This was a very good book about a woman dealing with her first year as a widow. Janie’s husband Robby was killed in a motorcycle accident. It was one of those life changing moments that I can imagine always looking back on and thinking ‘if only….’ Janie had a three-month old baby and a five-year [...]
Category > Fiction
A Widow for One Year by John Irving
This is one of my favorite books by John Irving…and I’m not even sure why. It is quirky like a lot of his other books. A Widow for One Year is about the Cole family. Marion and Ted Cole have had tragedy in their life with the death of their two teenage sons in a [...]
The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
The Pilot’s Wife is one of my favorite books by Anita Shreve. It is the story of the wife of a pilot who is involved in a plane crash and the investigation that follows. Kathryn Lyons has been the wife of Jack Lyons for many years. They have a fifteen-year-old daughter together, and she has [...]
Waiting by Ha Jin
This is a beautiful book written by Ha Jin. It takes place in China. Lin Kong is a doctor who spends his years working in a military compound, away from his wife who is caring for his parents and raising their daughter in his village. Lin Kong had married in an arranged marriage as a [...]
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
Half Broke Horses is a second book written by Jeannette Walls. Her first book was a memoir where she detailed her nomadic childhood and the colorful parents and siblings that she has. Half Broke Horses is sort of a prequel in that it tells the story of her grandmother, Lily Casey, but in first person [...]
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult is an author that has become very popular over the past years for writing good books about sensitive topics such as school violence, sexual abuse and religion. The Pact was written over ten years ago and focuses on teenage suicide and assisted suicide. This book introduces us to two families who have lived [...]
Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson
I had first read Snow Falling on Cedars over ten years ago. My memory was that the book was beautifully written to the point where you could clearly visualize the characters and the setting, more so than in most books. I just re-read it and still feel that it is a beautiful book. This story [...]
Bee Season by Myla Goldberg
It is interesting to me how spelling bees suddenly became the focus of books and movies several years ago. I watched Spellbound and found the kids who compete in the national spelling bee fascinating…as well as their families. Bee Season came out a year or two before that movie (2000) and also centers around spelling [...]
The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman
The Drowning Tree followed along similar paths as Carol Goodman’s other books. It is based at an all girls school, in this case Penrose College, and it leans heavily on mythology, literature and art. Carol Goodman uses a lot of references to mythology to move her story along. She writes mystery novels that are complex [...]
The Vision of Emma Blau by Ursula Hegi
Along the lines of dreams and visions, this book by Ursula Hegi follows the main character from Germany to the United States when he immigrates at age 13, alone, to follow his dreams. Stefan Blau yearns for America so much that he leaves his home and family and begins to scratch out a living. Initially [...]
