bookgirl
Stories by bookgirl
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Recent Great American novels
This week, during the occasion of the 250th anniversary that the Declaration of Independence was signed, it’s far too easy to see how the meaning of that document has been discarded and its words denounced by the actions of the charlatans who try to hide behind it. But this week also is an occasion to…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Checking out President Obama’s book selections
The opening ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center felt even more special last week because of all the hope and celebrating. It was a community coming together to recognize what is best, which is us, together, not giving up on the future because the present is so damned difficult. One of the aspects of the…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: This week’s new releases
This week’s new literary fiction offerings include tales of people finding what matters to them. Whatever you choose to read, may you find something that fills something in you. The links below are to The Literate Lizard, the independent online bookstore of Readers and Writers nonfiction guru Debtors Prison. Descriptions are by the publishers. Crown…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: A modern fairy tale
Reading Ann Patchett’s new novel, Whistler, was one of those experiences when I learned more about myself. It was an empowering experience. The story begins with a middle-age woman and her husband making an impromptu visit to the Met. They are quiet, calm, capable people. The husband, a retired hospital administrator, notices an older man…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: New fiction time
While I work up stamina to get back into sustained reading, there is no shortage of interesting books coming out. One I have begun is Ann Patchett’s latest, Whistler. Told from the POV of a woman remembering her mother’s second marriage, and her adored stepfather, after they encounter each other after decades. I am enjoying…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Unplanned absence
Hello fellow Readers and Book Lovers. I did not mean to be gone but found out that one’s health needs attention. What I thought was a stubborn case of allergies turned into pneumonia, and I got to find out how amazing our local ICU and respiratory teams are. Although I only read part of one…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: When right and might were on the same side
FDR rose to the challenge of the Great Depression and World War II, the latter as his stamina and body were losing their strength. He balanced personal and political necessities, was a master at strategical means to ends, and captivated hearts of the working class while knowing how to navigate the wealthy elite, his own…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Who really is ‘One of Us’
A prickly college lecturer gets caught using a racist term during a talk, a word he has used for decades. Suspended by the university, he is forced to meet with a therapist. The biting commentary in his head is something he knows better than to say out loud. After all, for years he was the…
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Contemporary Fiction Views Part II: Two weeks of new books
This new formatting workout has been a good exercise in how to not get stuck in a rut. Which is a fancy way of saying I thought this week’s original post was long enough without adding two weeks of new book releases. And that working with this new platform is in the wonky stage. But…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Discoveries
Apologies, fellow Readers and Book Lovers. What with an unexpected but delightful trip to see family, taxes and not basically not being organized, I missed you last week. Also missed spending more time with delightful reading material. Which lead the pinball machine that is my brain to think about discoveries. So many new authors to…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Resonating sentences
Fiction can tell a story in so many ways. Among the instances that resonate more deeply with me are the times a statement about something happening in the story…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: A lifetime of small journeys celebrated
A ferryman who has crossed the waters of his home fjord for most of his life begins the day the way he has for decades. He knows it’s the last day of his life…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: The Little Vacuum That Could
Once upon a time there was a little self-propelled vacuum that could. Just like a brave little toaster or a little engine that could, the little self-propelled…
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Bookchat: A traditional whodunit series delivers what it promises
Welcome to Bookchat! Where you can talk about anything; books, plays, essays, and audio books. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: A rift over apple cake and other legendary family slights
When it comes to passive-aggressive grudges, the Rubinsteins in Allegra Goodman’s latest book reign supreme. When the youngest of three sisters, Jeanne…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Louise Erdrich writes about creatures coming into their own
A young girl stays with her grandparents one summer, introducing the reader to the guard dog in the yard, the snooty cocker spaniel that he adores…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Identity and heritage across the generations
With an illegal war underway and primary results coming in this evening, it may be difficult to think about fiction. But fiction writers are thinking about the…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Unexpected connections
Welcome to fellow book lovers and those avoiding tonight’s public tantrum. One of the joys of being a reader who willingly jumps down literary rabbit holes are…
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Bookchat: Dark mysteries shine a light on humanity
Welcome to Bookchat! Where you can talk about anything; books, plays, essays, and audio books. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: George Saunders writes about empathy and evolving
A being zooms down into a rich Dallas neighborhood, landing head first in the dirt. Her clothes gradually appear. Her form takes shape. She pops out of the…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Let them read
Two recent articles show the range of how under siege the enjoyment of reading is, although one is far more optimistic than the other. First, the sad one.
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Seeking out treasure
Taking time to focus on a singular idea or emotion during our era of orchestrated chaos is one of the strategies that has helped me not lose my remaining grey…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: A haunting debut novel about fatherless girls and Kurt Cobain
As in The Future Saints, another novel released this month, the girls of In Bloom form a band and are determined to get out of their seaside town for a better…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: Looking for answers in Emily Austin’s new novel
The world does not slow down for people to take a break, unless any of us determine that we will do so regardless of the turmoil. Reading, especially fiction…
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Contemporary Fiction Views: ‘The Future Saints’ is a novel about music, love and families
A novel about a California rock band, a lead singer immersed in pain, friends trying to be themselves and stick together, a young man trying to please people…
