Cuisine. Culture. Commentary.
After reading The Secret Place, I was down to read another Tana French thriller. I really enjoyed it but was frustrated by the number of loose ends left at the end. Detectives Ryan and Maddox are summoned to work on the case of a young girl who was murdered in the woods of a Dublin…
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I can not handle how talented Marina Keegan is. At age 22 she is an INCREDIBLE writer. That’s why it is devastating to learn that at age 22, just five days after graduating magna cum laude from Yale, Keegan died in a car crash. It’s so cheesy to call someone a bright star, but that’s…
Read MoreLindsay Hunter’s debut novel is a look at the tragic trajectory of trailer trash. (Apologies for that serious alliteration.) Perry and Baby Girl are best friends, not because they like each other all that much, but because they offer a distraction. They’re not staying up all night giggling on the phone about boys and other…
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Clay is a nerd with lots of nerd friends. But even nerds need jobs so when he loses his in the recession, he takes the first thing he can get. That’s how Clay finds himself working the night shift (10 PM – 6 AM) at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. The store has only a few…
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I had never heard of Tana French, but the author endorsements on the book itself were from some of my favorite crime/suspense authors so I gave it a shot. Aaaand now I want to read all her other novels. The action in “The Secret Place” takes place at an Irish boarding school, where detectives have…
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This book begins with a shooting that leaves one woman dead in a saloon on the outskirts of town and her friend left to figure out what happened. As we flashback to the weeks leading up to the shooting, we learn that an unbearable heat and a smallpox epidemic has been ravaging San Francisco in…
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It’s not stated explicitly, but this is essentially a fictionalized account of Laura Bush’s life. Though names and locations have been changed, the similarities are striking: Alice (the Laura Bush character) grows up a quiet and proper only child in a small town, naive to the ways of the world. After a tragic accident in…
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Whether it’s a trip or a staycation, sometimes you want to hole up with a stack of books. Here, I’ll provide themed lists so you can stock up and get to reading! Even if you have to work during the week between Christmas and New Years, I’m guessing it’s pretty slow. That means there’s plenty…
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Behind every man is a great woman…or at least a woman. Lotto and Mathilde have one of those great, sweeping love stories. They meet at a party in college and weeks later are married. Against all odds, they remain married and in love for the ensuing decades. The couple is happy when living as struggling…
Read MoreAfter reading Big Little Lies, I knew I needed to read another of Liane Moriarty’s books, stat. The intersecting stories of three women had me hooked immediately, and not just because one of those women is named Tess and works in marketing. Though Tess is looped into the complicated mess, this story does not start…
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Peaches to Apples 