The first volume in Maya Angelou’s autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is not an easy read. It picks up when she’s three and her brother is four and they’re being shipped from California to Arkansas–alone on a train. They live with their paternal grandmother for years. Maya writes poignantly and heart-breakingly, but […]
This is the story of Captain Yossarian, who is serving in World War II as a navigator on a bomber based in Italy. Yossarian is caught in a “Catch-22” where he wants to be grounded, but he can only get out of flying more missions if he’s crazy, but if he was crazy, he wouldn’t […]
Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza fall in love when they’re very young. Ultimately, Fermina chooses to marry Juvenal Urbino, a wealthy, well-respected doctor from a good family. Florentino decides to wait for Dr. Urbino to die so he can renew his pursuit of Fermina. As he waits, he has 622 affairs. The best thing about […]
Alexia Maccon, née Tarrabotti, is awakened one morning by her husband bellowing out orders and questions. He doesn’t take time to answer her questions, but of course she finds out what’s going on later. Something or someone has found a way to completely negate whatever magic makes supernatural beings, well–supernatural. This has London in an […]
3 Stars. Even though this novel was written in first person, I felt as if I were watching the story unfold behind glass. I never got pulled into the story completely. I was never particularly interested in Aurora. I was more interested to see what scheme Paulina would come up with next in late-nineteenth century America and […]
Dream’s kingdom is being threatened by a vortex, an entity that can rip apart the Dreaming. He also finds out that a few of his major, and monstrous, subjects, have escaped his kingdom. He must look for them all and save the day before it’s too late. This was better than Preludes and Nocturnes, but […]
I would say that Bound South is a group of connected short stories. There’s not really one plot that connects the chapters. Instead, I would say that the author uses these stories, told from the points of view of three different Southern ladies, to explore issues they each face and how hard it can be […]
Abdullah is the son of a carpet merchant in the city of Zanzib. His inheritance wasn’t much, but he’s getting by pretty well. The rest of his extended family picks on him, but it’s only once a month and he can take that. One day, a mysterious stranger shows up and sells him a magic […]
It’s the early 1490s in Spain and world-changing events are happening. The New Inquisition is getting established; Spain is trying to take Granada back from the Moors; and, well, we all know about Christopher Columbus in 1492. Huge stuff. By Fire, By Water focuses on one man’s role through all this. Luis de Santángel is […]
Elizabeth Gilbert is an emotional train wreck. She’s going through a tortuous divorce and her on-again-off-again relationship with her new boyfriend is just killing her. She realizes that she needs a change in her life if she is going to save it. So she sets off on a year-long journey through Italy, India, and Indonesia […]
Taking place before The Russian Concubine, The Jewel of St. Petersburg tells the story of Valentina Ivanova and Jens Friis as they meet during the fall of the Russian monarchy. Valentina is the privileged daughter of a wealthy Russian minister and Jens is a Danish engineer, working to improve the overall water quality in St. […]