I really enjoyed Sayaka Murata’s earlier book Convenience Store Woman. The collection of short stories in Life Ceremony continues down the quirky path set by Convenience Store Woman, but I feel like it jumped almost too far into an uncomfortable and awkward place, although I was left with the impression that this is an issue with me and that the author was being true to herself and her writing throughout. I’m really struggling to say … Read More “Life Ceremony: Stories by Sayaka Murata” »
This is the story of the American Dream told from the perspective of a centenarian on his deathbed looking back on a life-shaping adventure he had as an adolescent when he drove two giraffes across the country on the back of what amounted to not much more than a pick-up truck. Honestly, for whatever reason, the title didn’t grab me on this one, and I put off reading it a lot longer than I should … Read More “West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge” »
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What a year! I didn’t make it through as many books as I did in 2020, but I also went back to work at the beginning of the year. (Yay!) I read 65 books this year (with dozens more I haven’t gotten to yet,) reviewed on NetGalley, and didn’t keep my Instagram page as updated … Read More “Wrapping Up 2021” »
Diane Chamberlain is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and this book is the second one I read by her this year that has made it into my top list for 2021. What I like about her books is that she successfully fictionalizes serious events in recent history in a way that does not come across as opportunistic but rather as respectful to the memories of the real people affected. In 1965, white teenager … Read More “The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain” »
Full disclosure, I was a huge fan of the Little House on the Prairie television series when I was growing up and even went so far as to buy all the DVD box sets as an adult. I bought this book for myself at the end of last year, and I was excited to find a few hours to finish this one before the end of this year. Alison Arngrim (aka Nellie Oleson) shares not … Read More “Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated by Alison Arngrim” »