Posts Tagged ‘book reviews’
Novels in the mountains
I always love reading, but there’s something special about books I take with me to read when I’m out in the mountains. I spend a lot of time out in the mountains, both in the spring and summer for hiking and in the winter for skiing. On a recent skiing escape in Abruzzo, I read…
Read MoreBook review: The Stars are Fire
Author Anita Shreve is a master at penning realistic characters and delving deep into their psyches, and The Stars are Fire is a brilliant illustration of her significant talent in bringing her characters to life. Grace Holland is a young mother of two toddlers in post World War II Maine. Her husband, Gene, has retruned from…
Read MoreBook review: The Burning Girl
This is the third Claire Messud novel I’ve read. I enjoyed her bestselling novel The Emperor’s Children, and her debut novel When the World Was Steady. The Burning Girl is her latest work. This novel set in small-town Massachusetts follows the lives and friendship of Julia Robinson and Cassie Burns. Julia and Cassie have grown…
Read MoreBook review: The Dinner
I had never heard of Herman Koch’s novel The Dinner before picking it up in a bookstore. I admit I was attracted by the cover and the interesting back cover description, and I’m so happy I took a chance on this novel, since I was very quickly engrossed in this disturbing tale. Originally published in…
Read MoreShivers on the slopes: Book reviews
I spent last week skiing with my sons. I always enjoy skiing, but one of the activities I enjoy most after an exhausting day of physical activity is curling up in a warm space with a steaming cup of tea and reading a good novel. When we ski, my kids and I ski from the…
Read MoreBook review: At the Edge of the Orchard
I enjoy historical fiction and I’ve read of all of Tracy Chevalier’s novels, so I was happy to learn about her latest when it was released. This was my favorite novel since A Girl With A Pearl Earring. At the Edge of the Orchard is set in the mid 1800s, and follows the difficult lives…
Read MoreBook review: Wake
Oddly, I’d had this book on my shelf for some time. I remembered it only after picking it up in French in a French bookstore and being drawn in by the story and the excellent blurbs – before realizing I shouldn’t buy it because I had the original version back home. : ) This novel…
Read MoreBook review: The Human Flies
I bought this novel when traveling in Norway. Embarrassingly, aside from Ibsen (whom I love), I’m completely ignorant about Norwegian writers. I know Norway boasts thriller writers, such as Nesbo, who fill the book shops, but I was looking for something different and picked up this debut mystery novel by contemporary author Hans Olav Lahlum.…
Read MoreBook Review: The Expatriates
I enjoyed this novel following the lives of three expatriate women living in Hong Kong. The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee explores the lives of three women – all adrift in their own way – living in Hong Kong’s expat community. Mercy is a Korean-American Ivy League grad who has been drifting ever since graduating…
Read MoreBook review: Hidden
This is the third novel I’ve read – and enjoyed – by Canadian author, Catherine McKenzie. Hidden is the story of a love triangle that unravels slowly following the death of Jeff, beloved father of Seth and husband of Claire and possible lover of Tish, a colleague who works at the same corporation, in another…
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