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by Samantha Harvey. A fictional account of one day in the life of six astronauts from different countries aboard the space station orbiting the earth. A beautiful, thoughtful meditation on life, on humankind, on the earth, and our place in the universe. Interesting look at the individual vs the community, and at the astronauts both… Continue reading Orbital

I started this book, by Jon Fosse, because he won the Nobel prize for Literature, and I was curious after reading the reviews. It’s stream of consciousness, all in one long, long sentence. Except where there is dialog, then it is (helpfully) broken up. At first it was difficult to continue, as nothing was happening,… Continue reading Septology

Just finished Absolution by Alice McDermott and I can’t stop thinking about it. Not only is it beautifully written, with nuanced characters that seem more than real, but it raises, throughout the book, the question of how do we do good in the world. The first issue, of course, is seeing, that is, seeing the… Continue reading Absolution

“Happening” by Annie Ernaux. This is an autobiographical “novel” by the most recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. I was interested in reading some of her work after reading an in-depth article about her. This book is the story of her abortion in 1963, when she was in college, and when abortion was… Continue reading Happening

Another little gem by Claire Keegan, the Irish writer. Short, almost a novella instead of a novel, but a beautiful story and a beautiful character. Well worth the read.

The Marriage Portrait is by Maggie O’Farrell who also wrote Hamnet. Because I liked Hamlet, I persisted, but the first 100 pages or so I felt were too wordy, too flowery, way too detailed. I even began skimming. But at some point the book took off and I was totally won over. I became so… Continue reading The Marriage Portrait

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. I heard about this book when NPR interviewed the author and was intrigued. It takes place amid the busing backlash in Boston in 1973. He spoke of being a 9-year-old during that time and remembering the riot that took place, so it takes center stage in the novel, but it’s… Continue reading Small Mercies

The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck. We were in Salinas, CA, last weekend and went to the Steinbeck Center. Very interesting. I learned a lot about Steinbeck. And I learned about this book that he wrote at the beginning of the war, and was severely criticized for. So I was curious, and downloaded it.… Continue reading The Moon is Down

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. This is Ann Patchett’s latest and I have to admit I enjoyed it very much, even while feeling like it was a little too good to be true. Both the present day story and the story of the narrator’s past. In the past, everything goes her way, which can be… Continue reading Tom Lake

All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy. I finally decided to read a Cormac McCarthy book after reading the glowing tributes in his obituary. I had always avoided him because of the violence and dystopia in his novels. And there is violence, but mostly in one section, which I must admit I skimmed! But his… Continue reading All the Pretty Horses