Blog

Just finished “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng. A good book, by a good writer. I admired the intricacy of the plot–complicated plot lines that come together in the end–and enjoyed the characters. However, I found myself often able to put the book down, or to skim pages, and wondered why. I decided it’s because… Continue reading Little Fires Everywhere

Two books, Beyond That, The Sea, by Laura Spence-Ash, and Foster, by Claire Keegan, that I happened to read one after the other, both deal with a young girl who is sent away from home to be cared for temporarily. Both lovely, quiet books. Foster, by Claire Keegan, an Irish writer, tells of a girl… Continue reading Beyond That, the Sea; and Foster

A friend lent me this book, The Color of Air, by Gail Tsukiyama. It takes place in Hawaii in 1935 during an eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano. I felt I knew these characters, like I had spent a morning with them, conversing over coffee. They were mostly members of the Japanese immigrant community who… Continue reading The Color of Air

Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal. Only 75 pages, but a beautiful book, almost a poem. A simple story, two strangers on a train crossing Siberia, but so beautifully told, we definitely end up in a different place from where we began, both characters are changed and somehow we are as well.

The Queen of Dirt Island, by Donal Ryan, is a unique picture of growing up–coming of age–in Ireland. It’s the story of four women, four generations, who live in a small house together, told in short vignettes. Narrated mostly by Saoirse, it takes us through her growing up with her mother and grandmother (her deceased… Continue reading “The Queen of Dirt Island”

Horse by Geraldine Brooks. A wonderful book! The historical part is so good, and apparently as factually true as she could make it, with a great deal of research. A good book for our times, when we are arguing about how to teach the history of this country. It gives the lie to the persistent… Continue reading Horse

Just finished White Noise by Don DiLillo and then watched the new movie. The movie was an amazingly faithful adaptation. Maybe even more relevant today than when the book came out in the 1985. All the characters are flat, no affect, just living their lives amid all the noise of modern civilization. The only thing… Continue reading White Noise