So this is why Julia Glass won the 2002 National Book Award. Nine Junes later, I'm catching up! As I started out disappointed having read her third title first (I See You Everywhere), I admit to letting out one contented long sigh with this one. Glass'...
True confession: Intuition is not my favorite Allegra Goodman title (I remain most partial to Kaaterskill Falls and recently enjoyed The Cookbook Collector). That said, Intuition proved to be a highly useful tool as I happened to read it just before I picked up 2011 nonfiction Pulitzer Prize...
Once upon a time B.C. – that's Before Children – the hubby and I had four furry practice kiddies. One of them was named Bob. As in Bob Cat. He was named by my middle brother, who lived with us on and off (in between...
Here's proof that your questions really make a difference, at least to the imaginative Lisa Yee: "On one of her many school visits, a reader asked what happened to Marley from Stanford Wong, which inspired her to tell his story here," Yee's "About the Author" end-page...
Vassar Spore is every Tiger Mother's dream come true. At 16, she's got her entire overachieving life perfectly planned out with the unwavering support of two control-driven-but-nurturing parents. The three seamlessly work together toward Vassar's goals: a 5.3 GPA – the new 4.0; a degree with...
I could cry over The Other. And not tears of the 'I'm so gratefully happy'-variety, alas; I'm talking truly disappointed waterworks. David Guterson writes quietly wrenching novels, including his bestselling Snow Falling on Cedars, and later East of the Mountains, which I actually found more effecting. The Other, too,...
My contrary self is taking me through Jennifer Egan's oeuvre backwards, having started earlier this year with her latest, A Visit from the Goon Squad, just before she deservedly won both the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award and 2011 Pulitzer for fiction. First things first about Egan's...
Confession: Every once in a while, I do actually read mass-market bestsellers. I'll even admit this is my second Dan Brown – had to see what all the hubbub about The Da Vinci Code was about! Am still rolling my eyes over that one (egads! as if names...
Leave it to master storyteller Louis Sachar (National Book Award and Newbery Medalist for his phenomenally successful Holes) to make bridge (yes, bridge! – as in the card game!) heart-thumping fun! Listening to Sachar himself read the audible version is definitely an added bonus, not to mention you get to...
Even if you're not a dog-lover, you'll pause and sigh over these pages, especially to look more closely as these expressive, trusting faces. And if you've been waffling about adopting that four-legged addition your two-legged offspring keep begging for, you just might be convinced ...
Room will leave you speechless. Listening to the audible version, pitch-perfectly performed by Michal Friedman, Ellen Archer, Robert Petkoff, and Suzanne Toren, is a chillingly addictive experience; even after you've turned off your device, you won't be able to stop Jack from haunting you. In spite...
I picked up Gayle Tzemach Lemmon's already-bestselling debut title with a mission: after reading too many death-and-destruction books one after another, I needed some inspiration to reverse me out of a downward spiral. Our mutual involvement in a fabulous project which puts us on the same web...
Been waiting to exhale? Here it comes ...
First things first: do NOT read further if you haven't read Part 1 of Jenny Han's sigh-inducing Belly-trilogy, The Summer I Turned Pretty. Why spoil this delicious experience? Trust me ...
Warning: reading this whimsical globe-trotting picture book debut from Amy Gibson with your young 'uns will surely make them peripatetic adventurers sooner than later in life. Divided by continent, Gibson wanders the globe sharing giddy, often enlightening poems about animals familiar and hidden. In South America,...
With very good reason, Jennifer Egan's fifth title, A Visit from the Goon Squad, won the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction, announced earlier this month. As with most major award winners, I try to take a look or a listen (forget the cat; curiosity...
Everything about this multilayered title shouts fraud ...
As I've upped my running mileage (doggedly training for Leadville 100 in 2012!), my book consumption via iPod has increased dramatically. One of my favorite audible treats is to listen to the author read to me ...
Perhaps because Beth Hoffman's debut is read so charmingly by Jenna Lamia, who also narrated Kathryn Stockett's bestseller The Help, I couldn't help making endless comparisons ...
It's been awhile since I carried a book around all day because I couldn't put it down, reading even in two-minute snatches while waiting at those loooonnnng red lights! So I'm not at all surprised that Margi Preus's debut novel (she already has numerous children's picture books...
