Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Will 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 […]
Read MoreDavid Adams Richards likes to drag his readers in out of scenarios, sometimes repeating ideas, until they are hooked into his masterful weave. He demonstrates that life is made up of incestuous circles, and that not all are as ‘principled’ as they would like to think. Principles To Live By centers around the mystery of […]
Read MoreJust as Paul Kalanithi’s future looked bright, cancer struck. As a doctor (neurosurgeon) he knew all too well what he was about to face, and guided by his oncologist, had to make difficult life choices. Kalanithi bravely decided to commit his journey to paper, offering an inside glimpse of illness from the eyes of a […]
Read MoreI’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson is a poignant, multi-faceted approach to many issues facing young people today; a coming of age story that examines both the female and male experience through the voices of twins, Jude and Noah. Not surprisingly, this novel has won many awards (click on link above for listing). […]
Read MoreAmanda Lindhout, along with Sara Corbett, has written a riveting tale of her kidnapping and captivity during a trip to Somalia. I first became interested in Lindhout’s story when I caught a glimpse of an interview on a television program. How, I wondered, does someone survive such a horrendous experience? A House in the Sky, […]
Read MoreDespite my need to regulate how much time I spend listening to audiobooks (my mind balks at overstimulation), I could not tear myself away from Best Boy, by Eli Gottlieb. Bronson Pinchot lends his voice to the audio version, skillfully imitating the stilted speech of someone who struggles with semantics. Todd Aaron, the first person […]
Read MoreHumbled is only way I can describe my experience of Paul Beatty’s novel, “The Sellout”. Beatty’s comic approach to issues ranging from being raised by a single parent, racial matters, love, and the judicial system is cleverly acerbic. Each line of the novel is packed with cutting commentary, and I found myself laughing out loud […]
Read MoreAdmittedly, I looked at the novel, The Other Daughter, by Lauren Willig, several times before deciding to give it a try. A story about a woman who discovers that she is the illegitimate daughter of an Earl, seemed too predictable, however; nothing about this tale is predictable, and I must confess that once I got […]
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One Woman's Quest II 