Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, by Lisa See
I hope I’m not alone in this. Women mostly don’t talk about it. I know I haven’t. But I believe that if you’ve had a miscarriage, or had trouble getting pregnant, or if you’ve given birth to a special needs child, then inevitably we all ask the same question. It’s the one we’re never supposed […]
Weyward, by Emilia Hart
I finished this book last night and this morning I saved an ant who had crawled up into my kitchen sink. Violet and her striped-leg spider, Goldie, are entirely to blame. Normally there would have been a swift death by drowning, but thanks to this book, I carefully led the ant onto a paper towel […]
Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
Any author who gets me to read science fiction has absolutely earned their Pulitzer Prize. I don’t know if it’s Konstance’s mass of curls that “haloes” her head or the fact that her socks are full of holes, but I was entirely sunk by the end of the very first paragraph of Cloud Cuckoo Land. […]
The Exiles, by Christina Baker Kline
There are only a few cardinal rules for a writer: you must not be boring (I’m looking at you, Trust by Hernan Diaz, whom I can pick on because you won a Pulitzer Prize). You must also not have plot holes (Doerr, what were you thinking? I haven’t finished Cloud Cuckoo Land yet, so I […]
The Dictionary of Lost Words, by Pip Williams
I think some of us always remember the first time we’re called a “dumb b*tch.” It happened to me at 19—stalled out in the middle of an intersection, in the driver’s seat of a car I could not drive. The car was an ’87 Pontiac Sunbird, five-speed…manual transmission. I had been taught to drive the […]
The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck
No one has time for a slow-start book anymore, which is a shame, since it’s the build in The Good Earth that makes this story so powerful. Read the book for Wang Lung’s loveable characters, or O-lan’s frightening determination, or simply to have your eyes opened to a new way of understanding our relationship with […]
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
If you’re a book snob like me, you might have passed over this one simply because EVERYONE has been talking about it. I’m not one for hype, which is why I still haven’t forgiven Taco Bell for taking away their Mexican pizza, then bringing it back with such ridiculous fanfare. And I still haven’t forgiven […]
The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
I dropped out of school in 9th grade, was married at 17, and had two children by 21, so um, yes, I’ve been in Nora’s shoes and wondering what my life might look like if I’d made different choices. Sadly, we meet Nora at the lowest point in her life—possibly the end of her life […]
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
Once a year I travel to a church about a half hour from my house and watch over 3rd or 4th or 8th graders as they sweat and squirm through a Pennsylvania state standardized test. As a cyber teacher, it’s one of the few times during the year I see my students in person. I’ve […]
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, by Sue Monk Kidd
Sometimes you read a book at a specific time in your life and it takes such deep root inside your mind that you continue to feel its impact long after you’ve forgotten the name of the book. I was flipping through my little book of read books and found this title and in an instant, […]