Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves an intricate tale, with well-developed characters and relationships, and just when the reader wonders where it is all headed, the unthinkable happens. “Half of a Yellow Sun” is not a symbol I would have recognized before reading Adichie’s work. Now I know that it is integral to the Biafran war, and […]
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There are some issues affecting our society today that feel too hot to handle, but not for author Angie Thomas. In her novel, The Hate U Give, Thomas bravely inserts her main character and narrator into the brutal drama of a black teen being shot by a white police officer. Still a child herself, sixteen […]
Read MoreWhat an incredible story! Claire Fuller creates characters who are flawed and yet sympathetic. Meet Gil, an aging writer and incorrigible Lothario, who sudden obsession with books leads his daughters to be concerned about his state of mind. Meet Ingrid, his wife who has been missing for eleven years, presumed dead, and whose voice haunts […]
Read MoreA baby dies and the mother is found guilty and imprisoned. It is a heart-wrenching scenario, and begs the question: what happens to the family who have been torn apart by such tragedy? In With Love From the Inside, author Angela Pisel attempts to answer that question through the viewpoint of the mother, and the […]
Read MoreThe riddle closes in. I can hear its heavy footsteps, echoing in my ears. The dark brings out that which the day hides. (Excerpt from Beautiful Affliction) Lene Fogelberg knows what it is like to live with an undiagnosed medical condition and to be turned away time and again from doctors. In Beautiful Affliction she […]
Read MoreKaren White’s The Sound of Glass is an entertaining read, or in my case, listen. While many of the messages put forth are cliché, the storyline provides adequate twists to keep the reader engaged. A recently widowed Merritt finds herself inheriting a stately Southern home from a Grandmother she never knew existed. The draw to […]
Read MoreKate Morton has mastered the art of writing a timeless novel: a compelling setting, well-developed characters, the weaving together of unforgettable storylines, and flawless description. The Lake House is a delicious read, the kind of book you don’t want to put down. The Lake House centers around a beautiful estate abandoned under tragic circumstances: a mystery […]
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Explosive, sometimes irrational, anger is a steady companion of addiction. Anyone who has lived with or been an addict will recognize the pattern played out in the pages of Mishka Shubaly’s memoir : I Swear I’ll Make It Up To You. Shubaly holds nothing back in the telling of his story, subtitled: A Life On […]
Read MoreJust finished listening to “Carly’s Voice” by Arthur Fleischmann with his daughter, Carly. Carly, unlike her twin sister, did not develop normally, and after a barrage of tests and consultations was determined to be developmentally delayed and mentally challenged – autistic, non verbal. Having stumbled across ABA, Carly’s parents hired one-on-one therapists to work with […]
Read MoreWill has been all around the world, yet has never left home, such is the creative parenting of his single mother, Diane, whose paralyzing agoraphobia keeps them trapped Inside. “If I Fall, If I Die” reminiscent of “Room” by Emma Donoghue, examines the life of a mother and son trapped in isolation, although in Christie’s […]
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One Woman's Quest II 