All in Fiction
It seems December and January have been my months to read Irish authors. Thinking about the books, however, I realized that as large and exuberant as I found The Bee Sting to be in terms of character, plotline and themes, This Is Happiness is quiet and subtle. But in some ways, This Is Happiness may end up staying with me for even longer than The Bee Sting. It is a perfectly gorgeous read.
The Bee Sting amazes in so many ways that I want to ensure that this review does it justice. Paul Murray has created a big, exuberant book filled with a score of likeable characters, multiple plot points, heart-wrenching revelations and a good dose of humor.
Jonathan Franzen is one of a very few authors of whom I would say that I am not a big fan. I think I am still scarred from the bizarre and disgusting scene in The Corrections where the protagonist talks to his own feces for 25 pages. However, people love him and so after a long interval, I decided to give Purity a try. Overall, I’m glad I did.
I first heard about Caitlin Shetterly’s debut novel when listening to an episode of Elin Hilderbrand’s Books, Beach & Beyond podcast (which I highly recommend). One of the questions Elin puts to each interviewee is what good books they’ve read recently. She and the author were both raving about how much they had enjoyed Pete and Alice in Maine. Well, I totally agree that it is a powerhouse novel!
Curtis Sittenfeld is one of my go-to authors. When I see she’s got a new book out, I pretty much buy it and read it right off. And my admiration for her writing continues with Romantic Comedy. Main character, Sally Milz, writes for a weekly Saturday night comedy show, “The Night Owls.” Burned by past relationships with men, she has mostly given up on finding love. In fact, she becomes so cynical, that she writes a sketch for Night Owls about what she has dubbed “The Danny Horst Rule.”
I’ll admit, I’m drawn to authors who know how to tell a realistic, compelling story about families and the many relationships that exist between the two parents, each parent and child, and between siblings. Jean Hanff Korelitz tells an absolutely masterful story of one such family’s intricately complex relationships in The Latecomer. From the moment I read that Salo and Johanna first met at the funeral of Salo’s girlfriend who died in a car he had been driving, I realized this story would be riveting.
Ever since I read Bel Canto when it came out in 2001, Ann Patchett has been one of my favorite authors. She keeps writing the most amazing books
Rebecca Makkai has been writing books for a while, but she didn’t come onto my radar until she published The Great Believers in 2018. I’m not quite sure why it took me so long to pick the book up, but I’m glad I did.
I picked this book up after slogging through The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James hoping for something light and easy. The Other Black Girl provided the antidote I needed with its fast moving plot and quirky, contemporary style. But also the book opened my eyes to some of the social and professional struggles young Black women face, particularly in the world of publishing.
Not only does this wonderful author share my name, but she also comes from my home state of Massachusetts. I very clearly remember being in high school when The Pleasing Hour came out and suddenly my name was all over the place.
As I started writing this review, I went back through the L&L archives to double check that my mom had never reviewed People of the Book, since I know it is a favorite of hers. And not only is there no review, there are no Geraldine Brooks reviews at all! Her Pulitzer Prize-winner March is an all-time favorite, so if you haven’t tried a Brooks book, now is the time. And our apologies for slacking on recommending her!
This totally delightful, completely original, novel was recommended to me by my friend Jane. I am quite sure that as I detail its contents, it will sound peculiar at best. But I promise you, there is a good reason why Dear Committee Members won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
You all know that I tend to gravitate toward historical fiction, but it feels like it’s been a while since I read a big, juicy novel like this one, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It honestly has a bit of everything, and when I tell you I devoured it, I spent three straight hours (of a much needed mom’s night away) in bed just tearing through the book as fast as I could.
When you genuinely loved an author’s first novel, as I did Cutting for Stone, and you wait 14 years for a second novel, expectations can run high. When I heard that Abraham Verghese had finally brought out his second novel, I immediately bought it and started to read. At 715 pages, I had no misgivings about its length because I just knew it was going to be great. Oprah had already chosen it for her bookclub! Nearly three weeks later, I limped across the finish line and am still trying to figure out why.
I have never read a book by Barbara Kingsolver that I didn’t love, and Prodigal Summer is no exception. Published in 2000, somehow, I hadn’t read this one and was keen to explore whether early Kingsolver novels were as gorgeous as her recent books. Prodigal Summer has an almost ineffable aura about it that I hope I can adequately describe.
was intrigued and a bit skeptical when people kept reporting that they loved Gabrielle Zevin’s new novel about the world of video games and gamers. Maybe that’s why I thought I should start by reading her breakthrough novel, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, recommended years ago by my friend Pam. I absolutely love that book and can recommend it highly to you L & L readers. After finishing Fikry, I decided to take the plunge into Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. And I want to enthusiastically endorse this book, as well.
I don’t think I have ever read a pick from Reece Witherspoon’s book club that I haven’t enjoyed, and The Paper Palace is no exception. It almost feels like a darker version of Every Summer After, which I reviewed last month (read review here). So if you like your beach reads with a bit of trauma, this one is for you.
With immigration at the southern U.S. border a hot topic in the news once again, it can be refreshing to read a fictional account of an immigration experience by someone who has actually lived it. Colombian-American writer Patircia Engel has created a memorable and unique story that has stayed with me for weeks after reading it.
If I didn’t have three little kids with all kinds of crazy desires like food, baths, naps, etc, I would definitely have finished this book in just one or two sittings.
Even before Hernan Diaz won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Trust, I knew I needed to read this book. My husband, Rufus, had read it before me and couldn’t stop talking about it. He was anxious for me to read it too so that we could discuss it. A request of this kind doesn’t come along often, so my interest was really piqued.
