We Could Be Beautiful by Swan Huntley

American Literature

Let’s talk about what happens when you’re so rich you have a massage room in your apartment. Not only that, you’re also drop dead gorgeous with an amazing sense of style. But the problem is that you’re still single. Sadly, tragically, desperately single–and over 40. Then a handsome man starts wooing you, and you are cautious, but soon realize he wants you, not your money. However, you have read lots of books in your life so you know what happens next–LIES DECEPTION TRICKERY SECRETS and…

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Zora Neale Hurston, Behave, Innocents and Others, Darkest Corners, Rereading Roald Dahl, All Of A Kind Family

American Literature, British Literature 1 Comment

Reading to my kids is the best. In the last month we’ve reread The BFG, The Witches, and George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl. I also shared with them the first two books in the All of a Kind Family series and my girls love those girls as much as I did when I read them as a girl myself. Such a treat to hear them say the same kinds of things I said to myself when I read the books. In grown up reading:…

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The Lie by CL Taylor

British Literature

In The Lie, we meet Jane Hughes, a seeming do-gooder who works at an animal shelter and lives a relatively quiet life. But it seems that her past is about to catch up with her, because someone knows who she used to be, and why she has worked so hard to flee from her past. Five years ago, Jane went to Nepal with her three best friends–and only two of the came back. The other woman sold her story to the papers and dragged Jane…

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The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

British Literature

I have a few things in common with one of the characters in The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell. I am the mother of girls, I homeschool them, and we belong to a private park. However, I hope that I won’t hold illusions about what my kids might be capable of. Both moms in this book suffer from a common literary problem–they are unable to imagine that their children may be up to no good, and while harboring this illusion, they continually push…

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Roald Dahl, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Chains

American Literature, British Literature

My almost six-year-old and I have continued our Roald Dahl streak with George’s Marvelous Medicine, about a boy whose grandma is the meanest lady ever. Every day she drinks a horrible concoction so George decides to take everything in the house and mix up something truly dreadful for her–with unexpected results. It’s not as dark as The Witches but has that same trickster spirit. We both really enjoyed it. And we finally convinced big sister to join the Roald Dahl fun so now she’s listening…

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Sweet Lamb of Heaven, Girls and Sex, Wink Poppy Midnight

American Literature

Lydia Millet’s Sweet Lamb of Heaven sounded like it had everything I could want from a book. Anna’s in a bad marriage and has a baby her husband doesn’t want. Now, several years later, her husband is running for public office and Anna is on the run, desperate to keep him from finding her and Lena and using them as pawns. What’s more, she constantly hears a voice running a largely incoherent and incomprehensible monologue in a mix of English and other (possibly unknown) languages.…

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Opening Belle, Hidden Bodies, Ann Patchett, Norse Myths, and Ellen Raskin!

American Literature

When I started listing the titles for this post I thought, “wow, I’ve been on a hot streak!” But then I remembered that I’ve had to give up on a bunch of books recently, too. The life of a reader! I grabbed Opening Belle at the library based on the cover and title, and the description sounded too good to pass up. Set (like Everybody Rise) on the eve of the financial crisis, the story follows Belle, a mom of three with a high pressure…

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Everybody Rise, Burn Baby Burn, Rereading Roald Dahl

American Literature, British Literature

Sometimes as a parent you get those moments when you feel like you must be doing something right, and having my 5-year-old ask me to reread her The BFG and The Witches was definitely one of those moments. We enjoyed them just as much the 2nd time through, and now she’s eager to have me read The BFG a third time so that her big sister can get why we think snozzcumbers are so funny. Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina hooked me right away…

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Red Rising, Golden Son, Morning Star AMAZING by Pierce Brown

On Reading

I reviewed Red Rising as soon as it came out, and because I loved it so much I was so happy when Golden Son followed so quickly. Then I reread both of them in anticipation of Morning Star, the final book in the trilogy, and then basically stalked my library until my request was fulfilled. I can’t really think of a time when I’ve been this satisfied by the conclusion of a trilogy/series. Robin Hobb’s books have transported me, certainly, but Fitz’s story isn’t over…

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Viral, Lorrie Moore, Girl Through Glass, New Chris Bohjalian

American Literature, British Literature

I’m like my very on book club as my latest reads have all been women-centered and fairly mainstream. But while all of them were easy, diverting reads, only one of them lived up to the jacket copy. Lorrie Moore’s Birds of America was a departure for me as I hardly ever read short stories. This one I did in fact read for a book club, the first one I’ve joined in ages. As much as I love to read, I don’t generally do well in…

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