who makes dog food commercials–by choice, not lack of talent. Her ex-husband has asked her to come in and finish directing an action flick that he’s coordinated the stunts for. The real director has just died with only four days of shooting left to go. She reluctantly agrees. Things get Continue Reading…
In a dual narrative, author Sena Jeter Naslund explores the lives of a modern-day fictional author, Kathryn Callaghan–a “woman of a certain age,”–and artist Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, famous for painting portraits of Marie Antoinette. Both women are looking back over their lives, evaluating their choices and reflecting on their losses. I am not the Continue Reading…
Max Trader is a luthier who wakes up one morning in a body not his own. After the initial panic and a little further investigation, Trader finds out that charming, womanizing rake, Johnny Devlin, has wished for a different life and somehow they have traded bodies. Devlin has no intention of trying to switch back. Continue Reading…
Synopsis from GoodReads: Award-winning “New York Times”-bestselling author Ann Patchett (Bel Canto, The Magician’s Assistant) returns with a provocative novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest–a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love. In a narrative Continue Reading…
Molly Ayer has messed up one too many times. She’s caught up in the foster system and her latest mistake has left her with a choice of either fifty hours of community service or going to juvie. Her boyfriend searches around and finds out that his mom’s employer, 91-year-old widow Vivian Daly, needs help cleaning Continue Reading…