The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson has been described as The Night Circus meets the X-Men and I found that to be mostly accurate. As a huge fan of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern this was enough to get me to read it. One has to suspend their disbelief as they would do when they enter a circus big top in order for the magic to flow. Rin, the Ringmaster along with the rest of Windy Van Hooten’s…
Barbara Kingsolver has long been one of my favorite writers, and her newest book, Demon Copperhead, doesn’t disappoint. Spending time in the room where Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield inspired Kingsolver to write a modern day version of the story, highlighting institutional poverty and the damages it does to children. She set her novel in the area where she lives in Appalachia and added in the the harrowing affects of the opioid crisis there. Told through Demon’s own voice, this…
Arribada by Estela Gonzales is a novel set in Mexico. Mariana, a world class pianist, grew up in a small coastal town full of beautiful beaches and sea turtles. When she returns home to help find her missing Uncle, she finds a place she no longer recognizes. She joins Fernanda, an indigenous local woman, in working on conservation projects. As the love between them grows, hidden family secrets emerge which threaten to change everything. This lyrical and poetic novel is…
The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi, is a modern day fable in three parts: Homeless, Homeward, and Home. As these titles suggest, the novel sets the reader off on a very strange search for home. Magical, philosophical, at times absurd, filled with magic realism, Martel’s unique writing and storytelling doesn’t disappoint. Following three generations of men in search of answers, each after suffering great loss, the novel begins in Lisbon in 1904 and…
Embroideries is a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis; here she is much more candid. We spend an intimate afternoon of tea and conversation with nine Iranian women, friends and family who gather and speak freely with no men around. Their stories of marriage and sex, adultery, plastic surgery and much more are at times laugh out loud hilarious and at other times nothing less than tragic. A fascinating and totally uninhibited look into the inner lives of…
American Fever is the debut novel by Dur E Aziz Amna. High school honor student Hira is chosen to live in America for an exchange year during high school. While other students get sent to New York or other East Coast locations, Hira lives with a single Mom and her teenage daughter in rural Oregon, and life couldn’t be more different than back home in Pakistan. While Hira suffers through ignorance and racism about her culture religion, her own arrogance…
Surrender: 40 Songs One Story is a memoir by Bono, written in 40 chapters, each based on a U2 song. Surrender tells of Bono’s childhood as Paul Hewson, the profound affect his mother’s early death had on him, being raised by his father, meeting Ali, his wife, the same week in high school that he met the other members of U2, the band’s humble beginnings in the Irish punk scene to their quick rise to global rock superstars, Bono’s decades…
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is a story set in the future, seen through the eyes of Klara, an artificial friend. When Klara goes home with Josie, she does everything she knows how to do to be the best friend she can be and to help Josie get well. She believes there is a magical power in the sun that can help heal Josie and she goes to great lengths to make this happen. Keeping the focus on…
Solutions and Other Problems is the new graphic novel by Allie Brosh, author of Hyperbole and a Half. Here Brosh continues to entertain with stories of her life from early childhood to adulthood, including stories of her family and her dogs. Her particular way of looking at the world, combined with her totally original drawing style is laugh out loud, pee your pants funny. There are moments of deep tragedy and sadness in this book, yet Brosh still finds a…
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a surprisingly sweet little novel that sneaks up on you and hooks you before you know it. In a small underground cafe in a back alley of Tokyo there is a special seat you can sit on that allows you to travel back in time, you just need to return before the coffee gets cold. If you are able to suspend your disbelief and go along for the ride, the eclectic…