- June 28, 2019
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Explosion is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the tragedy of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant explosion in 1986 from the perspective of those who suffered the greatest. Author Svetlana Alexievich traveled around Russia in the regions close to Chernobyl and gathered the stories of those ...
Read more… - June 21, 2019
I cannot for the life of me believe how much I enjoyed this
book! Who would have believed that a book about the economy could offer
entertainment and even humor? That I would look forward to picking off a
chapter every night, and learn so much about such a “dry”
subject? That I would find comfort in understanding just ...
Read more… - June 14, 2019
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
In the 1970s, in rural Alabama, an
African-American preacher named Willie Maxwell was accused of murdering
several of his family members to collect insurance money. Thanks in part
to his attorney, these allegations were never proven true, and Maxwell evaded
justice until he was shot and ...
Read more… - June 6, 2019
Florida by Lauren Groff
I picked up this book in the airport, thinking (mistakenly) that it was a book by another Florida author that I had heard about on NPR. What a happy accident! I was so taken by this collection of short stories by Lauren Groff. It has earned all kinds of awards ...
Read more… - May 30, 2019
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens recently soared to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list, and after reading it last weekend, I understand why it’s attained that stature and why others are so captivated by this unforgettable story. Using exquisite prose, Delia Owens vibrantly describes the environmental beauty and vibrancy ...
Read more… - May 24, 2019
Book Review: Normal People
This little gem of a novel by Sally Rooney definitely made me feel my age (old). It is a love story of two millennials from the same backwater town in Ireland, who are clearly meant to be together, but can’t admit it to themselves or to each other. ...
Read more… - May 17, 2019
Usually when I love a movie it’s because: the movie contains monsters; the movie makes me cry; the movie has robots in it; or the movie is called John Wick. Sometimes, though, I love a movie because it surprises me and confuses me and then I can’t stop thinking about it.
Directed by Boots ...
Read more… - May 8, 2019
The Acadian Kitchen by Alain Bosse (The Kilted Chef)
I lived in a suburb of Montreal when I was a kid. Unsurprisingly, one of the things I remember most vividly about my time there was the food. Poutine, smoked meat sandwiches, and chicken and rib franchises (I’m thinking about you, Swiss Chalet!) are what immediately come ...
Read more… - May 2, 2019
The
Dreamers, by Karen Thompson Walker
In
a small California town, a college freshman complains of feeling sick, falls
asleep… and doesn’t wake up. Soon, there are more cases like hers—otherwise
healthy individuals suddenly overcome by fatigue they can’t shake. Once they
are asleep, nothing can wake them from their slumber. Soon, the mysterious
illness sweeps through the town like the wildfires ...
Read more… - April 26, 2019
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is based on the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov and how they lived through the horrors of the German concentration camp, Auschwitz. In 1942, the German government, looking for workers for their labor camps, made Slovakian families send someone 18 or older for work details with ...
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