[Finished 7/28/14] This weighty novel took a long time to finish (especially because it was way too big to lug with me on RAGBRAI) but overall, I found it fascinating and gripping, even as I noted some of the moments that felt like a “glorious mess,” particularly the ending. Donna Tartt tells the story of Theo Decker and his life reads like a Dickens’s story translated to the 21st century. A twist of fate finds Theo and his mom at a New York museum just […]
I Think I Need Some Tums
This is a novel that feels more like a movie script with lots of amazing food descriptions—some mouthwatering and some stomach-turning (depending on how you feel about certain types of French food). There are interesting elements here and the text goes down easily but it ultimately felt a bit unsatisfying to me. Richard Morais’s novel tells the story of Hassan Haji, who travels from the kitchen of his father’s Indian restaurant to a career as an acclaimed French chef. Hassan’s early memories are of his […]
Dennis Lehane Didn’t Steer Me Wrong
[Finished 6/25/14] I picked this book up at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square because I had read rapturous reviews of it in last summer. It did not disappoint. Ivy Pochoda sets this multi-character novel in Red Hook, Brooklyn—a neighborhood trying to be in transition that includes both housing projects and hipsters. The defining moment that ties all the characters together is the disappearance of a teenage girl. Two fifteen year old friends, Val and June, take a plastic raft out onto the water; however, […]
If He’s Got Any Give in Him, Ain’t Nobody Found It Yet
[finished 6/17/14] In this latest mystery, Walt Longmire is supposed to get on a plane to fly out to Philadelphia to be at the birth of his first grandchild. However, his old mentor, Lucian, gets him involved in one more case before he’s set to leave. Gerald Holman, an old friend of Lucian’s who was working on a Cold Case Commission, has committed suicide; the widow wants Lucian to look into it and Lucian brings Walt to help him. There’s a moment where Lucian tells […]
Return to Form
[read 6/11/14] So, after a number of delays—novelistic in length, Jack Reacher finally gets to DC to meet the person behind the intriguing voice from a few books ago—Susan Turner, the commanding officer of his old MP unit. Of course, this being a Lee Child novel, Reacher and Turner don’t get to go out for a romantic dinner and get to know each other better. Instead, when Reacher arrives at the headquarters of the 110th, he isn’t allowed to see Turner and is instead charged […]
If You Were Hoping for a Light Romantic Comedy, Keep Moving.
I’ve been a fan of Donoghue’s writing since I read Slamerkin, a period piece about prostitution in London. Like that novel, this story goes back in history and tells the story of two women on the edge of San Francisco society in 1876. Blanche Beunon is a burlesque dancer, originally from France, who has come to San Francisco with her lover, Arthur, and his “friend,” Ernest. Blanche has become successful enough to buy the apartment building she lives in and to provide Arthur and […]
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