Answer Creek tells the story of Ada Weeks, a fictional 19-year-old adopted daughter of an undertaker and his wife, who treks across the United States with the fated (and real) Donner Party. If you know anything about the Donner Party, you have a good overview of what happens in this book, although it goes on to also include what happens after the survivors arrive in California. (And if you’re not familiar with the story, a … Read More “Answer Creek by Ashley E. Sweeney” »
Category: Literary Fiction
Sister Evelyn became a Catholic nun after her father made a vow that if his son (her brother) came back alive from the war, he would give his youngest daughter to God, and she never realized that she could make a different decision for herself. After a tough beginning, Evelyn founded Mercy House with two of her fellow nuns–and friends–around 25 years ago, and together they have helped hundreds of women escape domestic violence and … Read More “Mercy House by Alena Dillon” »
A father — President Abraham Lincoln — mourns his son, Willie — who has died of typhoid fever — as thousands of parents mourn their own sons — who have died in the first year of the American Civil War. This book takes place over one night (along with several flashbacks) in a crypt where “sick-forms” stay near their “sick-boxes” waiting to get well. They are unaware of the years and decades passing them, unaware … Read More “Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders” »
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I finished it wishing it was longer. Tom Hazard has been alive for over 400 years, although because of a rare medical condition he looks like a regular man his in his early forties. He has acted with Shakespeare, sailed with Captain Cook, and drank with F. Scott Fitzgerald. But he just wants a normal life. Unfortunately, he lives under the rules of The Albatross Society, a secret … Read More “How to Stop Time by Matt Haig” »