Tag: Fiction
-
“The Bewitching” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The latest novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a dark, atmospheric horror/mystery, consisting of three clearly defined storylines. Minerva, a young Mexican woman, is a student at a New England college, writing her thesis. It’s 1998, and strange things happen. She often feels a sense of foreboding, as if she has been watched. At one point,…
-
“My Friends” by Fredrik Backman
What a great gift friendship is—for everybody but especially for teenagers in their formative years, when they search for understanding and acceptance, trying to find themselves and moving between excitement and depression, often in a single day. Fredrik Backman’s “My Friends” is a book about friendship that helps them accept that being different is okay.…
-
“Twist” by Colum McCann
There is a picture described in Colum McCann’s “Twist”: a simple drawing made by children that shows a tiny ship at the top of the frame and the overwhelming depths of the ocean below, its waters changing from blue to black. The small ship carries a hook that extends to the bottom of the sea,…
-
“Bad Nature” by Ariel Courage
Hester, the heroine of Ariel Courage’s debut novel “Bad Nature,” is a 40-year-old New York lawyer with no family and no friends, and to top it off, she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Refusing the treatment, she instead decides to fulfill her goal, which she has been carrying for years, always sure that it will…
-
“Dream Count” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie knows how to write about women. I discovered this by reading her “Americanah” many years ago and was surprised by how beautiful and insightful the author’s view of women was. What great news is that after a 10-year break from fiction, one of my favorite authors is back with a new novel,…
-
“Perspective(s)” by Laurent Binet
“Perspective(s)” is the new fiction book by Laurent Binet. I was drawn to this mystery by an intriguing description, but the book was different than I expected. It comprises 180 letters written by various people living in Florence in 1557, mostly well-known historical figures like Duke de Medici, Catherine de Medici, Michelangelo Buonarotti, and others. …
-
“Something Rotten” by Andrew Lipstein
Cecilie and Reuben are a young, professional New York couple working in journalism. However, after Reuben has been canceled from his NPR job, Cecilie is now the sole breadwinner while Reuben stays home taking care of their firstborn. Neither one of them is particularly happy with the situation. Reuben fulfills his parental duties but doesn’t…
-
“Against the Grain” by Peter Lovesey
Peter Diamond, a police detective in Bath, is contemplating – without much enthusiasm – a retirement. He agrees to go for a short vacation to test the waters of living in the small village community of Baskerville, where, as his partner Paloma suggests, he can relax and enjoy the slower pace. So Diamond, with Paloma…
-
“Hotel Lucky Seven” by Kotaro Isaka
Nanao, the unlucky assassin in the newest novel by Kotaro Isaka, is so unfortunate that, according to him, whenever he decides to go to a temple for ritual cleansing, the priest is sure to slip into the puddle of water and cancel the entire ceremony. However, the latest job seems simple–delivering a framed painting to…
-
“Soft Core” by Brittany Newell
“Soft Core” by Brittany Newell is an unusual and enchanting novel. It reads almost like a memoir, a first-person account of a young woman’s time working as a stripper and later a dominatrix in San Francisco. Being a stripper is almost accidental; however, it puts her into a world of people who, for different reasons,…
Infinite Books 