‘The Calculating Stars’ There is a small handful of writers who don’t just craft a good story, or comment smartly on modern life, or create fascinating characters you’d want to have a beer with. Instead, they do all three while entertaining even the most experienced reader. Mary Robinette Kowal is
Read More →‘American Dialogue: The Founders and Us’ In “American Dialogue,” Joseph Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, has taken some of the most vexing issues of the current political scene and related them back to the Founding Fathers. He reflects on Thomas Jefferson and race, John Adams and economic inequality, James Madison and
Read More →“The Gown” by Jennifer Robson “The Gown” tells a beautiful story set in 1947 London, when England is still recovering from World War II. Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin are two talented embroiderers at the famous fashion house of Norman Hartnell. They have been selected to create the wedding gown and train
Read More →“Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country” by Pam Houston Pam Houston’s affecting new title consists of essays depicting scenes of life at her ranch home. In 1993, with funds from the success of her first book, “Cowboys Are My Weakness,” Houston purchased a 120-acre ranch near Creede, Colorado. Twenty-five
Read More →‘My Year of Rest and Relaxation’ The unnamed narrator of “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” has one goal in mind: to remain asleep for as much of the day as possible. She accomplishes this goal by finding a quack psychiatrist who is willing to prescribe her an elaborate mix of sleeping and antianxiety medication. With
Read More →‘Leave No Trace’ Following her critically acclaimed novel, “Everything You Want Me to Be,” Mindy Mejia has proven to be deserving of comparisons to Gilian Flynn and Paula Hawkins. With “Leave No Trace,” she gives us another character-driven, suspenseful, can’t-put-it-down adventure. Set in northern Minnesota, near the vast expanse of
Read More →‘Circe’ New takes on these ancient stories have been done so many times that it takes something extraordinary to bring back the spark of interest to a jaded public. Madeline Miller has more than succeeded in bringing a new facet to Greek Mythology with her new book, “Circe.” Miller takes
Read More →‘Ordinary People’ Ordinary People, like the title would suggest, tells the story of ordinary people and their ordinary problems. Diana Evans tells the story of two couples. Melissa and Michael, who have just had their second child together, are struggling with the roles they find themselves in. The second couple is Damian and Stephanie, who have been
Read More →‘The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies’ The focus of a recent episode of a missing history program was on William Friedman, a groundbreaking cryptologist. It said nothing about Elizebeth Friedman, his wife, who was also an important cryptologist. The story of their role
Read More →‘The Best We Could Do’ Thi Bui’s memoir beautifully illustrates the story of her family as they escaped the terror of South Vietnam in the 1970s. Presented in a graphic novel format, her gorgeous, masterful drawings narrate their harrowing journey to California and provide an unflinching look into their lives
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