WOW! I just completed Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris, her second book. It was as mindboggling as The Tattooist of Auschwitz, her first. The story is true but the author did not meet her subject. The story is based on interviews with Lale Sokolov, the subject of her first book, plus extensive research into the …
Kirkland, WA was the site of the first reported cases of coronavirus in the US. The governor of WA, Jay Inslee, declared a state of emergency (as have CA and MD). Large tech employers have instructed employees to work from home and one school district has closed for up to two weeks while they transition …
In these days of trying times, political unrest, uncertainty on many fronts, it’s good to just take a step back and find some joy somewhere, anywhere. Reading Abbi Waxman’s novel is a good start. From the first page to the last, this is a book that will keep the reader giggling, chuckling, and even laughing …
When your stand-up comedy routines fail to entertain and your career is on the fritz, there’s nothing left but to join a gang of vigilante thieves and steal the luck from winners. When Theo Potiris gets sick and tired of the family grocery business and he can’t get a laugh out of anyone, his life …
Literary Arts has announced the finalists for the 2020 Oregon Book Awards. The Oregon Book Award winners will be announced live at the 33rd annual Oregon Book Awards Ceremony on Monday, April 27 at Portland Center Stage at The Armory. Omar El Akkad and Elena Passarello will host the ceremony. Tickets are available for this …
For adult fiction, and a tie for my favorite overall read of 2019 is The Guest Book by Sarah Blake. I’ve already written about it in a previous post, picked it for our birthday sale . . . and tried to sell it to anyone who asks me what the best thing is I’ve read lately. This is …
Ann Patchett’s newest novel gives us two separate portraits: one of a family and one of a house. Danny, the son of a self-made man, and presumptive heir to both his business and the luxurious Dutch House, narrates this story. I found I could never predict where the story was going to go. As soon …
From Shelf Awareness for Readers November 15, 2019: Welcome to the small town of Odsburg, Wash., where mountain lions live in basements, a “strange skinless guy” hangs out in the town square, and a couple is so hungry they eat themselves, literally, out of house and home. Odsburg by Matt Tompkins (Souvenirs: And Other Stories), is narrated …
Sometimes you need a dose of something spooky, and few deliver like Jackson. This book gripped me from the opening line and didn’t let me go until the last. I read it all night, thought about it all day, and then read it some more. Mary Catherine and her sister Constance are hiding a sordid …
A war is waged by two rival time-traveling agents: Red, who comes from a world ruled by technology, and Blue, who comes from a world rooted in organic life. The narrative is told through letters between the women, at first passionately loathsome, then– surprising both– passionately loving. Through visceral, poignant, and intricate wordplay, El-Mohtar and …
